Jeremiah 10:21
in Jeremiah 10For the shepherds have become senseless; they do not seek the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of Jehovah: therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.
KJV
For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
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This verse in Jeremiah 10
Commentary
8 notes on this verseFor the pastors are become brutish,.... The "kings" of Judah, so the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, as Jehoiakim and Zedekiah; though it need not be restrained to these only, but may include all inferior civil magistrates, and even all ecclesiastical rulers, who were the shepherds of the people; but these being like the brute beasts, and without understanding of civil and religious things, and not knowing how to govern the people either in a political or ecclesiastical way, were the cause of their ruin.
This site's exposition
Woe to me because of my brokenness
on Jeremiah 10:19-21
The prophet speaks in the city's voice and pictures a nomad's home undone, “My tent is destroyed, and all its ropes are snapped”. Verse 21 names the cause the book returns to in its shepherd oracles, “the shepherds have become senseless; they do not seek the LORD”.
This site's exposition
the shepherds have become senseless
The Targum takes the shepherds as the kings of Judah, and Gill widens the word to every ruler of the people. Clarke points to the king and his counsellors, whose refusal of tribute to Babylon brought on the war. The flock was scattered.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
He refers to the kings and priests as [stupid] shepherds because they were the guardians of this wandering people.
(Verse 21.) Because the shepherds acted foolishly and did not seek the Lord: therefore, they did not understand, and the whole flock was scattered. Through the fault and dispersal of the shepherds and sheep, the culpability and scattering of the people is described. For the princes acted foolishly and did not seek the Lord, whom they should have sought with their whole heart: therefore, they did not see the coming evils, or did not understand the Lord, and the whole multitude of Jerusalem was scattered here and there.
The Lord protested against their wickedness through the voice of the prophet, saying, "Alas for the shepherds, who destroy and scatter the sheep of my inheritance," and again, "The shepherds have become foolish and have not sought the Lord. Therefore did none of the flock understand and were scattered." Such, then, was their state. But we are under the rule of the chief Shepherd of all, even Christ, by whom and with whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But it is sad indeed with a people when their pastors, that should feed them with knowledge and understanding, are themselves thus brutish. Therefore they shall not prosper; none of their attempts for the public safety shall succeed. Note, Those cannot expect to prosper who do not by faith and prayer take God along with them in all their ways.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The pastors are become brutish - The king and his counselors, who, by refusing to pay the promised tribute to Nebuchadnezzar, had kindled a new war.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נִבְעֲרוּ֙ | nivaru | they have behaved stupidly | H1197 → | 94 times |
| הָֽרֹעִ֔ים | haroim | the shepherds | H7462 → | 177 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| דָרָ֑שׁוּ | darashu | they have sought | H1875 → | 164 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּן֙ | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הִשְׂכִּ֔ילוּ | hiskilu | they have prospered | H7919 → | 62 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מַרְעִיתָ֖ם | maritam | flock their | H4830 → | 10 times |
| נָפֽוֹצָה׃ ס | nafotzah | it has been scattered | H6327 → | 67 times |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
נִבְעֲרוּ֙they have behaved stupidly
nivaruH1197 →94 times
הָֽרֹעִ֔יםthe shepherds
haroimH7462 →177 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
דָרָ֑שׁוּthey have sought
darashuH1875 →164 times
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּן֙-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
הִשְׂכִּ֔ילוּthey have prospered
hiskiluH7919 →62 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
מַרְעִיתָ֖םflock their
maritamH4830 →10 times
נָפֽוֹצָה׃ סit has been scattered
nafotzahH6327 →67 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 8:9The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have?
it leads to
- Psalms 119:98–100
Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are always with me.
- Job 5:12
He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- Jeremiah 6:15
Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish…
- 1 Corinthians 1:18–29
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
- Psalms 119:98–100
Through
Jeremiah 12:10Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:1–7
I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
- Jeremiah 23:1
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.
- Isaiah 63:18
For a short while Your people possessed Your holy place, but our enemies have trampled Your sanctuary.
- Luke 20:9–16
Then He proceeded to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to some tenants, and went away for a long time.
- Isaiah 5:1–7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 126; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, On JEREMIAH 3:10.