Jeremiah 22:17
in Jeremiah 22“But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
KJV
But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
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This verse in Jeremiah 22
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Covetousness - literally, gain. Besides exacting forced labor Jehoiakim, to procure the necessary means for the vast expenses he incurred, put innocent people to death on various pretexts, and escheated their property.
This site's exposition
Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness
on Jeremiah 22:13-17
Jehoiakim's palace project is described in the terms of forced labor, a neighbor's service taken without wages, wide rooms and cedar ceilings paid for by unpaid work, and the woe is pronounced on the builder rather than on the building. Verse 15 asks the question plainly, shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself in cedar, and sets Josiah beside his son: did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him, judging the cause of the poor and needy read as the true content of knowing God. The commentators take verse 16's was not this to know me as the chapter's own definition of the knowledge of God, tested by how a king treats those with no power to reward him.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness,....
Another message sent them in the reign of Jehoiachin (alias, Jeconiah) the son of Jehoiakim. He is charged with an obstinate refusal to hear, and is threatened with destruction, and it is foretold that in him Solomon's house should fail,
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵ֤ין | ʾein | [are] not | H369 → | 789 times |
| עֵינֶ֙יךָ֙ | ʾeineikha | eyes your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וְלִבְּךָ֔ | velibekha | and heart your | H3820 → | 595 times |
| כִּ֖י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בִּצְעֶ֑ךָ | bitzekha | unjust gain your | H1215 → | 23 times |
| וְעַ֤ל | veal | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| דַּֽם־ | dam- | [the] blood of | H1818 → | 360 times |
| הַנָּקִי֙ | hanaki | the innocent [person] | H5355 → | 43 times |
| לִשְׁפּ֔וֹךְ | lishpokh | to shed [it] | H8210 → | 114 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָעֹ֥שֶׁק | haoshek | <the> oppression | H6233 → | |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַמְּרוּצָ֖ה | hamerutzah | <the> extortion | H4835 → | |
| לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ ס | laasot | to do [it] | H6213 → | 2628 times |
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֵ֤ין[are] not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
עֵינֶ֙יךָ֙eyes your
ʾeineikhaH5869 →887 times
וְלִבְּךָ֔and heart your
velibekhaH3820 →595 times
כִּ֖יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בִּצְעֶ֑ךָunjust gain your
bitzekhaH1215 →23 times
וְעַ֤לand on
vealH5921 →5755 times
דַּֽם־[the] blood of
dam-H1818 →360 times
הַנָּקִי֙the innocent [person]
hanakiH5355 →43 times
לִשְׁפּ֔וֹךְto shed [it]
lishpokhH8210 →114 times
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
הָעֹ֥שֶׁק<the> oppression
haoshekH6233 →
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
הַמְּרוּצָ֖ה<the> extortion
hamerutzahH4835 →
לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ סto do [it]
laasotH6213 →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 33:31So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest…
it leads to
- Matthew 13:22
The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
- Psalms 78:36–37
But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues.
- James 1:22–24
Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
- Isaiah 29:13
Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught…
- Luke 11:28
But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
- Matthew 13:22
Through
2 Peter 2:14Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:3
In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.
- 2 Peter 2:18
With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
- Ephesians 2:3
All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.
- 2 Peter 2:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Jeremiah

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.
