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Jeremiah 17

ירמיהו פרק י״ז

Section: נביאים · נביאים אחרונים | Book: Jeremiah | Chapter: 17 of 52 | Day: 230 of 742

Date: September 29, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

Chapter 17 is one of the most anthologized chapters in Yirmiyahu, and part of what makes it memorable is that it is not a single sustained oracle but a collection of short, sharply cut units — an indictment, a pair of wisdom poems, a proverb, a doxology, a personal lament, and finally a long prose sermon about Shabbat. The chapter moves from the interior of the human heart to the gates of the city, and the thread that ties these apparently disparate pieces together is the question of where a person places his trust and what that trust inscribes on him. The opening image sets the terms: the sin of Yehudah is written with a stylus of iron and an adamant point (בעט ברזל בצפרן שמיר), engraved on the tablet of their heart and on the horns of their altars. Rashi treats the iron pen as a mashal for depth of engraving — it is cut so deep that it cannot be erased — and Radak develops the same figure at length, noting that what is chiseled into stone endures forever, and that the heart itself has become the hard stone on which the writing is cut. The choice of the word luach, tablet, is deliberate and painful: the same surface that once received the Ten Commandments now carries the record of idolatry.

From that indictment the chapter turns, in verses 5 through 8, to the great contrast between two kinds of trust. Cursed is the man who trusts in flesh (ארור הגבר אשר יבטח באדם), who makes mere flesh his arm and whose heart turns from God; he is like a solitary shrub in the wilderness, planted in scorched and salt-sodden ground, who will not see good when it comes. Against him stands the blessed man whose trust is God (ברוך הגבר אשר יבטח בה׳), who is like a tree planted by water, sending its roots out to the stream, that does not feel the heat when heat comes, whose leaf stays green, and that does not cease from bearing fruit even in a year of drought. Rashi reads the curse concretely as the farmer who will not keep the sabbatical year because he does not believe the promise of the blessing of the sixth year, which anchors an abstract meditation on bitachon in a specific mitzvah — and in doing so quietly anticipates the Shabbat oracle that closes the chapter. Metzudat David captures the reciprocity in a single line on verse 7: as he trusts in God, so God becomes his security and his help. The two trees are not merely images of reward and punishment; they are images of rootedness. The desert shrub has no access to water beyond what falls on it; the planted tree has sent its roots somewhere permanent.

At the hinge of the chapter stands its most famous line: the heart is devious above all and it is sick, who can know it (עקב הלב מכל ואנש הוא מי ידענו). Rashi reads the verse as the self-deceiving thought of the sinner himself — he imagines that no one can recognize what is in him — and the next verse answers him immediately in the divine voice: I the Lord search the heart and test the kidneys, to give to each man according to his ways. Metzudat David spells out the logic: God examines the thoughts of the heart in order to repay a person according to the ways of his heart and the fruit of his deeds. The pairing is essential. The chapter has just told us that sin is engraved on the tablet of the heart; now it tells us who reads that tablet. The proverb of the partridge in verse 11, which gathers chicks it did not hatch, extends the same theme outward to money: wealth gathered unjustly abandons its owner in the middle of his days, and at his end he is a naval. Rashi explains that the chicks called by that bird will not follow it when they grow, because they are not of its kind — a precise image for property that never truly belonged to the one who amassed it.

The two verses that follow lift the chapter into liturgy. O throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, the place of our sanctuary (כסא כבוד מרום מראשון מקום מקדשנו); O hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be shamed. Rashi explains that because Yirmiyahu wishes to say that those who abandon God will be put to shame, he opens with praise of the Omnipresent, whose throne of glory faces the Sanctuary below. Metzudat David makes the correspondence explicit — just as the Shechinah dwells in the heavens, so it dwells in the Beit HaMikdash. Against the living waters of that source, the chapter’s earlier desert imagery gains its full force: those who forsake God have abandoned מקור מים חיים, and that is precisely why they end as shrubs in salt land. Out of this doxology comes Yirmiyahu’s own cry, one of the most moving of his confessions: heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed (רפאני ה׳ וארפא), save me and I shall be saved. He protests that he never pressed for the day of disaster, that he did not flee from being a shepherd after God, and that everything on his lips was open before Him. What wounds him is the mockery of his listeners in verse 15 — where is the word of the Lord, let it come now — which Rashi glosses simply as the retribution you keep prophesying. The prophet’s vindication and the people’s ruin have become the same event, which is why his lament is so agonized.

The chapter then shifts registers entirely, from poetry to prose, as Yirmiyahu is sent to stand in the People’s Gate through which the kings of Yehudah enter and go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, to deliver an oracle about Shabbat. Guard yourselves for your souls, he says: do not carry a burden on the Shabbat day, do not bring it through the gates of Jerusalem, do not carry burdens out of your houses, do no work, and sanctify the day as it was commanded to your fathers. Metzudat David reads the opening warning as guarding yourselves in a matter on which the preservation of your souls depends. The choice of Shabbat is not arbitrary. Shabbat is the sign of the covenant, the weekly testimony that the world has an Owner, and its desecration at the city gates is the public commercial face of the private idolatry engraved on the heart in verse 1. The oracle closes with a conditional pair that gives the whole chapter its final architecture: if they keep the day, kings sitting on the throne of David will enter these gates riding in chariot and on horses, with their officers and the people of Yehudah, and the city will be inhabited forever, with offerings streaming in from the Shephelah, the hill country, the Negev and the land of Binyamin; if they do not, God will kindle a fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume its citadels and never be extinguished. The same gates, and the same word bo, to enter, carry both possibilities. The chapter that began with sin cut into the heart with an iron point ends by placing the outcome of the whole city in the hands of one weekly act of restraint.

פרק י״ז · Chapter 17

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

חַטַּ֣את יְהוּדָ֗ה כְּתוּבָ֛ה בְּעֵ֥ט בַּרְזֶ֖ל בְּצִפֹּ֣רֶן שָׁמִ֑יר חֲרוּשָׁה֙ עַל־ל֣וּחַ לִבָּ֔ם וּלְקַרְנ֖וֹת מִזְבְּחוֹתֵיכֶֽם׃

English:

The guilt of Judah is inscribed With a stylus of iron, Engraved with an adamant point On the tablet of their hearts, And on the horns of their altars,

The chapter opens with a devastating image: the sin of Yehudah is written with a stylus of iron and engraved with an adamant point (bet ayin-tet barzel, be-tzipporen shamir) on the tablet of their heart and on the horns of their altars. Rashi reads the iron pen as a mashal for depth -- it is cut so deep that it cannot be erased -- while Radak develops the same figure at length, arguing that the heart itself has become the hard stone on which the writing is chiseled. The word luach, tablet, is pointed: the surface that once received the Ten Commandments now carries the record of idolatry.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
בעט ברזל. משל הוא כלומר חקוקה בשיקוע ואין נוחה למחוק, ומדרש אגדה בעט ברזל בצפורן שמיר על ידי ירמיה שנקרא עמוד ברזל ועל ידי יחזקאל שנאמר לו כשמיר חזק מצור נתתי מצחך: חרושה. חקוקה כזה שהוא חורש בעומק: על לוח לבם. שאינם שוכחין עכו"ם שלהם:
with a pen of iron This is an allegory. That is to say that it is deeply engraved, and cannot be erased. And the Midrash Aggadah explains: with a pen of iron, with a diamond point, preserved by Jeremiah, called 'an iron wall,' and by Ezekiel, to whom it was said (3:9): "As a diamond, harder than flint have I made your forehead." engraved Engraved like one who plows deeply. on the tablet of their heart that they do not forget their idolatry.

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

כִּזְכֹּ֤ר בְּנֵיהֶם֙ מִזְבְּחוֹתָ֔ם וַאֲשֵׁרֵיהֶ֖ם עַל־עֵ֣ץ רַעֲנָ֑ן עַ֖ל גְּבָע֥וֹת הַגְּבֹהֽוֹת׃

English:

While their children remember Their altars and sacred posts, By verdant trees, Upon lofty hills.

Their children remember the altars and the asherim by every green tree and on the high hills -- idolatry has become a family inheritance passed down without effort. Rashi compares the affection with which they recalled their altars to the longing of a father for his son, and Metzudat David reads the verse as saying that just as they constantly remember their children, so they constantly remember their shrines.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כזכור בניהם מזבחותם. כזכירת בניהם כן היתה להם זכירת מזבחותם כאדם שיש לו געגועין על בנו: ואשריהם. אשר על עץ רענן על עץ כמו אצל וכת"י תחות כל אילן עבוף:
As they remember their children, [so do they remember] their altars Like the remembrance of their children, so was the remembrance of their altars to them, like a man who longs for his son. and their asherim which are by the green trees. by...trees like אֵצֶּל, by. And Jonathan renders in this manner. under every green tree.

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

הֲרָרִי֙ בַּשָּׂדֶ֔ה חֵילְךָ֥ כׇל־אוֹצְרוֹתֶ֖יךָ לָבַ֣ז אֶתֵּ֑ן בָּמֹתֶ֕יךָ בְּחַטָּ֖את בְּכׇל־גְּבוּלֶֽיךָ׃

English:

Because of the sin of your shrines Throughout your borders, I will make your rampart a heap in the field, And all your treasures a spoil.

Because of the sin of the high places throughout the borders, God will give the mountain in the field, its wealth and all its treasures, as plunder. Rashi identifies the 'mountain in the field' as Jerusalem, set on a hill with a plain of fields all around it, and reads 'chelcha' as mamoncha, your money -- the city's accumulated wealth becomes the very thing that is carried off.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
הררי בשדה. ירושלים היושבת בהר המישור כל סביב העיר מישור שדה ול' הררי כמו ערבי (ישעיה יג) על שם שיושב בערבה מונטיינד"ש בלעז יושבי ההר (ס"א יושבת ההר): חילך. כמו ממונך: במותיך בחטאת. במותך עשויות בחטא לשם עכו"ם בכל גבוליך:
You, who sit upon the mountain in the field Jerusalem that is situated on the mountain of the plain. All around the city is a fielded plain. The structure of הֲרָרִי is like עֲרָבִי, called so because he dwells in the plain (עֲרָבָה) (montanyers in O.F), mountain dwellers (other versions: a mountain dweller). your substance like מָמוֹנְךָ, your money. Your high places are made for sin Your high places are made in sin for the purpose of idolatry within all your borders.

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

וְשָׁמַטְתָּ֗ה וּבְךָ֙ מִנַּחֲלָֽתְךָ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נָתַ֣תִּי לָ֔ךְ וְהַעֲבַדְתִּ֙יךָ֙ אֶת־אֹ֣יְבֶ֔יךָ בָּאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹא־יָדָ֑עְתָּ כִּֽי־אֵ֛שׁ קְדַחְתֶּ֥ם בְּאַפִּ֖י עַד־עוֹלָ֥ם תּוּקָֽד׃ {ס}         

English:

You will forfeit, by your own act, The inheritance I have given you; I will make you a slave to your enemies In a land you have never known. For you have kindled the flame of My wrath That shall burn for all time.

They will release the inheritance God gave them and be made to serve their enemies in a land they have not known, because they have kindled a fire in God's anger that burns forever. Rashi hears in 've-shamattah' the land's forced release -- the shemittah years they refused to keep will be taken from them by exile instead, so that the land finally rests without them.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
ושמטתה. על כרחך תשמט ארצך את אשר לא שבתה בשבתותיכם שאמרתי לכם ושבתה הארץ (ויקרא כ״ה:ב׳): ובך. אנקם מחמת נחלתך אשר נתתי לך שלא עשית רצוני להשמיטה, ד"א ובך מנחלתך ובך אנקם מנחלתך שאגלה אותך ממנה: כי אש קדחתם באפי. יקדתם בנחירי:
And you shall release Perforce you will release your land for the time that it did not rest on your Sabbaths, which I said to you (Lev. 25:2), "And the land shall rest a Sabbath for the Lord." of you I will avenge Myself of you because of your heritage that I gave you, that you did not perform My will to release it. Another explanation: even of you, from your heritage; I will avenge Myself of you from your heritage, that I will exile you from it. for you have kindled fire in My nostrils Heb. קְדַכְתֶּם.

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

כֹּ֣ה ׀ אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֗ה אָר֤וּר הַגֶּ֙בֶר֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִבְטַ֣ח בָּאָדָ֔ם וְשָׂ֥ם בָּשָׂ֖ר זְרֹע֑וֹ וּמִן־יְהֹוָ֖ה יָס֥וּר לִבּֽוֹ׃

English:

Thus said GOD: Cursed is the man who trusts in mortals, Who makes mere flesh his strength, And turns his thoughts from GOD.

The first of the chapter's paired wisdom sayings: cursed is the man who trusts in flesh (arur ha-gever asher yivtach ba-adam), who makes mortal flesh his arm and whose heart turns from God. Rashi gives this a strikingly concrete reading -- the farmer who says 'I will sow in the seventh year and eat,' trusting his own plowing rather than the promise of the sixth-year blessing. Metzudat David explains the phrase simply: he places his strength and confidence in flesh and blood and removes his heart from trusting in God.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
אשר יבטח באדם. בחרישו וקצירו לומר אזרע בשביעית ואוכל: זרועו. כמו עזרו וכן תרגם יונתן רוחצניה: ומן ה' יסור לבו. שהבטיחו וצויתי את ברכתי לכם (שם) כך שמעתי:
who trusts in man In his plowing and his harvest, saying, "I will sow during the seventh year and I will eat." his arm Like 'his help,' and so did Jonathan render: his trust. and whose heart turns away from the Lord Who promised him (Lev. 25:21), "And I will command My blessing to you." This is what I heard.

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

וְהָיָה֙ כְּעַרְעָ֣ר בָּעֲרָבָ֔ה וְלֹ֥א יִרְאֶ֖ה כִּֽי־יָ֣בוֹא ט֑וֹב וְשָׁכַ֤ן חֲרֵרִים֙ בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר אֶ֥רֶץ מְלֵחָ֖ה וְלֹ֥א תֵשֵֽׁב׃ {ס}         

English:

He shall be like a bush in the desert, Which does not sense the coming of good: It is set in the scorched places of the wilderness, In a barren land without inhabitant.

Such a man is like a lone shrub in the desert that will not see good when it comes, dwelling in scorched places, in salt land that is uninhabited. Rashi collects several views on ar'ar -- an expression of childlessness, or of desolation, or, per Menachem, the actual name of a forest tree -- and glosses the 'salt land' as ground so saline it will never be settled. The image is of rootlessness: nothing reaches the shrub but what happens to fall on it.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כערער. כעץ יחידי ל' ערירי (בראשית טו) ויש אומר דגאשטי"ה בלעז ומנחם פי' שם עץ מעצי היער וערער שמו וכן פי' כערער במדבר עץ אחד מעצי היער: בערבה. לשון מישור: חררים. יובש כמו חרה מני חורב (איוב ל׳:ל׳): ארץ מליחה. ארץ שהיא מליחה ולא תהא מיושבת:
like a lonely tree like a lonely tree, an expression of (Gen. 15:2) "Childless (עֲרִירִי)," and some say (degat in O.F) laid waste, and Menahem (Machbereth Menahem p. 137) explained: The name of a tree of the forest trees, and its name is ar'ar, and this is the explanation of (infra 48.6) "Like an 'aroer' in the desert," one of the trees of the forest. in the plain an expression of a plain. parched land aridness. Comp. (Job 30:30) "Became dry (חָרָה) from heat." salt-sodden soil Land that is salty and will not be settled.

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

בָּר֣וּךְ הַגֶּ֔בֶר אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְטַ֖ח בַּיהֹוָ֑ה וְהָיָ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה מִבְטַחֽוֹ׃

English:

Blessed is the man who trusts in GOD, Whose trust is GOD alone.

The counter-statement: blessed is the man who trusts in God, and God is his security (ve-hayah Hashem mivtacho). Metzudat David draws out the reciprocity in a single line -- exactly as he places his trust in God, so God becomes his security and his help. Trust here is not a mood but a relationship that is answered in kind.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

וְהָיָ֞ה כְּעֵ֣ץ ׀ שָׁת֣וּל עַל־מַ֗יִם וְעַל־יוּבַל֙ יְשַׁלַּ֣ח שׇׁרָשָׁ֔יו וְלֹ֤א (ירא) [יִרְאֶה֙] כִּי־יָ֣בֹא חֹ֔ם וְהָיָ֥ה עָלֵ֖הוּ רַעֲנָ֑ן וּבִשְׁנַ֤ת בַּצֹּ֙רֶת֙ לֹ֣א יִדְאָ֔ג וְלֹ֥א יָמִ֖ישׁ מֵעֲשׂ֥וֹת פֶּֽרִי׃

English:

He shall be like a tree planted by waters, Sending forth its roots by a stream: It does not sense the coming of heat, Its leaves are ever fresh; It has no care in a year of drought, It does not cease to yield fruit.

He is like a tree planted by water, sending its roots to the stream, that does not feel the heat when heat comes, whose leaf stays green, that has no anxiety in a year of drought and never ceases from yielding fruit. Rashi notes that the tree simply will not see the heat when it arrives, and that 'lo yid'ag' means it will not be afraid; he records both readings of batzoret, as famine and as fortification. The decisive difference from the shrub of verse 6 is not the weather but where the roots go.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
ולא יראה. העץ כי יבא חום: בצורת. ל' רעב פאמצ"א בלעז, ל"א בצורת ל' מבצר וכן חברו מנחם: לא ידאג. לא יפחד:
and will not see The tree will not see when heat comes. drought an expression of hunger, (famine in French). Another interpretation: בַּצֹרֶת is an expression of fortification (מִבְצָר), and in this manner, Menahem (Machbereth Menahem p. 47) classified it. will not be anxious will not be afraid.

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

עָקֹ֥ב הַלֵּ֛ב מִכֹּ֖ל וְאָנֻ֣שׁ ה֑וּא מִ֖י יֵדָעֶֽנּוּ׃

English:

Most devious is the heart; It is perverse—who can fathom it?

The most famous line in the chapter: the heart is devious above all and it is sick -- who can know it (akov ha-lev mi-kol ve-anush hu, mi yeda'enu). Rashi reads it as the sinner's own self-deceiving thought: full of pretext and deceit, he imagines that no one can recognize what is inside him. The question is left hanging for exactly one verse.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
עקוב הלב. מלא תואנה ועקובה מכל רעה: ואנוש. לשון חולי וחליו הוא זה: מי ידענו. הוא סבור מי ידענו אני ה' חוקרו:
The heart is deceitful Full of pretext and deceit of all evil. and when it is sick an expression of sickness, and this is its sickness. who recognizes it? He thinks, "Who recognizes it?" I, the Lord, search it.

פסוק י׳ · Verse 10

Hebrew:

אֲנִ֧י יְהֹוָ֛ה חֹקֵ֥ר לֵ֖ב בֹּחֵ֣ן כְּלָי֑וֹת וְלָתֵ֤ת לְאִישׁ֙ כִּדְרָכָ֔ו כִּפְרִ֖י מַעֲלָלָֽיו׃ {ס}         

English:

I GOD probe the heart, Search the mind— To repay each person according to their own ways, With the proper fruit of their deeds.

God answers the question of verse 9 in His own voice: I the Lord search the heart and test the kidneys, to give to each man according to his ways and the fruit of his deeds. Metzudat David explains that God examines the thoughts of the kidneys in order to repay a person according to the ways of his heart and the fruit of his deeds -- the thoughts being the deeds of the heart. The tablet engraved in verse 1 has a reader after all.

פסוק י״א · Verse 11

Hebrew:

קֹרֵ֤א דָגַר֙ וְלֹ֣א יָלָ֔ד עֹ֥שֶׂה עֹ֖שֶׁר וְלֹ֣א בְמִשְׁפָּ֑ט בַּחֲצִ֤י יָמָו֙ יַעַזְבֶ֔נּוּ וּבְאַחֲרִית֖וֹ יִהְיֶ֥ה נָבָֽל׃

English:

Like a partridge hatching what she did not lay So are those who amass wealth by unjust means; In mid-life it will leave them, And in the end they will be proved fools.

A proverb turns the theme toward money: like a partridge that gathers chicks it did not hatch, so is one who amasses wealth unjustly -- it will leave him in the midst of his days and at his end he will be a fool. Rashi explains that the chicks the bird calls will not follow it once they grow, since they are not of its kind, a precise image for property that never truly belonged to the one who collected it.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
קורא דגר. קוק"ו גלונצנ"ט בלעז: ולא ילד. הקורא הזה מושך אחריו אפרוחים שלא ילד דגר. ציפצוף שמצפצף העוף בקולו למשוך אפרוחין אחריו ואלו שהקורא דגר לא ילכו אחריו משיגדלו שאינם מינו כך עושה עושר ולא במשפט: יהיה נבל. מתקרי רשיעא:
The cuckoo calls (Coucou glousse in French). but has not laid This cuckoo draws after it chicks that it did not lay. דָגָר - This is the chirping which the bird chirps with its voice to draw the chicks after it, but those whom the cuckoo called will not follow it when they grow up for they are not of its kind. So is one who gathers riches but not by right. he stands dishonored He is called wicked.

פסוק י״ב · Verse 12

Hebrew:

כִּסֵּ֣א כָב֔וֹד מָר֖וֹם מֵרִאשׁ֑וֹן מְק֖וֹם מִקְדָּשֵֽׁנוּ׃

English:

O Throne of Glory exalted from of old, Our Sacred Shrine!

The chapter lifts into liturgy: O throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, the place of our sanctuary (kisei kavod marom me-rishon, mekom mikdashenu). Rashi explains that because the prophet is about to say that all who forsake God will be shamed, he opens with praise of the Omnipresent, whose throne of glory has stood since the creation of the world facing our Sanctuary. Metzudat David makes the correspondence explicit -- just as the Shechinah is in the heavens, so it rests in the Beit HaMikdash.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כסא כבוד וגו'. לפי שבא לומר כל עוזביך יבושו מתחיל בקילוסו של מקום ומדבר לפניו אתה שכסא כבוד ומרום מראשית בריאת עולם ומכוון כנגד מקדשנו:
As a Throne of Glory Since he wishes to state: All that forsake You shall be shamed, he commences with the praise of the Omnipresent, and says before Him, "You, Whose Throne of Glory is exalted from the beginning of the Creation of the world and is directed opposite our Sanctuary."

פסוק י״ג · Verse 13

Hebrew:

מִקְוֵ֤ה יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ יְהֹוָ֔ה כׇּל־עֹזְבֶ֖יךָ יֵבֹ֑שׁוּ (יסורי) [וְסוּרַי֙] בָּאָ֣רֶץ יִכָּתֵ֔בוּ כִּ֥י עָזְב֛וּ מְק֥וֹר מַֽיִם־חַיִּ֖ים אֶת־יְהֹוָֽה׃ {פ}

English:

O Hope of Israel! O ETERNAL One! All who forsake You shall be put to shame, Those in the land who turn from You Shall be doomed, For they have forsaken GOD, The Fount of living waters.

O hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be shamed; those who turn from You shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the fount of living waters (mekor mayim chayim). Rashi understands the ones 'written in the earth' as those who turn from the prophet's words and will be marked out in the graves below. The phrase mekor mayim chayim reaches back to the two trees of verses 6 and 8 -- abandoning the source of water is what leaves a person standing in salt land.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
מקוה ישראל. ה' יושב עליו לפיכך כל עוזביך יבושו: וסורי בארץ יכתבו. אותם שסרים מדברי שאינם שומעים שליחותי בקברות תחתיות ארץ יכתבו:
The Lord Who is the source of the hopes of Israel sits upon it. Therefore, all that forsake You shall be shamed. and they that turn away from me shall be marked on the earth Those who turn away from my words, who do not hearken to my message, will be marked out in the nether graves of the earth.

פסוק י״ד · Verse 14

Hebrew:

רְפָאֵ֤נִי יְהֹוָה֙ וְאֵ֣רָפֵ֔א הוֹשִׁיעֵ֖נִי וְאִוָּשֵׁ֑עָה כִּ֥י תְהִלָּתִ֖י אָֽתָּה׃

English:

Heal me, O ETERNAL One, and let me be healed; Save me, and let me be saved; For You are my glory.

Yirmiyahu's own cry breaks in: heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed, save me and I shall be saved, for You are my praise (ki tehillati atah). Rashi explains the last phrase as the prophet's boast -- he glories in God, declaring that God is his savior. The doubled verbs insist that healing is real only when it comes from its true source.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כי תהלתי אתה. בך אני מתהלל ומתפאר לומר שאתה מושיעי: תהלתי. וונטנצ"א בלעז:
for You are my praise I praise myself and boast with You, saying that You are my Savior. my praise (vantance in O.F.), boast.

פסוק ט״ו · Verse 15

Hebrew:

הִנֵּה־הֵ֕מָּה אֹמְרִ֖ים אֵלָ֑י אַיֵּ֥ה דְבַר־יְהֹוָ֖ה יָ֥בוֹא נָֽא׃

English:

See, they say to me: “Where is GOD’s prediction? Let it come to pass!”

The taunt that wounds him: they say to me, where is the word of the Lord, let it come now. Rashi glosses 'the word of the Lord' plainly as the retribution you keep prophesying -- the mockery is that nothing has happened yet. The prophet is caught in an unbearable position, since his vindication and his people's ruin would be the same event.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
איה דבר ה'. הפורעניות שאתה מתנבא:
"Where is the word of the Lord? The retribution which you prophesy.

פסוק ט״ז · Verse 16

Hebrew:

וַאֲנִ֞י לֹא־אַ֣צְתִּי ׀ מֵרֹעֶ֣ה אַחֲרֶ֗יךָ וְי֥וֹם אָנ֛וּשׁ לֹ֥א הִתְאַוֵּ֖יתִי אַתָּ֣ה יָדָ֑עְתָּ מוֹצָ֣א שְׂפָתַ֔י נֹ֥כַח פָּנֶ֖יךָ הָיָֽה׃

English:

But I have not evaded Being a shepherd in your service, Nor have I longed for the fatal day. You know the utterances of my lips, They were ever before You.

He protests that he never pressed for the disaster: I did not hurry away from being a shepherd after You, nor did I desire the fatal day, and what came from my lips was open before You. Rashi reads him as a good shepherd who did not rush God to bring the punishment but went after Him to beg mercy, and records the Targum's alternative, that he never held back from delivering the message that might have brought them to repentance.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
ואני לא אצתי. לא מהרתי לזרזך להביאם מהיות רועה טוב מחזר אחריך לבקש עליהם רחמים: ויום אנוש. חולי של פורענות לא התאויתי וי"ת ואנא לא ענבית על מימרך מלהתנבאה עליהון לאתבותהון לדחלתך ולפי התרגום יהיה אצתי ל' עכוב כלומר לא עכבתי מלומר להם שליחותיך ולהשיבם אליך אם היו שומעים אלי: מוצא שפתי נוכח פניך היה. להשיב את חמתך מהם:
But I did not hasten I did not hasten to urge You to bring them because I am a good shepherd, who goes after You to beg mercy for them. and...the woeful day The illness of their retribution I did not desire. Jonathan renders: And I did not hamper Your word from prophesying concerning them to return them to fear You. According to the Targum, אַצְתִּי is an expression of hampering. That is to say, I did not hesitate from telling them Your message and to return them to you if they would hearken to me. What came out of my lips was before Your face to return Your wrath from them.

פסוק י״ז · Verse 17

Hebrew:

אַל־תִּֽהְיֵה־לִ֖י לִמְחִתָּ֑ה מַחֲסִי־אַ֖תָּה בְּי֥וֹם רָעָֽה׃

English:

Do not be a cause of dismay to me; You are my refuge in a day of calamity.

Do not become a ruin to me (al tihyeh li li-mechittah) -- You are my refuge on the day of evil. Rashi sharpens the plea: let not Your mission itself become my downfall. Having been sent with a message that made him hated, Yirmiyahu asks that the sending not be the thing that destroys him.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
אל תהיה לי למחתה. אל יהי שליחותיך למחתה:
Let it not be to me for a ruin Let not Your mission be to me for a ruin.

פסוק י״ח · Verse 18

Hebrew:

יֵבֹ֤שׁוּ רֹֽדְפַי֙ וְאַל־אֵבֹ֣שָׁה אָ֔נִי יֵחַ֣תּוּ הֵ֔מָּה וְאַל־אֵחַ֖תָּה אָ֑נִי הָבִ֤יא עֲלֵיהֶם֙ י֣וֹם רָעָ֔ה וּמִשְׁנֶ֥ה שִׁבָּר֖וֹן שׇׁבְרֵֽם׃ {ס}         

English:

Let my persecutors be shamed, And let not me be shamed; Let them be dismayed, And let not me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of disaster, And shatter them with double destruction.

Let my pursuers be shamed and not me, let them be dismayed and not me; bring on them the day of evil and break them with a double breaking. Rashi limits the imprecation sharply -- he means the men of Anatot alone, the townsmen who plotted against him in chapter 11, not the nation at large.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
יבושו רודפי. אנשי ענתות לבדם:
May my pursuers be shamed i.e., the men of Anathoth alone.

פסוק י״ט · Verse 19

Hebrew:

כֹּה־אָמַ֨ר יְהֹוָ֜ה אֵלַ֗י הָלֹ֤ךְ וְעָֽמַדְתָּ֙ בְּשַׁ֣עַר בְּנֵֽי־[הָעָ֔ם] (עם) אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָבֹ֤אוּ בוֹ֙ מַלְכֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֔ה וַאֲשֶׁ֖ר יֵ֣צְאוּ ב֑וֹ וּבְכֹ֖ל שַׁעֲרֵ֥י יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃

English:

Thus said GOD to me: Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go forth, and in all the gates of Jerusalem,

The chapter shifts from poetry to prose as God sends Yirmiyahu to stand in the People's Gate, through which the kings of Yehudah enter and go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem. Metzudat David identifies it as the gate where the people are commonly found and which the kings of Yehudah use for entering and leaving -- the most public possible platform for the oracle that follows.

פסוק כ׳ · Verse 20

Hebrew:

וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲ֠לֵיהֶ֠ם שִׁמְע֨וּ דְבַר־יְהֹוָ֜ה מַלְכֵ֤י יְהוּדָה֙ וְכׇל־יְהוּדָ֔ה וְכֹ֖ל יֹשְׁבֵ֣י יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם הַבָּאִ֖ים בַּשְּׁעָרִ֥ים הָאֵֽלֶּה׃

English:

and say to them: Hear the word of GOD, O kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter by these gates!

פסוק כ״א · Verse 21

Hebrew:

כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה הִשָּׁמְר֖וּ בְּנַפְשׁוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם וְאַל־תִּשְׂא֤וּ מַשָּׂא֙ בְּי֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת וַהֲבֵאתֶ֖ם בְּשַׁעֲרֵ֥י יְרֽוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃

English:

Thus said GOD: Guard yourselves for your own sake against carrying burdens on the sabbath day, and bringing them through the gates of Jerusalem.

The command itself: guard yourselves for your souls, and do not carry a burden on the Shabbat day or bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem. Metzudat David reads 'hishameru be-nafshoteichem' as guarding yourselves in a matter on which the preservation of your souls depends -- the prohibition of hotza'ah, carrying from domain to domain, stated here at the city gates where commerce was conducted.

פסוק כ״ב · Verse 22

Hebrew:

וְלֹא־תוֹצִ֨יאוּ מַשָּׂ֤א מִבָּֽתֵּיכֶם֙ בְּי֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת וְכׇל־מְלָאכָ֖ה לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֑וּ וְקִדַּשְׁתֶּם֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוִּ֖יתִי אֶת־אֲבוֹתֵיכֶֽם׃

English:

Nor shall you carry out burdens from your houses on the sabbath day, or do any work, but you shall hallow the sabbath day, as I commanded your ancestors.

Nor shall you carry a burden out of your houses on Shabbat or do any work, but you shall sanctify the day as it was commanded to your fathers. Metzudat David explains 've-kiddashtem' as refraining from profaning the day with anything forbidden on Shabbat. The appeal to what was commanded to the fathers grounds the oracle in Sinai rather than in a new prophetic demand.

פסוק כ״ג · Verse 23

Hebrew:

וְלֹ֣א שָׁמְע֔וּ וְלֹ֥א הִטּ֖וּ אֶת־אׇזְנָ֑ם וַיַּקְשׁוּ֙ אֶת־עׇרְפָּ֔ם לְבִלְתִּ֣י (שומע) [שְׁמ֔וֹעַ] וּלְבִלְתִּ֖י קַ֥חַת מוּסָֽר׃

English:

(But they would not listen or turn their ear; they stiffened their necks and would not pay heed or accept discipline.)

A parenthetical indictment of the past: they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their necks so as not to hear or accept discipline. Rashi clarifies that this refers to the forefathers -- they did not hearken to what God commanded them -- so that the present generation is being asked to break a long inherited pattern rather than merely to obey a rule.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
ולא שמעו. אבותיכם למה שצויתים:
But they did not hearken i.e., your forefathers did not hearken to what I commanded them.

פסוק כ״ד · Verse 24

Hebrew:

וְ֠הָיָ֠ה אִם־שָׁמֹ֨עַ תִּשְׁמְע֤וּן אֵלַי֙ נְאֻם־יְהֹוָ֔ה לְבִלְתִּ֣י ׀ הָבִ֣יא מַשָּׂ֗א בְּשַׁעֲרֵ֛י הָעִ֥יר הַזֹּ֖את בְּי֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֑ת וּלְקַדֵּשׁ֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת לְבִלְתִּ֥י עֲשֽׂוֹת־בֹּ֖ה כׇּל־מְלָאכָֽה׃

English:

If you obey Me—declares GOD—and do not bring in burdens through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day and do no work on it,

The positive condition: if you truly listen to Me, bringing no burden through the gates of this city on Shabbat and sanctifying the day by doing no work on it. Metzudat David simply spells out the conditional -- if you will listen to Me not to bring in burdens and to sanctify Shabbat by doing no labor on it. Everything that follows hangs on this 'if'.

פסוק כ״ה · Verse 25

Hebrew:

וּבָ֣אוּ בְשַׁעֲרֵ֣י הָעִ֣יר הַזֹּ֡את מְלָכִ֣ים ׀ וְשָׂרִ֡ים יֹשְׁבִים֩ עַל־כִּסֵּ֨א דָוִ֜ד רֹכְבִ֣ים ׀ בָּרֶ֣כֶב וּבַסּוּסִ֗ים הֵ֚מָּה וְשָׂ֣רֵיהֶ֔ם אִ֥ישׁ יְהוּדָ֖ה וְיֹשְׁבֵ֣י יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם וְיָשְׁבָ֥ה הָעִיר־הַזֹּ֖את לְעוֹלָֽם׃

English:

then through the gates of this city shall enter kings who sit upon the throne of David, with their officers—riding on chariots and horses, they and their officers—and the citizenry of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited for all time.

Then kings sitting on the throne of David will enter these gates, riding in chariot and on horses, they and their officers, together with the people of Yehudah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. Metzudat David explains 'al kisei David' as the throne of kingship and 'ba-rechev' as the chariot made for riding, with the horses drawing it; 've-yashevah' means the city will be full of inhabitants. The same gates of verse 21 now carry a promise instead of a prohibition.

פסוק כ״ו · Verse 26

Hebrew:

וּבָ֣אוּ מֵעָרֵֽי־יְ֠הוּדָ֠ה וּמִסְּבִיב֨וֹת יְרוּשָׁלַ֜͏ִם וּמֵאֶ֣רֶץ בִּנְיָמִ֗ן וּמִן־הַשְּׁפֵלָ֤ה וּמִן־הָהָר֙ וּמִן־הַנֶּ֔גֶב מְבִאִ֛ים עוֹלָ֥ה וְזֶ֖בַח וּמִנְחָ֣ה וּלְבוֹנָ֑ה וּמְבִאֵ֥י תוֹדָ֖ה בֵּ֥ית יְהֹוָֽה׃

English:

And people shall come from the towns of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the Shephelah, and from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing offerings of thanksgiving to the House of GOD.

And they will come from the cities of Yehudah, from around Jerusalem, from the land of Binyamin, from the Shephelah, the hill country and the Negev, bringing olah and zevach, minchah and levonah, and thanksgiving offerings to the House of God. Metzudat David identifies the Shephelah as those dwelling in the valley and the Negev as those in the southern region -- a portrait of the whole land streaming toward a functioning Temple.

פסוק כ״ז · Verse 27

Hebrew:

וְאִם־לֹ֨א תִשְׁמְע֜וּ אֵלַ֗י לְקַדֵּשׁ֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת וּלְבִלְתִּ֣י ׀ שְׂאֵ֣ת מַשָּׂ֗א וּבֹ֛א בְּשַׁעֲרֵ֥י יְרוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם בְּי֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֑ת וְהִצַּ֧תִּי אֵ֣שׁ בִּשְׁעָרֶ֗יהָ וְאָ֥כְלָ֛ה אַרְמְנ֥וֹת יְרוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם וְלֹ֥א תִכְבֶּֽה׃ {פ}

English:

But if you do not obey My command to hallow the sabbath day and to carry in no burdens through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will set fire to its gates; it shall consume the fortresses of Jerusalem and it shall not be extinguished.

But if you do not listen to Me to sanctify the Shabbat day, and carry burdens in through the gates of Jerusalem on Shabbat, then I will kindle a fire in her gates and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem and will not be extinguished. Metzudat David reads the closing words as a fire that will not go out until it has burned everything. The chapter that began with sin engraved by an iron point ends by placing the fate of the whole city on one weekly act of restraint.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
ובא. כמו ולבא:
and to come like וְלָבֹא.

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