Jeremiah 6:14
in Jeremiah 6They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They have healed also the hurt of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
KJV
They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 6
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThey have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly - Of the daughter is not in the text, and is here improperly added: it is, however, in some MSS. Peace, peace - Ye shall have prosperity - when there was none, and when God had determined that there should be none. Here the prophets prophesied falsely; and the people continued in sin, being deceived by the priests and the prophets.
This site's exposition
houses shall be turned unto others
on Jeremiah 6:12-15
The corruption named at 5:31 is restated here as total, from the least of them even unto the greatest, prophet and priest included, before it produces the book's most quoted false comfort, they have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace, a diagnosis papered over rather than treated. Were they ashamed, neither could they blush names a conscience past the point of feeling its own wound, which the bench reads as worse than the sin itself, since shame at least still argues for a cure.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Vers. 13 seqq.) For I will stretch out my hand over the inhabitants of the land, declares the Lord. From the least of them to the greatest, they all pursue greed, and from prophet to priest, they all practice deceit. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.
Idol temples had fallen before the standard of the cross and the severity of the gospel. Now, on the contrary, lust and gluttony endeavor to overthrow the solid structure of the cross. And so God says by Isaiah, "O my people, they who bless you cause you to wander and trouble the paths of your feet." Also by Jeremiah, "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save everyone his life, and believe not the false prophets who say, 'Peace, peace,' and there is no peace." Who are always repeating, "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord."
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds. 8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. Judgment threatened against Judah and Jerusalem.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:94%@v6-8
They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly,....
Note, Those are to be reckoned our false friends (that is, our worst and most dangerous enemies) who flatter us in a sinful way. The sin of Judah and Jerusalem, which provoked God to bring this ruin upon them and justified him in it, is here declared.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
MINISTERS ARE FEARFULLY GUILTY if they intentionally build up men in a false peace. I cannot imagine any man more greatly guilty of blood than he who plays jackal to the lion of hell, by pandering to the depraved tastes of vain, rebellious man.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
hurt--the spiritual wound. slightly--as if it were but a slight wound; or, in a slight manner, pronouncing all sound where there is no soundness. saying--namely, the prophets and priests (Jer 6:13). Whereas they ought to warn the people of impending judgments and the need of repentance, they say there is nothing to fear. peace--including soundness.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
MINISTERS ARE FEARFULLY GUILTY if they intentionally build up men in a false peace. I cannot imagine any man more greatly guilty of blood than he who plays jackal to the lion of hell, by pandering to the depraved tastes of vain, rebellious man. The physician who should pamper a man in his disease, who should feed his cancer, or inject continual poison into the system, while at the same time he promised sound health and long life such a physician would not be one half so hideous a monster of cruelty as the professed minister of Christ who should bid his people take comfort, when, instead thereof, he ought to be crying, “Woe unto them that are at ease in Zion: be troubled, ye careless ones.” The work of the ministry is no child’s play; it is a labor which might fill an angel’s hands—did fill the Savior’s heart. Much prayer we need that we may be kept honest, and much grace that we may not mislead the souls whom we are bound to guide The pilot who should pretend to steer a ship toward its proper haven, but who should meanwhile occupy himself below with boring holes in her keel that she might sink, would not be a worse traitor than the man who takes the helm of a church, and professes to be steering it towards Christ, while all the while he is ruining it by diluting the truth as it is in Jesus, concealing unpalatable truths, and lulling men into security with soft and flattering words. We might sooner pardon the assassin who stretches forth his hand under the guise of friendship, and then stabs us to the heart, than we could forgive the man who comes towards us with smooth words, telling us that he is God’s ambassador, but all the while foments rebellion in ours hearts, and pacifies us while we are living in revolt against the majesty of heaven.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Healed - Rather, “tried to heal.” Of the daughter - These words are omitted by a majority of manuscripts, but found in most of the versions. Slightly - literally, “according to,” i. e., as if it were, a “trifle: making nothing” of it. This cry of “peace” was doubtless based upon Josiah’s reforms.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
easily It is easy for the false prophets to pronounce with their mouths and to say, “You shall have peace,” and with this thing they heal with their speech the breach destined to come upon them.
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. 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיְרַפְּא֞וּ | vayrapeu | and they have healed | H7495 → | 67 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שֶׁ֤בֶר | shever | [the] fracture of | H7667 → | 45 times |
| עַמִּי֙ | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| נְקַלָּ֔ה | nekalah | a trifling [thing] | H7043 → | 82 times |
| לֵאמֹ֖ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שָׁל֣וֹם׀ | shalom | peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
| שָׁל֑וֹם | shalom | peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
| וְאֵ֖ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| שָׁלֽוֹם׃ | shalom | [is] peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
וַֽיְרַפְּא֞וּand they have healed
vayrapeuH7495 →67 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שֶׁ֤בֶר[the] fracture of
sheverH7667 →45 times
עַמִּי֙people my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
נְקַלָּ֔הa trifling [thing]
nekalahH7043 →82 times
לֵאמֹ֖ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
שָׁל֣וֹם׀peace
shalomH7965 →236 times
שָׁל֑וֹםpeace
shalomH7965 →236 times
וְאֵ֖יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
שָׁלֽוֹם׃[is] peace
shalomH7965 →236 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
Jeremiah 23:17They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD says that you will have peace,’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’
it leads to
- Micah 3:11
Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 8:11
They dress the wound of the daughter of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 13:10
These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this…
- Amos 9:10
All the sinners among My people will die by the sword—all those who say, ‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’”
- Micah 3:11
Through
Lamentations 2:14The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 22:28
Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 58:1
“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Jeremiah 5:31
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
- Ezekiel 22:28
Through
Jeremiah 14:13“Ah, Lord GOD!” I replied, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:1
Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on…
- 2 Peter 2:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 10 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); Charles Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 301: “A Blast of the Trumpet Against False Peace” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; Jerome, Against Jovinianus 2.37; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.