Jeremiah 17:24

Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; Delivered in the reign of Jehoiakim, who undid the good effected by Josiah's reformation, especially as to the observance of the Sabbath (Eichorn). STAND IN THE GATE OF THE CHILDREN OF THE PEOPLE - the gate next the king's palace, called the gate of David, and the gate of the people, from its being the principal thoroughfare: now the Jaffa gate. It is probably the same as "the gate of the fountain" at the foot of Zion, near which were the king's garden and pool (; ; ;...

Jeremiah introduced, as I have said, a condemnation as to the fathers, that he might make the Jews of his age ashamed of themselves, lest they shouhl imitate the example of those whom they saw to have been disobedient to God. He yet shews, that God would be reconciled to them, provided they from the heart repented; as though he had said, — “Your fathers indeed provoked, for many years, and even for ages, the vengeance of God; but as he is ever inclined to mercy, he is ready to forgive you, if only you cease to follow your fathers and return to him.” In short, he promises them pardon for the time past, if they turned to God. _If by hearing ye will hear_, he says, _so as to carry no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath-day_, and to sanctify (this is connected with “hear”) _the sabbath-day, so that ye do no work on it; then shall enter through the gates of this city kings an...

19-27 The prophet was to lay before the rulers and the people of Judah, the command to keep holy the sabbath day. Let them strictly observe the fourth command. If they obeyed this word, their prosperity should be restored. It is a day of rest, and must not be made a day of labour, unless in cases of necessity. Take heed, watch against the profanation of the sabbath. Let not the soul be burdened with the cares of this world on sabbath days. The streams of religion run deep or shallow, according as the banks of the sabbath are kept up or neglected. The degree of strictness with which this ordinance is observed, or the neglect shown towards it, is a good test to find the state of spiritual religion in any land. Let all; by their own example, by attention to their families, strive to check this evil, that national prosperity may be preserved, and, above all, that souls may be saved....

Verse Jeremiah 17:24. _IF YE DILIGENTLY HEARKEN UNTO ME_] So we find that though their destruction was _positively_ threatened, yet still there was an unexpressed proviso that, _if they did return to the_ _Lord_, the calamities should be averted, and a succession of princes would have been continued on the throne of David, Jeremiah 17:25; Jeremiah 17:26....

This prophecy on the observance of the Sabbath, is the first of a series of short predictions. arranged probably in chronological order among themselves, but in other respects independent of one another. Its tone is mild, and dissuasive rather of future neglect than condemnatory of past misconduct; and it may be assigned to the commencement of Jehoiakim’s reign. Its similarity to the prophecy contained in Jeremiah 22:1 makes it probable that they were contemporaneous. Jeremiah 17:19 THE GATE OF THE CHILDREN OF THE PEOPLE - Perhaps the principal entrance of the outer court of the temple. Very probably there was traffic there, as in our Lord’s time, in doves and other requisites for sacrifice, and so the warning to keep the Sabba

EXPOSITION Jeremiah 17:1 are closely connected with the preceding chapter. We have just been pointed to the striking contrast between the conduct of the heathen and that of the backsliding men of Judah. The inspired orator's indignation swells as he thinks of the inveterateness and indelibleness of Judah's sin. Then he passes to a subject immediately suggested by the policy of the court, viz. the true source of safety in dangerous times. Trust in man brings a curse; trust in Jehovah a blessing (Jeremiah 17:5). From this portion of the prophecy we can venture to fix the date of the whole. Jeremiah 17:11 is, in fact, a shorter form of the denunciation in...

AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS,.... Or, "yet it shall come to pass" f; so it shall be, notwithstanding all former disobedience and rebellion: IF YE DILIGENTLY HEARKEN UNTO ME, SAITH THE LORD; or, "in hearing hear" g; hearken attentively, and readily obey the command given, before mentioned, so as TO BRING IN NO BURDEN THROUGH THE GATES OF THIS CITY ON THE SABBATH DAY; to be bought or sold, or to be wrought on or with; and so likewise to carry nothing out of their houses or city, which, though not expressed, is understood as before; and this respects not only the city of Jerusalem, but all other cities and towns in Judea; for the word of the Lord, concerning this matter, was sent to all Judah, the whole land of Judea, Jeremiah 17:20; BUT HALLOW THE SABBATH DAY, TO DO NO WORK THEREIN; one part of the sanctification of the sabbath lay i

CHAPTER 17 _ 1. Judah's sin (Jeremiah 17:1) _ 2. The curse and the blessing (Jeremiah 17:5) 3. The worship of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 17:12) 4. Concerning the Sabbath (Jeremiah 17:19) Jeremiah 17:1. The sin of Judah was idolatry, engraven with a pen of iron, the point of a diamond, upon their heart (from whence it proceeded) and upon the horns of their altars. They had destroyed but a few years before the asherim (translated groves, a kind of sacred post), and now their children turned back to t

THE SABBATH DAY. The general tone and emphasis of this paragraph, which makes a particular ceremonial ordinance the condition of permanent survival, relate it rather to the period of Nehemiah 13:15 than to that of Jeremiah. The prophecy is uttered in the gate (Jeremiah 7:2)_,_ because of the Sabbath traffic through it; nothing is known of this particular gate. In Jeremiah 17:21 and Jeremiah 17:25 read as _mg.;_ omit and princes in Jeremiah 17:25;...

Jeremiah 17:19-27. An exhortation on the observance of the Sabbath This section is unconnected with the preceding, and, as it considers that the doom pronounced on Judah may be averted on condition of Sabbath observance, while the previous section has declared that that doom is inevitable, it has been placed by some, e.g. Orelli, as early as the time of Josiah's reformation (see introd. note on Jeremiah 1:1 to Jeremiah 12:6), and by others (Stade, Kuenen, Gi., Du., Co.) held to be a piece belonging to the times of Ezra and Nehemiah (cp. Nehemiah 13:15-22). See also on...