Jeremiah 11:21
in Jeremiah 11Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the people of Anathoth who are seeking your life and saying, “You must not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, that thou die not by our hand;
KJV
Therefore thus saith the Lord of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the Lord, that thou die not by our hand:
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This verse in Jeremiah 11
Commentary
7 notes on this verseTheir forbidding him to prophesy was in effect seeking his life, for it was seeking to defeat the end and business of his life and to rob him of the comfort of it. It is as bad to God's faithful ministers to have their mouth stopped as to have their breath stopped.
This site's exposition
the people of Anathoth who are seeking your life
on Jeremiah 11:21-23
The plotters are the people of Anathoth, Jeremiah's priestly hometown from 1:1, his own kinsmen demanding silence. The sentence answering them, “Their young men will die by the sword”, is the first judgment the book records Jeremiah asking for and receiving.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"Therefore thus says the Lord against the men of Anathoth who seek my life, who say: You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord, and if you do, you shall die in our hands. Behold, I will visit upon them: their young men shall die by the sword, and their sons and their daughters shall perish by famine. And there shall be no remnant of them, for I will bring evils upon the inhabitants of Anathoth in the year of their visitation." For the sake of a figure the name of Anathoth is here taken up. And the whole Jewish mystery is spoken in it figuratively; for Anathoth is interpreted "Hearkening." Since, then, a hearkening of God was in that people, as also the kingdom of God, and it came to pass concerning the kingdom that "the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits," according to this it also came to pass that "the men of Anathoth," those who are in the Hearkening, "seek the life" — not of Jeremiah (for neither does the history say that men of Anathoth sought the life of Jeremiah. We have the books of Kingdoms; Scripture makes mention there of Jeremiah, yet nothing of the sort is said in them, nor in the books of Chronicles; for we have the very book of the prophet, and the men of Anathoth have said nothing) — but these things are said concerning Christ. "Those who seek my life, those who say: You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord." The Jews hindered Jesus from teaching. "And if you do, you shall die in our hands. Behold, I will visit upon them: their young men shall die by the sword, and their sons and their daughters shall perish by famine." They did not then perish by the sword, but after the coming a famine has now come upon them — "not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord"; for no longer is "thus says the Lord Almighty" spoken among them. […]
A commentator
Ephrem the SyrianCOMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 11:24 · Written before 373.
proposed
For Anathoth did not receive Jeremiah, or the Tishbites Elijah, or Abelmeholah Elisha, or Ramah Samuel, or the synagogue Moses, or Israel our Lord Jesus in Nazareth.
(v. 21 onward) Therefore, thus says the Lord to the men of Anathoth who seek your life and say: Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will visit them. The young men shall die by the sword; their sons and daughters shall die by famine, and there shall be no remnant of them. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth in the year of their visitation.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
9 And the L ORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v9-10
Therefore thus saith the Lord of the men of Anathoth,....
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֗ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| כֹּֽה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֤ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַנְשֵׁ֣י | ʾanshei | [the] people of | H582 → | 566 times |
| עֲנָת֔וֹת | anatot | Anathoth | H6068 → | 15 times |
| הַֽמְבַקְשִׁ֥ים | hamvakshim | who are seeking | H1245 → | 225 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נַפְשְׁךָ֖ | nafshekha | life your | H5315 → | 754 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִנָּבֵא֙ | tinave' | you must prophesy | H5012 → | 115 times |
| בְּשֵׁ֣ם | beshem | in [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תָמ֖וּת | tamut | you will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| בְּיָדֵֽנוּ׃ ס | beyadenu | by hand our | H3027 → | 1618 times |
לָכֵ֗ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
כֹּֽה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַ֤רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אַנְשֵׁ֣י[the] people of
ʾansheiH582 →566 times
עֲנָת֔וֹתAnathoth
anatotH6068 →15 times
הַֽמְבַקְשִׁ֥יםwho are seeking
hamvakshimH1245 →225 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
נַפְשְׁךָ֖life your
nafshekhaH5315 →754 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תִנָּבֵא֙you must prophesy
tinave'H5012 →115 times
בְּשֵׁ֣םin [the] name of
beshemH8034 →864 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תָמ֖וּתyou will die
tamutH4191 →839 times
בְּיָדֵֽנוּ׃ סby hand our
beyadenuH3027 →1618 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
Isaiah 30:10They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
it leads to
- Amos 7:13
But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 13:7–10
Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ even though I have not spoken?
- Romans 16:18
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- Amos 2:12
“But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
- Amos 7:13
Through
Jeremiah 20:10For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that…
it leads to
- Psalms 41:9
Even my close friend whom I trusted, the one who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
- Psalms 31:13
For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side. They conspire against me and plot to take my life.
- Isaiah 29:21
those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.
- Jeremiah 18:18
Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us…
- Psalms 41:9
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 11:24; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 10.