Jeremiah 12:16
in Jeremiah 12And if they will diligently learn the ways of My people and swear by My name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’—just as they once taught My people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among My people.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, As Jehovah liveth; even as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built up in the midst of my people.
KJV
And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.
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This verse in Jeremiah 12
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Prophecy as to the surrounding nations, the Syrians, Ammonites, &c., who helped forward Judah's calamity: they shall share her fall; and, on their conversion, they shall share with her in the future restoration. This is a brief anticipation of the predictions in the forty-seventh, forty-eighth, and forty-ninth chapters. touch-- (Zec 2:8). pluck them out . . . pluck out . . .
This site's exposition
As for all My evil neighbors
on Jeremiah 12:14-17
Judgment turns to the neighbors who attack the inheritance, and the LORD will “uproot them from their land”. Verse 15 promises them compassion and a return “each one to his inheritance and to his land”. Verse 16 sets the condition, “if they will diligently learn the ways of My people”.
This site's exposition
And if they will diligently learn the ways
Swearing by the name of the LORD meant confessing him as the true God in a solemn oath, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain. The nations that once taught Judah to swear by Baal must now learn from her. Wesley sees the promise fulfilled in the conversion of the Gentiles.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
He spoke also [vv. 16-17] of the utter rejection of the nation of the Jews, for "I will remove that nation by destruction, says the Lord."
(Verse 16, 17.) And it shall come to pass, if the learned ones have learned the ways of my people, to swear in my name, as the Lord lives: just as they taught my people to swear by Baal, they shall be built up in the midst of my people. But if they do not listen, I will uproot that nation with destruction and annihilation, says the Lord.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
If - If they will leave their idolatries, and learn to worship me, and swear by my name the Lord liveth, that is, pay that homage which they owe to the Divine being to me, the living and true God. Then - They shall have a portion among my people, which was eminently fulfilled in the conversion of the Gentiles.
The Prophet's Appeal to God. 1 Righteous art thou, O L ORD , when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
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And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Note, (1.) There are good ways that are peculiarly the ways of God's people, which however they may differ in the choice of their paths, they are all agreed to walk in. The ways of holiness and heavenly-mindedness, of love and peaceableness, the ways of prayer and sabbath-sanctification, and diligent attendance on instituted ordinances--these, and the like, are the ways of God's people.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
swear by my name-- (Jer 4:2; 65:16); that is, confess solemnly the true God. built--be made spiritually and temporally prosperous: fixed in sure habitations (compare Jer 24:6;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The accomplishment of this blessing depends upon both Judah and the Gentiles reversing their past conduct. Then shall the believing Gentile be admitted within the fold of the true, because spiritual, Israel - Christ’s Church.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֡ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | <if> | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לָמֹ֣ד | lamod | certainly [if] <learn> | H3925 → | 85 times |
| יִלְמְדוּ֩ | yilmedu | they will learn | H3925 → | 85 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דַּֽרְכֵ֨י | darkhei | [the] ways of | H1870 → | 707 times |
| עַמִּ֜י | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לְהִשָּׁבֵ֤עַ | lehishavea' | to swear | H7650 → | 186 times |
| בִּשְׁמִי֙ | bishmi | by name my | H8034 → | 864 times |
| חַי־ | chai- | [by] [the] life of | H2416 → | 498 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לִמְּדוּ֙ | limedu | they taught | H3925 → | 85 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַמִּ֔י | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לְהִשָּׁבֵ֖עַ | lehishavea' | to swear | H7650 → | 186 times |
| בַּבָּ֑עַל | babaal | by <the> Baal | H1168 → | 82 times |
| וְנִבְנ֖וּ | venivnu | and they will be built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| בְּת֥וֹךְ | betokh | in among | H8432 → | 418 times |
| עַמִּֽי׃ | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וְהָיָ֡הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
אִם־<if>
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
לָמֹ֣דcertainly [if] <learn>
lamodH3925 →85 times
יִלְמְדוּ֩they will learn
yilmeduH3925 →85 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דַּֽרְכֵ֨י[the] ways of
darkheiH1870 →707 times
עַמִּ֜יpeople my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
לְהִשָּׁבֵ֤עַto swear
lehishavea'H7650 →186 times
בִּשְׁמִי֙by name my
bishmiH8034 →864 times
חַי־[by] [the] life of
chai-H2416 →498 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֤רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
לִמְּדוּ֙they taught
limeduH3925 →85 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַמִּ֔יpeople my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
לְהִשָּׁבֵ֖עַto swear
lehishavea'H7650 →186 times
בַּבָּ֑עַלby <the> Baal
babaalH1168 →82 times
וְנִבְנ֖וּand they will be built
venivnuH1129 →376 times
בְּת֥וֹךְin among
betokhH8432 →418 times
עַמִּֽי׃people my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 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 3:17At that time Jerusalem will be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations will be gathered in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. They will no longer follow the…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 43:7
and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house…
- Jeremiah 17:12
A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.
- Micah 4:1–5
In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to…
- Ezekiel 43:7
Through
Joshua 23:7So you are not to associate with these nations that remain among you. You must not call on the names of their gods or swear by them, and you must not serve them or…
it leads to
- Exodus 23:13
Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.
- Psalms 16:4
Sorrows will multiply to those who chase other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood, or speak their names with my lips.
- Exodus 23:13
Through
Jeremiah 4:2and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him, and in Him they will glory.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 65:16
Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth, and whoever takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the former troubles…
- Isaiah 65:16
Through
Zechariah 2:11“On that day many nations will join themselves to the LORD, and they will become My people. I will dwell among you, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me…
it leads to
- Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign…
- Revelation 11:15
Through
Zephaniah 1:5those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven, those who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom,
it leads to
- 2 Kings 17:33
They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away.
- 2 Kings 17:33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 3:12.