Jeremiah 17:19
in Jeremiah 17This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and stand at the gate of the people, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; and stand at all the other gates of Jerusalem.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus said Jehovah unto me: Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
KJV
Thus said the Lord unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 17
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThus said the Lord unto me,.... Here begins a new sermon or discourse, concerning the sanctification of the sabbath, and a very proper place to begin a new chapter: Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people; where there were great numbers of people passing and repassing; and whither the people resorted upon one account or another; or where they dwelt. Some particular gate of the city of Jerusalem seems to be meant; and not the gate of the temple, as Abarbinel.
This site's exposition
Go and stand at the gate of the people
on Jeremiah 17:19-27
Jeremiah must stand at the gate the kings of Judah use and preach one commandment. The fathers heard the same command, and “they stiffened their necks”. Obedience would bring kings into a city “inhabited forever”, and disobedience “an unquenchable fire in its gates”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 19, 20.) This is what the Lord says to me: Go and stand at the gate (or gates) of the people's children: through which the kings of Judah enter and exit, in all the gates of Jerusalem. And you shall say to them; Listen to the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, and all Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter through these gates.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
These verses are a sermon concerning sabbath-sanctification. It is a word which the prophet received from the Lord, and was ordered to deliver in the most solemn and public manner to the people; for they were sent not only to reprove sin, and to press obedience, in general, but they must descend to particulars.
The people had asked ( ch. xvi. 10 ), What is our iniquity, and what is our sin? as if they could not be charged with any thing worth speaking of, for which God should enter into judgment with them; their challenge was answered there, but here we have a further reply to it, in which, I.
It is a matter of great and general concern; therefore let all take notice of it. Let the kings of Judah hear the word of the Lord (for, high as they are, he is above them), and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for, mean as they are, he takes notice of them, and of what they say and do on sabbath days. How the sabbath is to be sanctified, and what is the law concerning it,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
This prophecy on the observance of the Sabbath, is the first of a series of short predictions. arranged probably in chronological order among themselves, but in other respects independent of one another. Its tone is mild, and dissuasive rather of future neglect than condemnatory of past misconduct; and it may be assigned to the commencement of Jehoiakim’s reign. Its similarity to the prophecy contained in Jer 22:1-5 makes it probable that they were contemporaneous. Jer 17:19 The gate of the children of the people - Perhaps the principal entrance of the outer court of the temple.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The gate of the children of the people - I suppose the most public gate is meant; that through which there was the greatest thoroughfare.
How the passage was read
On Jeremiah 17:19-27On Jeremiah 17:19-27
Burdens through the gates
Jeremiah stands in Jerusalem's gates and warns: “bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.” The written Sabbath command says “no work”; this prophetic oracle is the clearest Scripture naming CARRYING as the work in view, and it became the root of the tradition's rule against carrying from one domain to another on the Sabbath, the last of the Mishnah's thirty-nine categories of forbidden labor (Shabbat 7:2). The categories are kept by observant Jews to this day, which is why traditional neighborhoods build an eruv, a boundary that legally merges private domains so families can carry outdoors on the day.
This passage is the live background of John 5:10: “It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.” The objectors are standing on Jeremiah's oracle as the tradition had built on it. The healed man's mat, not his healing, is what the rule could name.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Shabbat 7:2 (the thirty-nine categories; carrying is the last)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֨ר | ʾamar | he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֜ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֵלַ֗י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָלֹ֤ךְ | halokh | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְעָֽמַדְתָּ֙ | veamadta | and you will stand | H5975 → | 521 times |
| בְּשַׁ֣עַר | beshaar | in [the] gate of | H8179 → | 374 times |
| בְּנֵֽי־ | benei- | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| הָעָ֔ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָבֹ֤אוּ | yavou | they go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בוֹ֙ | vo | in <the> it | ||
| מַלְכֵ֣י | malkhei | [the] kings of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יְהוּדָ֔ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| וַאֲשֶׁ֖ר | vaasher | and which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יֵ֣צְאוּ | yetzeu | they go out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| ב֑וֹ | vo | in <the> it | ||
| וּבְכֹ֖ל | uvekhol | and in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| שַׁעֲרֵ֥י | shaarei | [the] gates of | H8179 → | 374 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
כֹּה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַ֨רhe said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֜הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֵלַ֗יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
הָלֹ֤ךְgo
halokhH1980 →1546 times
וְעָֽמַדְתָּ֙and you will stand
veamadtaH5975 →521 times
בְּשַׁ֣עַרin [the] gate of
beshaarH8179 →374 times
בְּנֵֽי־[the] sons of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
הָעָ֔םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יָבֹ֤אוּthey go
yavouH935 →2568 times
בוֹ֙in <the> it
vo
מַלְכֵ֣י[the] kings of
malkheiH4428 →2525 times
יְהוּדָ֔הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
וַאֲשֶׁ֖רand which
vaasherH834 →5497 times
יֵ֣צְאוּthey go out
yetzeuH3318 →1067 times
ב֑וֹin <the> it
vo
וּבְכֹ֖לand in all
uvekholH3605 →5413 times
שַׁעֲרֵ֥י[the] gates of
shaareiH8179 →374 times
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃Jerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 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 7:2“Stand in the gate of the house of the LORD and proclaim this message: Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the LORD.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 26:2
“This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard of the house of the LORD and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all the cities of Judah who…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 26:2
Through
Jeremiah 26:2“This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard of the house of the LORD and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all the cities of Judah who…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:2
You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you.
- Acts 20:27
For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God.
- Matthew 28:20
and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
- Jeremiah 19:14
Then Jeremiah returned from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the courtyard of the house of the LORD and proclaimed to all the people,
- Jeremiah 1:17
Get yourself ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them, or I will terrify you before them.
- Deuteronomy 4:2
Through
Jeremiah 19:2and go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you,
it leads to
- Joshua 15:8
From there the border went up the Valley of Hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem) and ascended to the top of the hill that faces the Valley of Hinnom…
- Joshua 15:8
Through
Jeremiah 36:10From the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, which was in the upper courtyard at the opening of the New Gate of the house of the LORD, Baruch read from the scroll…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 36:11
When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll,
- Jeremiah 36:11
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.