Jeremiah 29:19

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

because they have not listened to my words, says Yahweh, with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear, says Yahweh.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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הַשְׁכֵּ֣ם

shâkam

H7925

“to rise early”

Verb, Hiphil, Infinitive Absolute

Appears 65× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 19:2

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 2386

to rise or start early - (Hiphil) - to rise early, make an early start - early (as adverb)

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

20: words
13: distinct lemmas
Prophets: section

Grammatical profile

5 verbs
7 nouns
3 prepositions
5 particles

Verb forms

שָׁמְע֥וּ Qal · Perfect
שָׁלַ֨חְתִּי Qal · Perfect
הַשְׁכֵּ֣ם Hiphil · Infinitive Absolute
וְשָׁלֹ֔חַ Qal · Infinitive Absolute
שְׁמַעְתֶּ֖ם Qal · Perfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

שָׁמְע֥וּ to hear H8085 ×2
נְאֻם utterance H5002 ×2
יְהוָ֑ה LORD H3068 ×2
שָׁלַ֨חְתִּי to send H7971 ×2
אֲשֶֽׁר which H834 ×2
לֹא not H3808 ×2
אֶל to H413 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Jeremiah 29:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Jeremiah 6:19 Hear, earth: behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.
Jeremiah 26:5 to listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send to you, even rising up early and sending them, but you have not listened;
Jeremiah 7:13 Now, because you have done all these works, says Yahweh, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you didn't hear; and I called you, but you didn't answer:
Jeremiah 7:24–26 But they didn't listen nor turn their ear, but walked in [their own] counsels [and] in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
Jeremiah 25:3–7 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years, the word of Yahweh has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; but you have not listened.
Jeremiah 34:17 Therefore thus says Yahweh: you have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, says Yahweh, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
Jeremiah 35:14–16 The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father's commandment: but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; and you have not listened to me.
Zechariah 1:4–6 Don't you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Thus says Yahweh of hosts, 'Return now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings;' but they did not hear, nor listen to me, says Yahweh.

Zechariah 7:11–13 But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
Hebrews 12:25 See that you don't refuse him who speaks. For if they didn't escape when they refused him who warned on the Earth, how much more will we not escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven,
Jeremiah 32:33 They have turned to me the back, and not the face: and though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.
Jeremiah 44:4–5 However I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Oh, don't do this abominable thing that I hate.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Jeremiah 29:19 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

תַּ֛חַת אֲשֶֽׁר לֹא שָׁמְע֥וּ אֶל דְּבָרַ֖י נְאֻם יְהוָ֑ה אֲשֶׁר֩ שָׁלַ֨חְתִּי אֲלֵיהֶ֜ם אֶת עֲבָדַ֤י הַנְּבִאִים֙ הַשְׁכֵּ֣ם וְשָׁלֹ֔חַ וְלֹ֥א שְׁמַעְתֶּ֖ם נְאֻם יְהוָֽה

because they have not listened to my words, says Yahweh, with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear, says Yahweh.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Structure differs

In the Septuagint, Jeremiah is about an eighth shorter than the Hebrew and arranges its material differently — the Oracles Against the Nations (Hebrew chapters 46–51) appear in the middle of the Greek book, after 25:13. Because the chapter and verse boundaries do not line up, a verse-for-verse comparison with the Hebrew is not shown.

A verse-for-verse comparison isn’t shown here because the chapters and verses don’t line up. Switch to the LXX edition with the MT / LXX toggle above to read the Greek directly.

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from a public-domain English Septuagint. How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

חֲלַף דְלָא קַבִּילוּ לְפִתְגָמַי אֲמַר יְיָ דִשְׁלָחִית לְוַתְכוֹן יַת עַבְדַי נְבִיַיָא מַקְדִים וּמַשְׁלַח וְלָא קַבֵּילְתּוּן אֲמַר יְיָ:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Jeremiah 29:19 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Jer 29:19 Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending [them]; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.

Ver. 19. Because they have not hearkened.] See Jer 7:23; Jer 7:26; Jer 11:7-8; Jer 13:11; Jer 17:23; Jer 25:4.

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.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Read Jer. 7:13, 25:3 and 26:5.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

John Calvin's Commentaries

The Prophet, after having denounced God’s judgment on those who remained in their own country as well as on the exiles, subjoins this reason, because they hearkened not to the word of the Lord; and this was a most grievous sin. Though ignorance is no excuse before God, for those who are without the Law must perish; yet the servant who knew his Lord’s will and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. And the more abundant God’s grace is in calling us to the right way of salvation, the more base is our ingratitude when we close our ears and disregard the concern and care which he manifests for our salvation. Let us then know that nothing is less tolerable than the rejection of the prophetic word.

And we must notice what follows, which I sent them by my servants the prophets The Jews might have otherwise objected and said, that they did not intend to be rebellious against God, but that there were many contentions among the prophets. Lest, then, they should seek an evasion by a pretense of this kind, he says that the word, brought by his ministers and witnesses the prophets, was worthy of no less reverence than if angels came down from heaven to them. And this passage serves to shew the use of external doctrine, which fanatical men despise, thinking the hidden word sufficient, that is, whatever they may dream. But God thus proves the obedience of our faith, while he rules us by the hand and labor of men. Whosoever then rejects the faithful teachers of the word, shews that he is a despiser of God himself. The meaning is, that God defines his word, not as an oracle of any kind, but as the doctrine which has been deposited with faithful teachers.

He afterwards adds, rising up early and sending The metaphor is taken from men who are sedulous and diligent. We indeed know that God never awakes and never changes place; but he could not otherwise express his paternal care toward his people, as though he had said, that he was sedulously engaged in admonishing them. And thus the more inexcusable was rendered the sloth of the people; for God hastened as it were to rise up early, as they who spare no labor, but willingly deprive themselves of some portion of their sleep, that they may complete their work or their journey. As God then manifested so much diligence in securing the wellbeing of men, the more shameful is the sloth of men, when they become deaf, or are not moved, but remain in their indifference. It now follows, —

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.

John Gill's Exposition

Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord,.... Which were spoken to them by the prophets; not hearkening to them, but despising them, were the same as not hearkening to him, and despising him; contempt of God, and his word, was the cause of their ruin; see Ch2 36:15;

which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets; such as Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, and others:

rising up early, and sending them; which denotes the frequency of their mission; the diligent care of God towards them; and his earnest solicitude for their welfare; and the plenty of means they were favoured with; all which were aggravations of their sin:

but ye would not hear, saith the Lord; the words of the Lord by his prophets; the counsel and admonitions he gave them; but pursued their own ways and counsels, and listened to the false prophets.

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

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

By night, or "early," de nocte, as soon as the night was over. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

A contempt of the word of the Lord was the cause of this people’s ruin, and will be the cause of ruin to any people. See Jer 7:26; 11:7,8; 17:23. Lest they should say that they only disobeyed the prophets, God mindeth them that in not hearkening to them they did not hearken to him. The same thing Christ saith of the gospel ministers, Luk 10:16. The not believing, or not obeying, what ministers teach not in a due discharge of their office of revealing the will of God, is no contempt of God, but of them, who for that cause deserve to be contemned; but supposing that what ministers deliver be the mind and will of God revealed in holy writ, and but a true explication and application of that, not to hearken to God and not to hearken to them is the same thing.

Ye would not hear, saith the Lord; ye wilfully refused to believe them, speaking the truth to you in my name, and to obey those monitions they gave you by my direction. All this was a not hearing God.

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

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

19. Ye would not hear — The prophet classes those in exile with those among whom he has laboured at home, and says of them all, “ye would not hear.” But it is probable that to many of these leading captives he had personally ministered, and received from them only resistance and persecution.

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

The Pulpit Commentary

But ye would not hear. The prophet, by a very natural illusion, falls out of the style of letter-writer into that of the prophet. For the moment he fancies himself addressing an audience of his countrymen. (Jer_25:3, Jer_25:4, Jer_25:7, Jer_25:8)

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

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Jeremiah, in the Prophets, opens this verse with 20 words (13 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is shâkam (“to rise early”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to rise early” (shâkam) shape what this verse is saying?
Jeremiah 6:19 shares this passage’s theme. How do the two illuminate each other?
“to hear” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
The verb «שָׁמְע֥וּ» is Qal Perfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 24 words in this verse.
“to hear” occurs 2× in this single verse.
13 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 20 words in this verse.