Jeremiah 17:6
in Jeremiah 17He will be like a shrub in the desert; he will not see when prosperity comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited.
KJV
For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
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This verse in Jeremiah 17
Commentary
13 notes on this verseA person who relies on himself, however, or even on the person whose duty it is to provide for his needs, and thinks that his own activity or that of his associate is a sufficient resource for his livelihood runs the risk, as he places his hope in humankind, of falling under the curse that reads, "Cursed is the one that trusts in humankind and makes flesh his arm and whose soul departs from the Lord."
This site's exposition
Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
on Jeremiah 17:5-8
The oracle sets out the two ways the Psalter teaches. The man who trusts in mankind is “like a shrub in the desert”, dwelling “in a salt land where no one lives”. The man who trusts in the LORD is “like a tree planted by the waters”.
This site's exposition
like a shrub in the desert
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the Hebrew word means bare or stripped. They cite Robinson, who took it as the juniper of the Arabah south of the Dead Sea. Adam Clarke reads the line about prosperity as a plant so parched it can take in no more water.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
One thing you must flee, sin. One refuge from evil must be sought, God. Do not trust in princes. Do not be exalted in the uncertainty of wealth. Do not be proud of bodily strength. Do not pursue the splendor of human glory. None of these things save you. All are transient. All are deceptive. There is one refuge: God. "Cursed is the one who trusts in humankind" or in any human thing.
(Verses 5, 6.) Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts (or has hope) in man, and relies on flesh for his strength, and turns his heart away from the Lord. He will be like a shrub in the desert, and will not see when good comes; but he will live in dryness in the desert, in a land of salt and uninhabitable.
One who puts his trust in humankind or is buoyed up by some other concerns of life, such as power or possessions or any of the things considered by the many to be glorious, is not able to say, "O Lord my God, in you have I put my trust." In fact, there is a command that we should not put our trust in rulers, and "cursed is the one who trusts in humankind." As it is proper not to worship anything else besides God, so also is it proper not to trust in any other except God the Lord of all things. "The Lord," it is said, "is my hope and my praise."
It is not only the one who puts his hope in humankind that is accursed, but also the one who uses the flesh of his arm, that is, his strength and all that he does, not for the Lord of mercy but so that power will be thought to have come from him. For whoever does this withdraws his heart from the Lord by claiming himself to be capable when he is not capable. He will also be like the tamarisk in the desert, which, in Hebrew, is called an aroher, or, as translated by Symmacus, a fruitless plant, nor will he see goodness when it arrives and is seen by the multitude of nations, but he will live in a wasteland. All this is said about the Jewish people, who live in a desert and do not bear fruit and are located in an uninhabited salt land that produces no fruit and is a host neither to God, nor to the army of angels, nor to the grace of the Holy Spirit nor to the knowledge of teachers.
The Medieval Church1 voice
But let us see what kind of fruits a bad tree produces, and let us avoid bearing such fruits. The prophet Jeremiah says, "Cursed is the one who puts his trust in human beings and makes his flesh his support, and whose heart turns away …
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
For he shall be like the heath in the desert,.... The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "myrice": and so the Latin interpreter of the Targum; but the word that paraphrase makes use of according to R. Hai, mentioned by Kimchi, signifies something that is thorny without, and eatable within; but this is not likely to be intended here.
Nay, he is false and sinful, and has lost his integrity; so his being flesh signifies, Gen. vi. The great malignity there is in this sin; it is the departure of the evil heart of unbelief from the living God.
Those that trust to their own righteousness and strength, and think they can do well enough without the merit and grace of Christ, thus make flesh their arm, and their souls cannot prosper in graces or comforts; they can neither produce the fruits of acceptable services to God nor reap the fruits of saving blessings from him; they dwell in a dry land.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Be shall be like the heath in the desert - כערער kearar; or, like a blasted tree, without moisture, parched and withered. Shall not see when good cometh - Shall not be sensible of it: the previous drought having rendered it incapable of absorbing any more vegetable juices. A salt land - Barren; and therefore unfit to be inhabited.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Hab 3:9, the Hebrew is translated, "bare," "naked," "destitute"; but as the parallel in Jer 17:8 is "tree," some plant must be meant of which this is the characteristic epithet (Jer 48:6, Margin), "a naked tree." ROBINSON translates, "the juniper tree," found in the Arabah or Great Valley, here called "the desert," south of the Dead Sea.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָה֙ | vehayah | and he will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כְּעַרְעָ֣ר | kearar | like a bush | H6176 → | |
| בָּֽעֲרָבָ֔ה | baaravah | in the desert plain | H6160 → | 61 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִרְאֶ֖ה | yireh | he will see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָב֣וֹא | yavo' | it will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| ט֑וֹב | tov | good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| וְשָׁכַ֤ן | veshakhan | and he will dwell | H7931 → | 129 times |
| חֲרֵרִים֙ | charerim | parched places | H2788 → | |
| בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר | bamidbar | in the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| אֶ֥רֶץ | ʾeretz | a land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מְלֵחָ֖ה | melechah | saltiness | H4420 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֵשֵֽׁב׃ ס | teshev | anyone dwells | H3427 → | 1079 times |
וְהָיָה֙and he will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
כְּעַרְעָ֣רlike a bush
keararH6176 →
בָּֽעֲרָבָ֔הin the desert plain
baaravahH6160 →61 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יִרְאֶ֖הhe will see
yirehH7200 →1300 times
כִּי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יָב֣וֹאit will come
yavo'H935 →2568 times
ט֑וֹבgood
tovH2896 →538 times
וְשָׁכַ֤ןand he will dwell
veshakhanH7931 →129 times
חֲרֵרִים֙parched places
charerimH2788 →
בַּמִּדְבָּ֔רin the wilderness
bamidbarH4057 →270 times
אֶ֥רֶץa land of
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
מְלֵחָ֖הsaltiness
melechahH4420 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תֵשֵֽׁב׃ סanyone dwells
teshevH3427 →1079 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
Psalms 1:4Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.
it leads to
- Job 21:18
Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
- Matthew 3:12
His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
- Psalms 35:5
May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
- Isaiah 17:13
The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.
- Hosea 13:3
Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, like smoke through an open window.
- Job 21:18
Through
Deuteronomy 29:23All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the…
it leads to
- Zephaniah 2:9
Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual…
- Isaiah 34:9
Edom’s streams will be turned to tar, and her soil to sulfur; her land will become a blazing pitch.
- Genesis 19:24–25
Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Zephaniah 2:9
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; Basil of Caesarea, THE LONG RULES 42; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 18:1 (PS 45); Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 11:2 (PS 7); Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 2:25; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; Jerome, SIX BOOKS ON JEREMIAH 3:72.4-5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.