Jeremiah 1:12
in Jeremiah 1“You have observed correctly,” said the LORD, “for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then said Jehovah unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I watch over my word to perform it.
KJV
Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
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This verse in Jeremiah 1
Commentary
12 notes on this verseIt is written in the book of the prophet, "Take a branch from a nut tree." So we must consider why the Lord said this to the prophet, for it is not written without a purpose, since we also read in the Pentateuch that the nut tree of Aaron, the priest, blossomed after it had been laid away for a long while.
This site's exposition
I see a branch of an almond tree
on Jeremiah 1:11-12
The first sign turns on a Hebrew wordplay: the almond, shaqed, is the tree that wakes first in spring. The LORD answers, “I am watching over My word to accomplish it”, where watching is shoqed. The almond branch is a pledge that the word will not lie dormant.
This site's exposition
I am watching over My word to accomplish it
The LORD commends Jeremiah for seeing rightly before He gives the meaning. A prophet had first to see what he would later say, and the older name for a prophet was seer, at 1 Samuel 9:9. The word in view is the judgment the boiling pot announces.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Now our rod is the Word of God, Jesus Christ, as Jeremiah saw him as an almond rod. So everyone that spares his son a word of rebuke hates his son. Therefore teach your sons the word of the Lord. Punish them with lashes. Subdue …
(Verse 11, 12.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, I see a watching rod. And the Lord said to me: You have seen well, for I will watch over my word to perform it. For the watching rod, the Septuagint translated it as a nut-stick. Therefore, we must work so that the Latin reader understands the Hebrew etymology briefly. Seced is called a nut: but watching or watch or to watch is called Soced. And in the later [books], the leopard is placed in this position as a vigilant guardian. From this, therefore, because it is called a nut, due to the similarity of the word to the understanding of 'watchful', it alluded to the name: which indeed is also written in Daniel according to Theodotion, so that the dividing and cutting of the trees (namely oak and mastic) is appointed to adulterous priests. Likewise, in the beginning of Genesis, from the man who is called Is (), the woman is called Issa (), as some kind of mannish woman, because she is taken from man. For the nutcracker staff, the vigilant rod, the Eagle and Symmachus; but they transferred the almond to Theodotius. The rod, however, keeps watch, considering all the sins of the people, in order to strike and rebuke the transgressors. Therefore the Apostle writes to the sinners: What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and the spirit of gentleness? (1 Corinthians 4:21). This is the rod, or staff, that David speaks of: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:4). Beautifully he placed, they were consoled. For in this way the Lord corrects, so that he may amend. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Well seen - Or thou hast seen and judged right. Hasten - Word for word, I will almond-tree it, that is, I will be upon them speedily, in a short time.
Then said the Lord unto me, thou hast well seen,....
God commended him that he was so observant, and so quick of apprehension, as to be aware, though it was the first vision he ever saw, that it was a rod of an almond-tree, that his mind was so composed as to be able to distinguish.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
I will hasten my word - Here is a paronomasia. What dost thou see? I see שקד shaked, “an almond,” the hastening tree: that which first awakes. Thou hast well seen, for (שקד shoked) I will hasten my word. I will awake, or watch over my word for the first opportunity to inflict the judgments which I threaten. The judgment shall come speedily; it shall soon flourish, and come to maturity.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2678: “The Lesson of the Almond Tree” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
OBSERVE, first, dear Friends, that before Jeremiah becomes a speaker for God, he must be a seer. The name for a Prophet, in the olden time, was a "seer"—a man who could see—one who could see with his mind's eye, one who could also see with spiritual insight, so as vividly to realize the Truth of God which he had to deliver in the name of the Lord. Learn that simple lesson well, O you who try to speak for God! You must be seers before you can be speakers.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2678: “The Lesson of the Almond Tree” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
OBSERVE, first, dear Friends, that before Jeremiah becomes a speaker for God, he must be a seer. The name for a Prophet, in the olden time, was a "seer"—a man who could see—one who could see with his mind's eye, one who could also see with spiritual insight, so as vividly to realize the Truth of God which he had to deliver in the name of the Lord. Learn that simple lesson well, O you who try to speak for God! You must be seers before you can be speakers. The question with which God usually begins His conversation with each of His true servants is the one He addressed to Jeremiah, "What do you see?" I am afraid that there are some ministers, nowadays, who do not see much. Judging by what they preach, their vision must be all in cloudland, where all they see is smoke, mist and fog. I often meet with persons who have attended the same ministry for years—and when I have asked them even very simple questions about the things of God, I have found that they do not know anything. It was not because they were not able to comprehend quickly when the Truth was set forth plainly before them, but I fear that it was, in most cases, because there was nothing that they could learn from the minister to whom they had been accustomed to listen. The preacher had seen nothing and, therefore, when he described what he saw, of course it all amounted to nothing. No, my Brother, before you can make an impression upon another person's heart, you must have an impression made upon your own soul. You must be able to say, concerning the Truth of God, "I see it," before you can speak it so that your hearers shall also see it.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Hasten - Rather, I watch over “my word to perform it.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
You have seen well This almond tree hastens to blossom before all other trees. I, too, hasten to perform My word. And the Midrash Aggadah (Ecc.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
a rod of an almond tree (amendleer in O.F.) Jonathan, however, renders: A King who hastens to do evil.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֧אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֵלַ֖י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הֵיטַ֣בְתָּ | heitavta | you have done well | H3190 → | 117 times |
| לִרְא֑וֹת | lirot | to see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שֹׁקֵ֥ד | shoked | [am] watching | H8245 → | 12 times |
| אֲנִ֛י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| דְּבָרִ֖י | devari | word my | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ׃ פ | laasoto | to do it | H6213 → | 2628 times |
וַיֹּ֧אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֵלַ֖יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
הֵיטַ֣בְתָּyou have done well
heitavtaH3190 →117 times
לִרְא֑וֹתto see
lirotH7200 →1300 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
שֹׁקֵ֥ד[am] watching
shokedH8245 →12 times
אֲנִ֛יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
דְּבָרִ֖יword my
devariH1697 →1440 times
לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ׃ פto do it
laasotoH6213 →2628 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 12:25because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass,…
it leads to
- Habakkuk 1:5
“Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you.
- Isaiah 55:11
so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.
- Isaiah 14:24
The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
- Ezekiel 12:28
Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘None of My words will be delayed any longer. The message I speak will be fulfilled, declares the Lord GOD.’”
- Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- Habakkuk 1:5
Through
Luke 10:28“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:11
And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances—for the man who does these things will live by them.
- Leviticus 18:5
Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD.
- Ezekiel 20:11
Through
Amos 8:2“Amos, what do you see?” He asked. “A basket of summer fruit,” I replied. So the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.”
it leads to
- Amos 7:8
“Amos, what do you see?” asked the LORD. “A plumb line,” I replied. “Behold,” said the Lord, “I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them:
- Amos 7:8
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, LETTER 62; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2678: “The Lesson of the Almond Tree” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Didascalia Apostolorum, DIDASCALIA 22.[4:11]; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.