Jeremiah 15:17
in Jeremiah 15I never sat with the band of revelers, nor did I celebrate with them. Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone, for You have filled me with indignation.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I sat not in the assembly of them that make merry, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand; for thou hast filled me with indignation.
KJV
I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
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This verse in Jeremiah 15
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Verse 17, 18.) I did not sit in the council of the jesters, and I boasted (or feared) from the face of your hand: I sat alone, for you filled me with bitterness ((Vulgate: threat)). Why has my pain become perpetual (or why do those who distress me, find comfort) and my incurable wound refuse to be healed (or my strong wound, from where shall I be cured)? It has become to me like the falsehood of unfaithful waters (or like water that deceives and lacks faith).
This site's exposition
remember me and attend to me
on Jeremiah 15:15-18
The complaint opens with a plea, “Avenge me against my persecutors”, then turns to gratitude, “Your words were found, and I ate them”. The turn in verse 18 is sudden, “Why is my pain unending”, and he says the LORD has become “like a mirage to me”.
This site's exposition
I never sat with the band of revelers
Jeremiah stayed away from the mockers, and his joy in verse 16 was a different joy from theirs. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the hand of God as his inspiration, and his faithful prophecies cut him off from company. He sat alone.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"I did not sit in the assembly of them when they made sport." If ever the prophet saw the assembly not of those in earnest but of those making sport, he fled from being gathered together rather than hastened toward the gathering of those making sport. You must, then, understand the difference between an assembly of those making sport and of those in earnest. This assembly is earnest and does all things with earnestness and things worthy of earnestness, and according to the saying: the word is earnestness, the life is earnestness, and altogether the assembly is not of those making sport, but of those in earnest. But whenever the assembly, forsaking the earnestness about necessary things, gives its leisure to the playthings of this age and to the playthings that come from wickedness, it becomes an assembly of those making sport. This one, then, says: "I did not sit in the assembly of them when they made sport, but I was in awe before the presence of your hand." Two things being set before me — to sit in the assembly of those making sport and to give offense to you the God and not to please you, or to rise up from the assembly of those making sport and to do the things that were dear to you — I chose rather to rise up from the assembly of those making sport and to be a friend to you, than, doing the contrary, to become an enemy to your blessedness. "I did not sit in the assembly of them when they made sport, but I was in awe before the presence of your hand." And our Savior did not sit "in the assembly of them when they made sport," but rose up away from them. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
. [1.] It was his comfort that he had given up himself wholly to the business of his office and had done nothing either to divert himself from it or disfit himself for it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
My "rejoicing" (Jer 15:16) was not that of the profane mockers (Ps 1:1; So far from having fellowship with these, he was expelled from society, and made to sit "alone," because of his faithful prophecies. because of thy hand--that is, Thine inspiration (Isa 8:11;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָשַׁ֥בְתִּי | yashavti | I sat | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בְסוֹד־ | vesod- | in [the] assembly of | H5475 → | 21 times |
| מְשַׂחֲקִ֖ים | mesachakim | merry makers | H7832 → | 36 times |
| וָֽאֶעְלֹ֑ז | vae'loz | and I rejoiced | H5937 → | 16 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֤י | mipenei | <from> because of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יָֽדְךָ֙ | yadekha | hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| בָּדָ֣ד | badad | alone | H910 → | |
| יָשַׁ֔בְתִּי | yashavti | I sat | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| זַ֖עַם | zaam | indignation | H2195 → | 22 times |
| מִלֵּאתָֽנִי׃ ס | miletani | you filled me | H4390 → | 249 times |
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָשַׁ֥בְתִּיI sat
yashavtiH3427 →1079 times
בְסוֹד־in [the] assembly of
vesod-H5475 →21 times
מְשַׂחֲקִ֖יםmerry makers
mesachakimH7832 →36 times
וָֽאֶעְלֹ֑זand I rejoiced
vae'lozH5937 →16 times
מִפְּנֵ֤י<from> because of
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
יָֽדְךָ֙hand your
yadekhaH3027 →1618 times
בָּדָ֣דalone
badadH910 →
יָשַׁ֔בְתִּיI sat
yashavtiH3427 →1079 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
זַ֖עַםindignation
zaamH2195 →22 times
מִלֵּאתָֽנִי׃ סyou filled me
miletaniH4390 →249 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
Psalms 1:1Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
it leads to
- Psalms 26:4–5
I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites.
- Proverbs 4:14–15
Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers.
- Proverbs 13:20
He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
- Psalms 119:1–2
Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of the LORD.
- Matthew 7:13–14
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
- Psalms 26:4–5
Through
Jeremiah 13:17But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
it leads to
- Malachi 2:2
If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse…
- Jeremiah 9:1
Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
- Jeremiah 14:17
You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow,…
- Malachi 2:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 14.