Jeremiah Chapter 17 verse 16 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 16. - I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee; i.e. I have not eagerly withdrawn from following thee as a shepherd (or prophet). The prophet does not follow his own vague inclinations; he is but an under-shepherd, and waits on the will of his superior. He is, as Hosea calls him (Hosea 9:7, Hebrew), "the man of the Spirit." If God leads any one, whether people or individuals, it is through the agency of the Spirit (Isaiah 63:11, 12); and it is the characteristic of the typical prophet that his ear is "wakened morning by morning" to receive his daily lesson. Only by thus "following" the Divine Leader, can a prophet act as pastor to his people. [The construction is, however, rather simplified by the rendering - a perfectly legitimate one... from following thee as a companion.] The woeful day. The word for "woeful" is the same rendered "desperately wicked" (ver. 9); the "day" of Judah's calamity is metaphorically "sick," like the heart of man. So, other words being used, Isaiah 17:11 (end). Was right before thee; rather (since some adjective must be supplied), was manifest before thee. He appeals to the all-seeing Eye as a witness to his fidelity to his mission.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(16) I have not hastened . . .--The words of the English Version are somewhat obscure, and a better rendering would perhaps be, I have not been quick to withdraw from my work in following thee, as a shepherd and guide of the people. A possible meaning, adopted by some commentators, would be, "I have not hastened from my work as a shepherd (in the literal sense) to follow thee," as presenting a parallel to the words of Amos (Amos 7:14-15); and, though we cannot get beyond conjecture, it is quite possible that Jeremiah, in his youth, before the call of Jeremiah 1:4, may have been employed in the pasture grounds that belonged to Anathoth as a city of the priests (Numbers 35:4; Joshua 21:4; Joshua 21:18; 1Chronicles 6:60). It is to some extent in favour of this view, that throughout the book the work of the shepherd, when used figuratively, answers to the work of the ruler, and not to that of the prophet. What he means, if we keep the version given above, is that he had not been too slack in his obedience, but neither had he been over eager. He had no desire to see the woful day that would fulfil his predictions. What had come from his lips was just what he had been bidden to say and no more (Jeremiah 15:16-19), and thus he had spoken as in the sight of God. The interpolated word "right" mars rather than mends the meaning, . . .