Jeremiah 12:17
in Jeremiah 12But if they will not obey, then I will uproot that nation; I will uproot it and destroy it, declares the LORD.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But if they will not hear, then will I pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it, saith Jehovah.
KJV
But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.
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This verse in Jeremiah 12
Commentary
9 notes on this verseBut if they will not obey,.... Or "hear" (k); the word of the Lord, and hearken to the ministers of the Gospel, and be subject to the ordinances of it; or as the Targum, "will not receive instruction:'' I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord: root it up from being a nation, strip it of all its privileges and enjoyments, and destroy it with an everlasting destruction; see Zec 14:16. (k) ישמעו "audierint", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; "audient", Cocceius.
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
But if they will not obey
A nation that learns the ways of the LORD's people is established, and one that refuses to obey is uprooted. Matthew Henry reads the threat down to a single family or person. Adam Clarke notes that no trace remains of Moab, Ammon or the Chaldeans.
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 Awakening2 voices
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?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:84%@v1-3
): If there will not obey, if any of them continue to stand it out, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, that family, that particular person, saith the Lord. Those that will not be ruled by the grace of God shall be ruined by the justice of God. And, if disobedient nations shall be destroyed, much more disobedient churches from whom better things are expected.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I will - destroy that nation - Several of them did not obey, and are destroyed. Of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Chaldeans, not one vestige remains. The sixteenth verse is supposed to be a promise of the conversion of the Gentiles. See Eph 2:13-22. From the thirteenth verse to the end is a different discourse, and Dahler supposes it to have been delivered in the seventh or eighth year of the reign of Jehoiakim.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A 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 . . .
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִ֖ם | veim | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִשְׁמָ֑עוּ | yishmau | they will listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| וְנָ֨תַשְׁתִּ֜י | venatashti | and I will pluck up | H5428 → | 21 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַגּ֥וֹי | hagoy | the nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| הַה֛וּא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| נָת֥וֹשׁ | natoosh | plucking up | H5428 → | 21 times |
| וְאַבֵּ֖ד | veabed | and destroying | H6 → | 184 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ ס | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וְאִ֖םand if
veimH518 →1069 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִשְׁמָ֑עוּthey will listen
yishmauH8085 →1159 times
וְנָ֨תַשְׁתִּ֜יand I will pluck up
venatashtiH5428 →21 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַגּ֥וֹיthe nation
hagoyH1471 →561 times
הַה֛וּא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
נָת֥וֹשׁplucking up
natooshH5428 →21 times
וְאַבֵּ֖דand destroying
veabedH6 →184 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָֽה׃ סYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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 60:12For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly destroyed.
it leads to
- Isaiah 54:15
If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever assails you will fall before you.
- Zechariah 14:12–19
And this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in…
- Isaiah 14:2
The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD’s land. They will make captives of their…
- Psalms 2:12
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
- Isaiah 41:11
Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish.
- Isaiah 54:15
Through
Ezekiel 19:12But it was uprooted in fury, cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were stripped off and they withered; the fire consumed them.
it leads to
- Hosea 13:15
Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder…
- Ezekiel 17:10
Even if it is transplanted, will it flourish? Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes? It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.’”
- Isaiah 27:11
When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator…
- Hosea 13:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 3:12.