Jeremiah 12:6

Lexham English Bible

Contextual Overview

¹ You will be in the right, O Yahweh, when I complain to you. Even so, let me speak my claims with you. Why does the way of the wicked succeed? All those who deal treacherously with treachery are at ease. ² Not only do you plant them, they take root. They grow, but also they produce fruit. You are near in their mouths, but far from their inmost beings. ³ But you, O Yahweh, you know me, you see me, and you test that my heart is with you. Tear them apart like sheep for the slaughtering, and set them apart for the day of slaughter. ⁴ How long will the land mourn, and the vegetation of every field dry up, because of the wickedness of those who live in it? The animals and the birds are swept away, because they have said, "He does not see our future." ⁵ "If you run with foot soldiers and they have made you weary, then how will you compete with horses? If you have fallen in a peaceful land, then how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? ⁶ For even your relatives, and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you, even they call loudly after you. You must not trust in them, though they speak kindly to you.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

thy brethren: Jeremiah 9:4, Jeremiah 11:19, Jeremiah 11:21, Jeremiah 20:10, Genesis 37:4-11, Job 6:15, Psalms 69:8, Ezekiel 33:30, Ezekiel 33:31, Micah 7:5, Micah 7:6, Matthew 10:21, Mark 12:12, John 7:5

yea: Isaiah 31:4, Acts 16:22, Acts 18:12, Acts 19:24-29, Acts 21:28-30

have called: etc. or, cried after thee fully

though: Psalms 12:2, Proverbs 26:25, Matthew 22:16-18

fair words: Heb. good things

Reciprocal: Psalms 22:16 - assembly Psalms 31:11 - especially Song of Solomon 1:6 - my mother's Isaiah 24:16 - the treacherous Jeremiah 9:2 - an assembly Jeremiah 12:1 - deal Jeremiah 26:8 - the priests Habakkuk 1:4 - for Matthew 10:36 - General Mark 6:4 - General Luke 21:16 - ye shall John 7:3 - Depart

Cross-References

Genesis 10:15
Canaan fathered Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth,

Genesis 12:18
Then Pharaoh called for Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?

Genesis 12:19
Why did you say ‘She is my sister,' so that I took her to myself as a wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go."

Genesis 13:7
And there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of the livestock of Abram and the herdsmen of the livestock of Lot. Now at that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land.

Genesis 33:18
And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-Aram. And he camped before the city.

Genesis 34:2
And Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. And he took her and lay with her and raped her.

Genesis 35:4
So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their hands, and the ornamental rings that were in their ears. And Jacob buried them under the oak which was near Shechem.

Deuteronomy 11:30
(Are they not beyond the Jordan, toward the west, in the land of the Canaanites living in the Jordan Valley, opposite Gilgal beside the terebinth of Moreh?)

Joshua 20:7
So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

Joshua 24:32
The bones of Jacob, which the Israelites had brought out from Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in a piece of land that Jacob had bought from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money; it became an inheritance for the descendants of Joseph.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father,.... The men of Anathoth;

even they have dealt treacherously with thee; by laying schemes, and consulting methods, to take away his life privately; his enemies were those of his own house; which is oftentimes the case of good men, and especially of such that are in public office:

yea, they have called a multitude after thee; a multitude of men, which they gathered together, and instigated to call after him in a clamorous and reproachful way: or,

they called after thee with a full voice, as the Vulgate Latin z version renders it; and which De Dieu approves of; they not only gathered a mob about him, and drew men after him, but they hooted him as he went along, and called aloud after him, giving him the most reproachful names they could think of:

believe them not, though they speak fair words to thee; this must be understood of some of them, who did not appear so openly against him, as to call after him, or gather a mob about him; but of such who pretended to be his friends, and to have respect for him, and yet had evil designs against him, and therefore were not to be trusted; their words were not to be believed; their company to be shunned; nor was he safe in their houses; nor was it safe for him to be with them, to eat with them, or converse with them.

z המה קראו אחריך מלא "illi clamarunt post te plena voce", V. L. Tigurine version, Calvin; "pleno gutture", Piscator, Cosceius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Yahweh rebukes Jeremiah’s impatience, showing him by two proverbial sayings, that there were still greater trials of faith in store for him. Prosperous wickedness is after all a mere ordinary trial, a mere “running with the footmen;” he will have to exert far greater powers of endurance.

And if in the land ... - Rather, “and in a land of peace thou art secure; but how wilt thou do amid the pride of Jordan?” if thou canst feel safe only where things are tranquil, what wilt thou do in the hour of danger? The “pride of Jordan” is taken to, mean the luxuriant thickets along its banks, famous as the haunt of lions (compare Jeremiah 49:19; Jeremiah 50:44; Zechariah 11:3). What will the prophet do when he has to tread the tangled maze of a jungle with the lions roaring round him?

Jeremiah 12:6

Called a multitude - Rather, “called aloud.” Compare Jeremiah 4:5. In all this Jeremiah was the type of Christ (compare Zechariah 13:6; Mark 3:21; John 7:5).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 12:6. For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father — Thou hast none to depend on but God: even thy brethren will betray thee when they have it in their power.

Believe them not — Do not trust to them; do not commit thyself to them; they are in heart thy enemies, and will betray thee.