Jeremiah 9:5

Lexham English Bible

Contextual Overview

¹ Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night, for the slain of the daughter of my people. ² Oh that I had in the desert a place of overnight lodging for travelers, that I may leave my people and go from them, for all of them are adulterers, a band of traitors. ³ And they bend their tongue like their bow, for falsehood and not truth is superior in the land, for they go forth from evil to evil, and they do not know me," declares Yahweh. ⁴ "Let everyone be on your guard against his neighbor, and you must not trust in any brother, for everyone surely betrays, and every neighbor goes about with slander. ⁵ And everyone deceives his neighbor, and they do not speak the truth, they have taught their tongues to speak lies, they are tired from going astray. ⁶ Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit, upon deceit they refuse to know me," declares Yahweh. ⁷ Therefore, thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Look, I am about to refine them, and I will test them, for what else can I do, because of the presence of the daughter of my people? ⁸ Their tongue is a murderous arrow, it speaks deceit. With his mouth he speaks peace with his neighbor, but in his inner parts he sets up his ambush. ⁹ Because of these things shall I not punish them?" declares Yahweh, "On a nation that is like this shall I not take revenge? ¹⁰ For the mountains I lift up weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the desert a lament, because they are laid waste so that no man passes through. And the sounds of cattle are not heard, from the birds of heaven to the animals they have fled, they are gone.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

they will: Jeremiah 9:5, Jeremiah 9:8, Isaiah 59:13-15, Micah 6:12, Ephesians 4:25

deceive: or, mock, Job 11:3

taught: Jeremiah 9:3, Job 15:5, Psalms 50:19, Psalms 64:3, Psalms 140:3, 1 Timothy 4:2

weary: Genesis 19:11, Psalms 7:14, Proverbs 4:16, Isaiah 5:18, Isaiah 41:6, Isaiah 41:7, Isaiah 44:12-14, Isaiah 57:10, Ezekiel 24:12, Micah 6:3, Habakkuk 2:13

Reciprocal: Leviticus 6:2 - deceived Judges 14:20 - his friend 2 Kings 5:22 - My master Job 6:15 - My brethren Psalms 109:2 - with Psalms 116:11 - All Jeremiah 13:23 - accustomed Malachi 2:10 - why

Cross-References

Genesis 9:1
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

Genesis 9:9
"As for me, behold, I am establishing my covenant with you and with your seed after you,

Genesis 9:10
and with every living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and every animal of the earth with you, from all that came out of the ark to all the animals of the earth.

Genesis 9:28
And Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.

Genesis 9:29
And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.

Exodus 20:13
"You shall not murder.

Exodus 21:12
"‘Whoever strikes someone and he dies will surely be put to death.

Leviticus 19:16
You shall not go about with slander among your people; you shall not endanger your neighbor's life; I am Yahweh.

Psalms 9:12
for he who avenges bloodshed remembers them. He does not forget the distressed cry of the afflicted.

Matthew 23:35
so that upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of righteous Abel up to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they will deceive everyone his neighbour,.... In conversation, with lying words; and in trade and commerce, by art and tricking:

and will not speak the truth; with respect to facts they report, or goods they sell:

they have taught their tongue to speak lies; and become so accustomed to lying that they cannot do otherwise; it is as it were natural to them:

and weary themselves to commit iniquity; spared no pains to come at it, nor any in it, and go on even to weariness; are more laborious and indefatigable in committing sin than good men are in doing good; which shows great folly and stupidity. The Targum is,

"they are become foolish, they have erred.''

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

From their punishment the prophet now turns to their sins.

Jeremiah 9:2

The prophet utters the wish that he might be spared his daily striving, and in some lone wilderness give way to his sorrow, without restraint.

A lodging place - It was usual to build in the desert, either by private charity or at the public expense, caravanserais, to receive travelers for a single night, who had however to bring their own supplies with them.

An assembly - Or, a gang.

Treacherous - Faithless toward one another.

Jeremiah 9:3

Rather, “And they bend their tongue to be their bow of lies, i. e.” just as men before a battle get their bows ready, so they of set purpose make ready to do mischief, only their arrows are lying words: “neither do they rule faithfully in the land, i. e.” Judaea.

Jeremiah 9:4

In a state of such utter lawlessness, the bonds of mutual confidence are relaxed, and suspicion takes its place.

Utterly supplant - An allusion to the name of Jacob Genesis 27:36. It might be rendered, “every brother is a thorough Jacob.”

Will walk with slanders - Or, slandereth.

Jeremiah 9:6

A continuation of the warning given in Jeremiah 9:4. “Trust no one: for thou dwellest surrounded by deceit on every side.” Their rejection of God is the result of their want of honesty in their dealings with one another 1 John 4:20.

Jeremiah 9:7

I will melt them, and try them - The punishment is corrective rather than retributive. The terms used are those of the refiner of metals, the first being the smelting to separate the pure metal from the ore; the second the testing to see whether the metal is pure, or still mixed with alloy. God will put the nation into the crucible of tribulation, that whatever is evil being consumed in the fire, all there is in them of good may be purified.

For how shall I do ... - Rather, “for how” else could I act with reference to the “daughter of my people?”

Jeremiah 9:8

An arrow shot out - Rather, “a murderous arrow.”

In heart he layeth his wait - Rather, “inwardly he layeth his ambush.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 9:5. And weary themselves to commit iniquity. — O, what a drudgery is sin! and how much labour must a man take in order to get to hell! The tenth part of it, in working together with God, would bring him to the gate of glory.