Jeremiah 17:24
in Jeremiah 17If, however, you listen carefully to Me, says the LORD, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and keep the Sabbath day holy, and do no work on it,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith Jehovah, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;
KJV
And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;
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This verse in Jeremiah 17
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Verse 20 and following) Thus says the Lord: Guard your souls, and do not carry burdens on the Sabbath day, or bring them through the gates of Jerusalem. And do not cast burdens out of your houses on the Sabbath day, and you shall not do any work, and sanctify the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they did not listen, nor inclined their ear, and they stiffened their necks (and what is not found in Hebrew, against their fathers), so that they would not listen to me, and would not receive discipline.
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”.
This site's exposition
If, however, you listen carefully to Me
The threat of ruin carries a door out of it. Adam Clarke notes that even after destruction was plainly threatened, a hidden condition stood. If Judah turned back to the LORD, the disaster would be turned away and kings of David's line would keep the throne.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
This is made an instance of their prosperity. Then a people truly flourish when religion flourishes among them. And this is the effect of sabbath-sanctification; when that branch of religion is kept up other instances of it are kept up likewise; but, when that is lost, devotion is lost either in superstition or in profaneness.
And it shall come to pass,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
If ye diligently hearken unto me - So we find that though their destruction was positively threatened, yet still there was an unexpressed proviso that, if they did return to the Lord, the calamities should be averted, and a succession of princes would have been continued on the throne of David, Jer 17:25, Jer 17:26.
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
24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְ֠הָיָה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | <if> | H518 → | 1069 times |
| שָׁמֹ֨עַ | shamoa' | certainly [if] <to listen> | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| תִּשְׁמְע֤וּן | tishmeun | you will listen ! | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֵלַי֙ | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְבִלְתִּ֣י׀ | levilti | to not | H1115 → | 112 times |
| הָבִ֣יא | havi' | to bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| מַשָּׂ֗א | masa' | a burden | H4853 → | 66 times |
| בְּשַׁעֲרֵ֛י | beshaarei | in [the] gates of | H8179 → | 374 times |
| הָעִ֥יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַזֹּ֖את | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| בְּי֣וֹם | beyom | on [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשַּׁבָּ֑ת | hashabat | the sabbath | H7676 → | 110 times |
| וּלְקַדֵּשׁ֙ | ulekadesh | and to set apart as holy | H6942 → | 171 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| י֣וֹם | yom | [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת | hashabat | the sabbath | H7676 → | 110 times |
| לְבִלְתִּ֥י | levilti | to not | H1115 → | 112 times |
| עֲשֽׂוֹת־ | ʾasot- | to do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בּ֖וֹ | boh | on <the> it | ||
| כָּל־ | kol- | any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מְלָאכָֽה׃ | melakhah | work | H4399 → | 167 times |
וְ֠הָיָהand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
אִם־<if>
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
שָׁמֹ֨עַcertainly [if] <to listen>
shamoa'H8085 →1159 times
תִּשְׁמְע֤וּןyou will listen !
tishmeunH8085 →1159 times
אֵלַי֙to me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְבִלְתִּ֣י׀to not
leviltiH1115 →112 times
הָבִ֣יאto bring
havi'H935 →2568 times
מַשָּׂ֗אa burden
masa'H4853 →66 times
בְּשַׁעֲרֵ֛יin [the] gates of
beshaareiH8179 →374 times
הָעִ֥ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
הַזֹּ֖את<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
בְּי֣וֹםon [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
הַשַּׁבָּ֑תthe sabbath
hashabatH7676 →110 times
וּלְקַדֵּשׁ֙and to set apart as holy
ulekadeshH6942 →171 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
י֣וֹם[the] day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
הַשַּׁבָּ֔תthe sabbath
hashabatH7676 →110 times
לְבִלְתִּ֥יto not
leviltiH1115 →112 times
עֲשֽׂוֹת־to do
ʾasot-H6213 →2628 times
בּ֖וֹon <the> it
boh
כָּל־any
kol-H3605 →5413 times
מְלָאכָֽה׃work
melakhahH4399 →167 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
Exodus 15:26saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then…
it leads to
- Psalms 103:3
He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,
- Deuteronomy 7:15
And the LORD will remove from you all sickness. He will not lay upon you any of the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict them on all who hate you.
- Exodus 23:25
So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you.
- Psalms 41:3–4
The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illness and restore him from his bed of sickness.
- Psalms 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
- Psalms 103:3
Through
Deuteronomy 11:13So if you carefully obey the commandments I am giving you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 10:12
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your…
- Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Deuteronomy 11:8
You shall therefore keep every commandment I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and possess the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,
- Deuteronomy 10:12
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.