Jeremiah 24:6
in Jeremiah 24I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
KJV
For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 24
Commentary
7 notes on this verseChrist is a builder and architect, about whom it has been said in the prophets: "He will build my city, and he will turn back the captivity of my people." Thus the Lord said, "And I will build them up, and I will not tear them down." For the God who is good takes down certain buildings. For it is necessary that the building of unclean spirits be destroyed in us, and a temple to God be built in this way from virtues and right teachings so that his glory can be seen in it.
This site's exposition
Then the word of the LORD
on Jeremiah 24:4-7
The good figs are the exiles in Babylon: “so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place.” The promise takes up the verbs of Jeremiah's call at 1:10, “I will build them up and not tear them down.”
This site's exposition
I will keep My eyes on them
Build and plant are the words of Jeremiah's call (1:10), now used for the exiles. Henry compares the captivity to squaring rough stones for a building and pruning young trees for planting. The LORD's eyes stay on them for good.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter XXIV. - Verse 1ff.) The Lord showed me, and behold, two baskets (or baskets) full of figs, placed before the temple of the Lord. After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes, the craftsmen, and the captives from Jerusalem to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, like the figs that ripen early, and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten because they were bad. And the Lord said to me: What do you see, Jeremiah?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Their captivity was to square the rough stones and make them fit for his building, to prune up the young trees and make them fit for his planting. (6.) He engages to prepare them for these temporal mercies which he designed for them by bestowing spiritual mercies upon them,
For I will set mine eyes upon them for good,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
(Jer 12:15). not pull . . . down . . . not pluck . . . up--only partially fulfilled in the restoration from Babylon; antitypically and fully to be fulfilled hereafter (Jer 32:41;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
so will I recognize the exile of, etc. This is an inverted verse: So will I recognize for good the exile of Judah which I have already exiled, viz., Jeconiah and his exile.
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.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשַׂמְתִּ֨י | vesamti | and I will set | H7760 → | 584 times |
| עֵינִ֤י | ʾeini | eye my | H5869 → | 887 times |
| עֲלֵיהֶם֙ | ʾaleihem | on them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| לְטוֹבָ֔ה | letovah | for good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| וַהֲשִׁבֹתִ֖ים | vahashivotim | and I will bring back them | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאָ֣רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הַזֹּ֑את | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| וּבְנִיתִים֙ | uvenitim | and I will build up them | H1129 → | 376 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶהֱרֹ֔ס | ʾeheros | I will tear [them] down | H2040 → | 43 times |
| וּנְטַעְתִּ֖ים | uneta'tim | and I will plant them | H5193 → | 58 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶתּֽוֹשׁ׃ | ʾetoosh | I will pluck [them] up | H5428 → | 21 times |
וְשַׂמְתִּ֨יand I will set
vesamtiH7760 →584 times
עֵינִ֤יeye my
ʾeiniH5869 →887 times
עֲלֵיהֶם֙on them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
לְטוֹבָ֔הfor good
letovahH2896 →538 times
וַהֲשִׁבֹתִ֖יםand I will bring back them
vahashivotimH7725 →1056 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָאָ֣רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
הַזֹּ֑את<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
וּבְנִיתִים֙and I will build up them
uvenitimH1129 →376 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
אֶהֱרֹ֔סI will tear [them] down
ʾeherosH2040 →43 times
וּנְטַעְתִּ֖יםand I will plant them
uneta'timH5193 →58 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
אֶתּֽוֹשׁ׃I will pluck [them] up
ʾetooshH5428 →21 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 29:10For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.
it leads to
- Daniel 9:2
in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
- Jeremiah 24:6–7
I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.
- Zechariah 7:5
“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted?
- Jeremiah 32:42–44
For this is what the LORD says: Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so I will bring on them all the good I have promised them.
- Daniel 9:2
Through
Jeremiah 12:15But after I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 49:6
Yet afterward I will restore the Ammonites from captivity,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 49:6
Through
Jeremiah 33:7I will restore Judah and Israel from captivity and will rebuild them as in former times.
it leads to
- Amos 9:14–15
I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
- Isaiah 1:26
I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as at the beginning. After that you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.”
- Jeremiah 30:3
For behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore from captivity My people Israel and Judah, declares the LORD. I will restore them to the land that I gave to…
- Amos 9:14–15
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS ON JEREMIAH 23.