Jeremiah 11:2

Jer 11:2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

Ver. 2. Hear ye the words - and speak ye.] Ye priests, whose ordinary office it is to teach Jacob God’s judgments, and Israel his law. {Deu 33:10}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jer 11:2-5. Hear ye the words of this covenant — God speaks here chiefly to Jeremiah, but seems, at the same time, to address, together with him, all those pious persons who were like-minded with him, and who reproved the wicked manners of the people. The covenant here spoken of was the covenant of the law of God, delivered by Moses, to which the people had frequently promised obedience. And speak unto the men of Judah, &c. — Lay the tenor of the covenant before them; and say, Cursed be the man that obeyeth not, &c. — Deu 27:26, it is, Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them: and all the people shall say, Amen. The people’s saying Amen, testified their assent, and made the law a covenant; but they had, besides this, formally and explicitly covenanted with God, Exo 24:3-7, with religious rites and ceremonies, used in stipulations, and afterward consented that God should punish those that violated that covenant, Deu 27:26. Which I commanded, &c. — Which law, (that you by your restipulation made a formal covenant,) I, who am the Lord, and so have a sovereign power to lay laws upon my creatures, commanded your fathers; in the day that I brought them from the iron furnace — And thus obliged them to obedience before I laid my law upon them. The use of the iron furnace being to melt and purify metals, it was a proper representation of that state of sore affliction in which the people of God were for many ages in Egypt. Saying, Obey my voice, &c. — For which kindness I required no more of them but a gentle service to me, in obeying my voice, as to the things of this law which I gave them in charge; so shall ye be my people, &c. — Nor did I only lay my commands upon them, but also encouraged them to obedience, by my gracious promise, that if they would obey they should be a people whom I would peculiarly protect and bless. That I may, or, rather, might (for he refers to the time past) perform the oath, &c. — As if he had said, I required their obedience for their own good: for I had sworn to their fathers, that I would give their posterity a land abounding with plenty of all good things, upon condition of their obedience. I have performed that oath; I have brought them into such a land, and showed myself faithful to them. Then answered I, So be it, O Lord — God having ended his speech, the prophet says, Amen, as God had commanded, Deu 27:26; either asserting the truth of what God had said, or expressing his desire that the people would do according to their covenant, or even assenting to the curse as just and reasonable.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 2. Hear ye the words of this covenant] It is possible that the prophet caused the words of the covenant made with their fathers in the desert (Ex 24:4-8) to be read to them on this occasion; or, at least, the blessings and the cursings which Moses caused to be pronounced to the people as soon as they had set foot in Canaan, De 27:1-28:68.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Rightly then does Jeremiah begin by saying, that this word was given to him. By using the plural number in the second verse, he no doubt shews that he had a few assistants remaining, whom God addressed in connection with him, that they might unite together in delivering his message. For though there were very few good men, yet Jeremiah was not wholly deprived of colleagues, who assented to and confirmed his doctrine. Baruch was one of them, and there were a few like him. These, then, God addresses in the second verse, when he says, Hear ye the words of this coveant, and say ye to the men of Judah and to the citizens of Jerusalem Jeremiah indeed knew, and also those who were with him, that they brought forward nothing but what was in the law: but however conscious they were of their own sincerity, and could testify before God and his angels that they drew nothing from puddles but from a pure fountain, yet God intended to strengthen them against the contumacy of the people; for they had this objection ready at hand, “Ye indeed boast that whatever it pleases you to bring forward, is the word of God; but this we deny.” Since then the prophets had to undergo such a contest, it seemed good to God to strengthen their hands, that they might first be themselves assured, and then become fit and bold witnesses of his truth to others, having good authority, as it was derived from the law itself, and not from the devices of men.

And we see to whom God intended this to be proclaimed, even to the men of Judah and to the citizens of Jerusalem The ten tribes, as it has elsewhere appeared, were now driven into exile; and here was the flower, as it were, of the chosen people; and having survived so many calamities, they thought that they had been preserved by Divine power, because religion and God’s worship prevailed among them. Thus they were inebriated with false notions and self — flatteries. Hence the Prophet, and those who were with him, are expressly bidden to declare, what we shall hereafter notice, to the citizens of Jerusalem and to the inhabitants of the land who remained, and thought that they were the chosen of God and would continue safe, even if all others were to perish.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(2) The words of this covenant.—The phrase had obviously acquired a definite and special sense in consequence of the discovery of the lost book of the Law under Josiah, and the covenant into which the people had then entered (comp. 2Ki_23:3). The “curse” under which the people had fallen was practically identical with that in Deu_27:26, the word “obeyeth” being substituted for “confirmeth.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And say thou unto them,.... This shows that the command of publishing the law or covenant was, however, principally given to Jeremiah:

thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; that made them, and brought them out of Egypt, and made a covenant with them, and had taken care of them, and had bestowed many favours upon them:

cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant; which the prophet, it may be, had in his hands, even the book of the law, and held it forth unto them, while he was speaking; the language of which is, cursed is everyone that does not constantly and perfectly perform what is contained in it, Deu 27:26.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The words of this covenant - The phrase used 2Ki 23:3 to describe the contents of the Book of the Law.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Hear ye the words of this covenant: God speaking in the plural number, not hear thou, but hear ye, makes some conjecture that this was a charge given to some other prophets, either, Zephaniah (if it were in Josiah’s time, Zep 1:1) or Uriah (if it were in the time of Jehoiakim). The term

this also manifests that the book of the law was before Jeremiah’s time, for all conclude that the covenant here spoken of was the covenant of the law of God, delivered by Moses, to which the people more than once promised obedience.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. The words of this covenant — In 2Ch_34:14, we are told that “when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord by the hand of Moses.” In 2Ki_23:3, where this same newly-found book of the law is mentioned, the phrase, “the words of this covenant,” is used as in this verse. Numerous other references in 2 Kings 22, 23, and in the corresponding passages in Chronicles, place it beyond reasonable doubt that, the allusion here is specially to this book of the law. See Deu_29:8; 2Ki_23:3; 2Ch_34:30, and Jer_34:18.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hear ye... and speak. To whom is this addressed? To Jeremiah and his disciples. The Septuagint, indeed, followed by Hitzig and Graf, read (instead of "speak ye"), "Thou shalt speak unto them," adopting one different vowel-point. But this involves an inconsistency with the first verb, and is not at all necessary, for why should we suppose Jeremiah to have been completely isolated? If the prophet had well-wishers even among the princes, it stands to reason that he must have had more pronounced adherents in the classes less influenced by the prejudices of society.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Of this covenant - The covenant here spoken of, was the covenant of the law of God, delivered by Moses, to which the people more than once promised obedience.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.