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Jeremiah 35:7

in Jeremiah 35

Nor are you ever to build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard. Those things are not for you. Instead, you must live in tents all your lives, so that you may live a long time in the land where you wander.’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any; but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land wherein ye sojourn.

KJV

Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.

This verse in Jeremiah 35

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

LETTER 125.7-8 · Written before 420.

The sons of Jonadab, we are told, drank neither wine nor strong drink and dwelled in tents pitched wherever night overtook them. According to the Psalter, they were the first to undergo captivity; for, when the Chaldaeans began to ravage Judah, they were compelled to take refuge in cities.Others may think what they like and follow each his own bent. But to me a town is a prison and solitude paradise. Why do we long for the bustle of cities, we whose very name speaks of loneliness?

This site's exposition

We do not drink wine,” they

on Jeremiah 35:6-12

The Rechabites answer with their history: “our forefather Jonadab son of Rechab” forbade them wine, houses, fields, and vineyards. They have kept it whole, living “in tents” as he commanded. Their stay in Jerusalem is a wartime refuge, taken “to escape the armies of the Chaldeans and the Arameans.”

This site's exposition

you must live in tents all your lives

Each command kept the house of Jonadab free to wander: no house to build, no seed to sow, no vineyard to plant. Barnes explains that wine belongs to a settled life, since a vineyard takes years to grow. The promise of long life echoes the fifth commandment.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Theodoret of Cyrus

ON JEREMIAH 7:35.6-7 · Written before 458.

proposed

Two things are worth marveling at: the law given by the father and the obedience rendered by the children and descendants. For they loved a life free from care and possessions and—what is most unexpected—put little stock in their property, even though they had children, …

The Reformation1 voice

A commentator

John Calvin

1509–1564

Commentaries (1554)

proposed

It must be first observed, that the order of time in which the prophecies were written has not been retained. In history the regular succession of days and years ought to be preserved, but in prophetic writings this is not so necessary, as I have already reminded you.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Note, Those are in the best frame to meet sufferings who are mortified to the world and life a life of self-denial. (6.) That in general they might learn to live by rule and under discipline. It is good for us all to do so, and to teach our children to do so.
Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

tents-- (Jud 4:17). live many days--according to the promise connected with the fifth commandment (Ex 20:12; Eph 6:2, 3). strangers--They were not of the stock of Jacob, but sojourners in Israel.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

28 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וּבַ֣יִתand a house

    uvayitH1004 →2046 times

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • תִבְנ֗וּyou must build

    tivnuH1129 →376 times

  • וְזֶ֤רַעand seed

    vezera'H2233 →229 times

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • תִזְרָ֙עוּ֙you must sow

    tizrauH2232 →56 times

  • וְכֶ֣רֶםand a vineyard

    vekheremH3754 →92 times

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • תִטָּ֔עוּyou must plant

    titauH5193 →58 times

  • וְלֹ֥אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יִֽהְיֶ֖הit will belong

    yihyehH1961 →3559 times

  • לָכֶ֑םto <the> you

    lakhem

  • כִּ֠יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • בָּאֳהָלִ֤יםin tents

    boohalimH168 →345 times

  • תֵּֽשְׁבוּ֙you will dwell

    teshevuH3427 →1079 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • יְמֵיכֶ֔םdays your

    yemeikhemH3117 →2304 times

  • לְמַ֨עַןso that

    lemaanH4616 →272 times

  • תִּֽחְי֜וּyou may live

    tichyuH2421 →282 times

  • יָמִ֤יםdays

    yamimH3117 →2304 times

  • רַבִּים֙many

    rabimH7227 →454 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • פְּנֵ֣י[the] surface of

    peneiH6440 →2123 times

  • הָאֲדָמָ֔הthe ground

    haadamahH127 →225 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhere

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • אַתֶּ֖םyou

    ʾatemH859 →1094 times

  • גָּרִ֥ים[are] sojourning

    garimH1481 →97 times

  • שָֽׁם׃there

    shamH8033 →834 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Exodus 20:12

    Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

    it leads to

    • Ephesians 6:1–3

      Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

    • Colossians 3:20

      Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

    • Deuteronomy 5:16

      Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the…

    • Mark 7:10

      For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’

    • Proverbs 23:22–25

      Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

  • Through

    Genesis 25:27

    When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 21:20

      And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.

    • Hebrews 11:9

      By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

    • Genesis 28:10–11

      Meanwhile Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Jeremiah

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
This page draws on 9 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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, LETTER 125.7-8; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 7:35.6-7.