Jeremiah 9:6

Jer 9:6 Thine habitation [is] in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.

Ver. 6. Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit,] i.e., Of deceitful persons, who have honey in their tongues, but gall in their hearts; Aliud in labris, aliud in fibris. Another in the vat, another in the glass.

They refuse to know me.] Ut liberius peccent, libenter ignorant; they are wilfully ignorant, {2Pe 3:3; 2Pe 3:5} so wedded and wedged they are to their fraudulent practices.

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_9:6

Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit.

Strong indictment of Christian countries

Who has not felt as Jeremiah? This is a Christian country. Why? Because the majority are as bent on self-pleasing, as careless of God, as heartlessly and systematically forgetful of the rights and claims of others, as they would have been had Christ never been heard of?

1. A Christian country? Behold its meaningless shibboleths, its two hundred forms or fashions of Christian belief! How this disunion dishonours Christ.

2. A Christian country? Behold the worship of mammon, the rage of avarice. Look at the wonderful baits which the company monger throws out day by day to human weakness and cupidity! The lying advertisements, the countless quacks, raising hopes never to be fulfilled.

3. A Christian country, and God denied on the platform and in the press! Where atheism is mistaken for intelligence, and agnosticism for logic and reason! Where flagrant lust walks the streets, and gambling reigns!

4. A Christian country: where the rich and noble spend their time in horse racing, hunting, and shooting innumerable birds and beasts; where thousands die of need and starvation in fever dens, while untold sums are spent by the wealthy on whims, toys, and gaiety!

5. A Christian country: where there is more than Egyptian worship of Anubis; where a pet dog is fondled and pampered, and helpless children suffer and die! Oh yes! it is a Christian country--the name of Christ has been named in it for fifteen centuries past; and for that reason Christ will judge it. (C. J. Ball, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They had rather forsake God, than leave their wicked trade.

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

Thine--God addresses Jeremiah, who dwelt in the midst of deceitful men.

refuse to know me--Their ignorance of God is wilful (Jer 9:3; Jer 5:4-5).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Prophet here introduces God as the speaker, that the Jews might know that they had not to do with mortal man. For they might, according to their usual perverseness, have raised this objection, “Thou indeed severely condemnest us, and treatest us reproachfully; but who has made thee our judge?” Lest then they should think that the words which he had hitherto declared, were the words of man, he interposes the authority of God, Thou, he says, dwellest in the midst of a deceitful people

But we must observe that this admonition to the Prophet was necessary for two reasons. For when God searches the minds and hearts of men by his word, ministers of the word are necessary to exercise this jurisdiction, men endued with wisdom, understanding, and prudence. The word, says the apostle, is like a two — edged sword, or it is one that cuts on both sides, for it penetrates into the hearts and thoughts of man and into their very marrow. (Hebrews 4:12.) We also know what Paul says,

“When an unbeliever comes into your assembly, his conscience is searched; so that he will be constrained to fall down and to give glory to God.” (1 Corinthians 14:24, 25.)

To the same purpose is this saying of Christ,

“When the Spirit is come, He will judge the world,” (John 16:8)

for by the Spirit He means the preaching of the Gospel. It is then necessary that the ministers of the word, in order that they may faithfully and profitably perform their office, should be taught to understand the deceits and subterfuges by which men are wont to deceive. As then there are many hidden things in the hearts of men, he who would effectually teach must know that the innermost recesses of the heart must be probed and searched. The Prophet had heard from God that the people, over whom He was appointed, were fallacious and filled with guiles and frauds: Thou, He says, dwellest in the midst of a deceitful people; as though he had said, “Thou hast to do with dishonest men, who not only openly betray their wickedness, but also deceive when they pretend any repentance or profess obedience to God: that they may not therefore weaken or cajole thy resolution by their deceptions, settle it in thy mind that thou wilt have to contend with their wiles.” This is one reason.

There is another reason; for as God’s servants ought to know their wiles, which they are bidden to reprove, so there is need of courage and perseverance, lest hypocrisy should dishearten them: for such a thought as this may occur to the minds of God’s servants, “What shall I do? for hidden to me are the thoughts of men: now the truth ought to penetrate into the whole soul; but I know not what lies hid within in any one.” Thus pious teachers might be weakened in their efforts and disheartened, or wholly discouraged, unless God supported them. It was then for this reason that Jeremiah was expressly told, that He had to do with a deceitful and false people.

He afterwards adds, Through guile they refuse to know me God had before complained, that he was not known by the people; but he now exaggerates their crime by saying, that they craftily evaded every light, as though he had said, that they could not plead ignorance or any levity; for through guile, says God, they refuse to know me. As they wholly flattered themselves with deceptions, they designedly extinguished, as far as they could, the light. By guile then he means that obstinate craftiness by which the people cast aside every instruction. It afterwards 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.

(6) Thine habitation . . .—The words may be an individualised, and therefore more emphatic, reproduction of the general warning of Jer_9:4. It is, however, better to take them as spoken by Jehovah to the prophet individually. The LXX., following a different reading and punctuation, translates “usury upon usury, deceit upon deceit; they refuse to know Me, saith the Lord.” And this has been adopted by Ewald, among recent commentators.

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

Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit,.... In the midst of a people of deceit, as Kimchi and Ben Molech. These are the words of the Lord to the prophet, showing what a people he dwelt among, and had to do with; how cautiously and prudently he should act; how little they were to be trusted to and depended upon; and what little hope there was of bringing them to true repentance, since there was so much deceit and hypocrisy among them. The Targum interprets the words not of the habitation of the prophet, but of the people, thus,

"they sit in the house of their own congregation, and talk of their iniquities deceitfully;''

and so Jarchi,

"while they are sitting they devise deceitful devices.''

Through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord: or, "because of deceit" (t); hypocrisy being a reigning and governing sin in them; they liked not the true knowledge of God, and refused to worship him according to the revelation of his will.

(t) "ob dolum", Schmidt.

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

This God speaks to the prophet, either to inform him that there is no hope of this people’s reformation, Jer 8:5; therefore he expresseth a deceitful people by the abstract,

deceit, i.e. nothing among them but deceit one to another, and hypocrisy towards me, as Psa 109:2, and vanity for vain men, Job 35:13; or to caution and advise him how to behave himself among such a people, that he be very wary he be not insnared by them, Jer 12:6.

They refuse to know me; either hoping to shift well enough by their several means they think to use, they are careless of turning to me, Jer 8:5; or by hearkening to their false prophets, who have all along deceived them, they obstinately reject my ways and counsels, Psa 36:1-4; 82:5.

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

Thine habitation, etc. According to St. Jerome, this is addressed to the prophet; but it is better to follow the Targum, which makes the clause refer to the Jewish people. The connection is (as Dr. Payne Smith points out)," Trust no one; for thou dwellest surrounded by deceit on every side."

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

I will refine them with torments.

because of the daughter of My people Because of the sins of the congregation of Israel.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.