8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
The waters nourished it, the deep made it to grow: the rivers of it ran round about its plantation; and it sent out its channels to all the trees of the field. Therefore its stature was exalted above all the trees of the field; and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long by reason of many waters, when it shot [them] forth. All the birds of the sky made their nests in its boughs; and under its branches did all the animals of the field bring forth their young; and under its shadow lived all great nations. Thus was it beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir trees were not like its boughs, and the plane trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like it in its beauty. I made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it. Therefore thus said the Lord Yahweh: Because you are exalted in stature, and he has set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.
But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox. I am anointed with fresh oil. My eye has also seen my enemies. My ears have heard of the wicked enemies who rise up against me. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in Yahweh's house. They will flourish in our God's courts. They will still bring forth fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green, To show that Yahweh is upright. He is my rock, And there is no unrighteousness in him.
By the river on the bank of it, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food, whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall the fruit of it fail: it shall bring forth new fruit every month, because the waters of it issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit of it shall be for food, and the leaf of it for healing.
The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought. Judah mourns, and the gates of it languish, they sit in black on the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. Their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the cisterns, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads. Because of the ground which is cracked, because no rain has been in the land, the plowmen are disappointed, they cover their heads. Yes, the hind also in the field calves, and forsakes [her young], because there is no grass. The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights, they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no herbage.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 17
Commentary on Jeremiah 17 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Judah's sin is ineffaceably stamped upon the hearts of the people and on their altars. These four verses are closely connected with the preceding, and show why it is necessary that Judah be cast forth amidst the heathen, by reason of its being perfectly stepped in idolatry. Jeremiah 17:1. "The sin of Judah is written with an iron pen, with the point of a diamond graven on the table of their hearts and on the horns of your altars. Jeremiah 17:2 . As they remember their children, so do they their altars and their Astartes by the green tree upon the high hills. Jeremiah 17:3 . My mountain in the field, thy substance, all thy treasures give I for a prey, thy high places for sin in all thy borders. Jeremiah 17:4 . And thou shalt discontinue, and that of thine own self, from thine inheritance that I gave thee, and I cause thee to serve thine enemies in a land which thou knowest not; for a fire have ye kindled in mine anger, for ever it burneth."