Jeremiah 6:21
in Jeremiah 6Therefore this is what the LORD says: “I will lay stumbling blocks before this people; fathers and sons alike will be staggered; friends and neighbors will perish.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people; and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them; the neighbor and his friend shall perish.
KJV
Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.
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This verse in Jeremiah 6
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
“Behold,” I give unto “this people” causes of stumbling, And they shall stumble against them: Fathers and sons together, “The neighbor and his friend shall perish.” This is the natural consequence of their conduct. Their service of Yahweh was a systematic hypocrisy: how then could they walk uprightly with their fellow-men? When God lays stumblingblocks in men’s way, it is by the general action of His moral law Jas 1:13-14, by which willful sin in one point reacts upon the whole moral nature Jas 2:10.
This site's exposition
frankincense from Sheba
on Jeremiah 6:20-21
Frankincense from Sheba and sweet cane “from a distant land” were brought at real cost, yet the LORD says “Your burnt offerings are not acceptable”. The “stumbling blocks before this people” fall on fathers and sons, friends and neighbors, reaching every relation the false peace had promised to protect.
This site's exposition
I will lay stumbling blocks before this people
Barnes reads the stumbling blocks as God's moral law, by which willful sin in one point spreads through the whole life, citing James 1:13-14. Their worship was hypocrisy, so their dealings with neighbors failed too. Fathers and sons fall together.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 21) Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will bring destruction upon this people, and they shall fall into it (whether weakness, and they shall be weakened by it), fathers and sons together, neighbor and friend, and they shall perish. We see all the things that the Lord has threatened against this people come to pass: for every day they fall into their blasphemies, and they have no strength within them, but every weakness is found among them.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He will make use of the Chaldeans as instruments of it; for whatever work God has to do he will find out proper instruments for the doing of it. This is a people fetched from the north, from the sides of the earth. Babylon itself lay a great way off northward; and some of the countries that were subject to the king of Babylon, out of which his army was levied, lay much further.
Therefore thus saith the Lord,.... Because of their immorality and hypocrisy, their contempt of his word, and confidence in legal rites and ceremonies: behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people; by which may be meant the judgments of God upon them, raising up enemies against them, and suffering them to invade their land; particularly the Assyrians, as the following words show.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֗ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| כֹּ֚ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הִנְנִ֥י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| נֹתֵ֛ן | noten | [am] about to give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָעָ֥ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֖ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| מִכְשֹׁלִ֑ים | mikhsholim | stumbling blocks | H4383 → | |
| וְכָ֣שְׁלוּ | vekhashelu | and they will stumble | H3782 → | 62 times |
| בָ֠ם | vam | over <the> them | ||
| אָב֨וֹת | ʾavot | fathers | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וּבָנִ֥ים | uvanim | and sons | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יַחְדָּ֛ו | yachdav | alike | H3162 → | 141 times |
| שָׁכֵ֥ן | shakhen | a neighbor | H7934 → | 20 times |
| וְרֵע֖וֹ | vereo | and friend his | H7453 → | 188 times |
| וְאָבָֽדוּ׃ פ | veabadu | and they will perish | H6 → | 184 times |
לָכֵ֗ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
כֹּ֚הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הִנְנִ֥יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
נֹתֵ֛ן[am] about to give
notenH5414 →2011 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָעָ֥םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֖ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
מִכְשֹׁלִ֑יםstumbling blocks
mikhsholimH4383 →
וְכָ֣שְׁלוּand they will stumble
vekhasheluH3782 →62 times
בָ֠םover <the> them
vam
אָב֨וֹתfathers
ʾavotH1 →1212 times
וּבָנִ֥יםand sons
uvanimH1121 →4930 times
יַחְדָּ֛וalike
yachdavH3162 →141 times
שָׁכֵ֥ןa neighbor
shakhenH7934 →20 times
וְרֵע֖וֹand friend his
vereoH7453 →188 times
וְאָבָֽדוּ׃ פand they will perish
veabaduH6 →184 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 8:14And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:8
and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.
- Romans 9:32–33
Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
- Isaiah 28:16
So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.
- 1 Peter 2:8
Through
Ezekiel 3:20Now if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die in his…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 18:24
But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. Because of…
- Ezekiel 33:12–13
Therefore, son of man, say to your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression; neither will the wickedness of the wicked man cause him…
- Ezekiel 18:26
If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, he will die for this. He will die because of the iniquity he has committed.
- Ezekiel 18:24
Through
Jeremiah 13:16Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.
it leads to
- Isaiah 59:9
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
- Isaiah 8:22
Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.
- Isaiah 59:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
