Jeremiah 9:7
in Jeremiah 9Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of the daughter of My people?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how else should I do, because of the daughter of my people?
KJV
Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?
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This verse in Jeremiah 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 7.) Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will melt (or refine) and test them. For what else shall I do from the face of the daughter of my people (or what shall I do from the face of the malice of the daughter of my people)?
This site's exposition
I will refine them and test them
on Jeremiah 9:7-9
The words “I will refine them and test them” answer the deceit with the metalworker's remedy. The question “what else can I do because of the daughter of My people” states the LORD's own reluctance. The line “Their tongues are deadly arrows” returns to the chapter's opening charge.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Try them - By melting them, I will bring upon them, the fire of the Chaldean war, that shall purge away those deceits in which they trust, that the remnant may be purified. For how - I have tried all other means.
Those that will not know God as their lawgiver shall be made to know him as their judge. God determines here to bring his judgments upon them, for the refining of some and the ruining of the rest. [1.] Some shall be refined (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
I must do something to reduce and reform them." A parent corrects his own children because they are his own. Note, When God afflicts his people, it is with a gracious design to mollify and reform them; it is but when need is and when he knows it is the best method he can use. [2.] The rest shall be ruined (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... Because of this deceit and hypocrisy, and lying: behold, I will melt them, and try them: as the refiner does his gold and silver, by putting them into the fire of afflictions, and thereby remove their dross and corruption from them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Behold, I win melt them - I will put them in the furnace of affliction, and see if this will be a means of purging away their dross. See on Jer 6:27 (note).
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2274: “God's People Melted and Tried” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
OBSERVE, here, that God represents Himself as greatly concerned to know what to do with His people. Of course, He speaks after the manner of men, for, as the infinitely wise God, knowing all things from the beginning, Jehovah knew what He would do. But yet, in order that we may understand something of the workings of the Divine mind, He represents Himself as brought to a non-plus and saying, in the words of our text, "How shall I deal with the daughter of My people?"
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2274: “God's People Melted and Tried” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
OBSERVE, here, that God represents Himself as greatly concerned to know what to do with His people. Of course, He speaks after the manner of men, for, as the infinitely wise God, knowing all things from the beginning, Jehovah knew what He would do. But yet, in order that we may understand something of the workings of the Divine mind, He represents Himself as brought to a non-plus and saying, in the words of our text, "How shall I deal with the daughter of My people?" There are some men and women in the world who seem to greatly perplex those who love them and who desire their welfare. They are a great perplexity to those with whom they live and who labor for their good—and it seems as if God, Himself, regarded it as a matter of perplexity when He said, "How shall I deal with the daughter of My people?" But notice, next, the Lord is so resolved to save His people that He will use the sternest possible means rather than lose any of those whom He loves. He says here, "I will melt them, and try them; I will cast them into the furnace, and put them into the melting pot. I will make the fire so hot that their iron hearts shall melt and, though they are like Hell-hardened steel, devoid of feeling, I will make it so hot for them that they shall be melted. As men assay metal, pouring out the molten mass in a red-hot or white state, I will melt them and try them." Sinners, that God may save you, He will do the roughest things with you! He will not spare you any kind of sorrow here, or any sort of loss, or any measure of despair of spirit, so that He may bring you to Himself. He asks the question as though He were very anxious to avoid using His rough ways, "How shall I deal with the daughter of My people?" But He answers the question with all the severity of almighty love, "Behold, I will melt them, and try them.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֗ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| כֹּ֤ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֙ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֔וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| הִנְנִ֥י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| צוֹרְפָ֖ם | tzorfam | [am] about to refine them | H6884 → | 33 times |
| וּבְחַנְתִּ֑ים | uvechantim | and I will test them | H974 → | 29 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵ֣יךְ | ʾeikh | how? | H349 → | 82 times |
| אֶעֱשֶׂ֔ה | ʾeeseh | will I act | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֖י | mipenei | <from> because of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| בַּת־ | bat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| עַמִּֽי׃ | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
לָכֵ֗ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
כֹּ֤הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַר֙he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֔וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
הִנְנִ֥יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
צוֹרְפָ֖ם[am] about to refine them
tzorfamH6884 →33 times
וּבְחַנְתִּ֑יםand I will test them
uvechantimH974 →29 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֵ֣יךְhow?
ʾeikhH349 →82 times
אֶעֱשֶׂ֔הwill I act
ʾeesehH6213 →2628 times
מִפְּנֵ֖י<from> because of
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
בַּת־[the] daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
עַמִּֽי׃people my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 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
Zechariah 13:9This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They…
it leads to
- Psalms 50:15
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- Jeremiah 29:11–12
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
- Acts 2:21
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
- Isaiah 65:23–24
They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them.
- Isaiah 48:10
See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
- Psalms 50:15
Through
Isaiah 48:10See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
it leads to
- Proverbs 17:3
A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
- Job 23:10
Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
- Proverbs 17:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2274: “God's People Melted and Tried” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.