Jeremiah 12:16

Jeremiah 12:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.
• New International Version (NIV)And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among my people.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, 'As the Lord lives,' even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be established in the midst of My people.

Context of Jeremiah 12:16

14“This is what I, the Lord, say about all my evil neighbors who take the inheritance that I gave my people Israel: I am going to uproot those neighbors from their lands. I will also uproot the people of Judah from among them. 15After I’ve uprooted them, I will have compassion on them again. I will return them to their inheritance and to their lands. Suppose they learn carefully the ways of my people. Suppose they take an oath in my name, ‘As the Lord lives …’ as they taught my people to take an oath in ⌞the name of⌟ Baal. Then they will build homes among my people. 17But suppose they don’t listen. Then I will uproot that nation and destroy it,” declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 12:16 word by word

וְהָיָ֡ה אִם־לָמֹ֣ד יִלְמְדוּ֩ אֶת־דַּֽרְכֵ֨י עַמִּ֜י לְהִשָּׁבֵ֤עַ בִּשְׁמִי֙ חַי־יְהוָ֔ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר לִמְּדוּ֙ אֶת־עַמִּ֔י לְהִשָּׁבֵ֖עַ בַּבָּ֑עַל וְנִבְנ֖וּ בְּת֥וֹךְ עַמִּֽי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And it shall come to pass, if they will diligentlyלָמַדlâmad · to learn: learnH3925
• learnלָמַדlâmad · to learn: teachH3925
• the waysדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: conductH1870
• of my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• to swearשָׁבַעshâba‛ · to swearH7650
• by my nameשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
• The Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• livethחַיchay · aliveH2416
• by Baalבַּעַלba‛al · BaalH1168
• then shall they be builtבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
• in the midstתָּ֫וֶךְtâvek · midstH8432

Cross-references for Jeremiah 12:16

• Jeremiah 4:2if you take the oath, ‘As the Lord lives …’ in an honest, fair, and right way, then the nations will be blessed, and they will be honored by me.”
• Jeremiah 5:2People say, “As the Lord lives …” Yet, they lie when they take this oath.
• Deuteronomy 10:20Fear the Lord your God, worship him, be loyal to him, and take your oaths in his name.
• Isaiah 9:18Surely wickedness burns like fire. It burns up briars and thorns. It sets the underbrush in the forest on fire, and it whirls upward in clouds of smoke.
• Isaiah 45:23I have bound myself with an oath. A word has gone out from my righteous mouth that will not be recalled, “Every knee will bow to me and every tongue will swear ⌞allegiance⌟.”
• Isaiah 65:16Whoever asks for a blessing in the land will be blessed by the God of Truth. Whoever swears an oath in the land will swear by the God of Truth. Past troubles are forgotten. They are hidden from my eyes.
• Romans 14:11Scripture says, “As certainly as I live, says the Lord, everyone will worship me, and everyone will praise God.”
• Joshua 23:7Don’t get mixed up with the nations left in your territory. Don’t ever mention the names of their gods or swear an oath to them. Don’t ever serve their gods or bow down to them.
• Psalms 106:35Instead, they intermarried with other nations. They learned to do what other nations did,
• Zephaniah 1:5I will remove those who worship all the stars in the sky on their rooftops and those who worship by swearing loyalty to the Lord while also swearing loyalty to the god Milcom.
• Isaiah 19:23When that day comes, a highway will run from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
• Isaiah 56:5Inside my house and within my walls, I will give them something better than sons and daughters. I will give them a monument and a name. I will give them a permanent name that will not be forgotten.
• Zechariah 2:11On that day many nations will join the Lord and become my people. I will live among you. Then you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you.
• Romans 11:17But some of the olive branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, have been grafted in their place. You get your nourishment from the roots of the olive tree.
• 1 Corinthians 3:9We are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field. You are God’s building.
• Ephesians 2:19That is why you are no longer foreigners and outsiders but citizens together with God’s people and members of God’s family.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 12:16

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16The accomplishment of this blessing depends upon both Judah and the Gentiles reversing their past conduct. Then shall the believing Gentile be admitted within the fold of the true, because spiritual, Israel - Christ‘s Church.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-17Verses 14-17 The Lord would plead the cause of his people against their evil neighbours. Yet he would afterwards show mercy to those nations, when they should learn true religion. This seems to look forward to the times when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in. Those who would have their lot with God's people, and a last end like theirs, must learn their ways, and walk in them.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16To experience God's compassion (Jeremiah 12:15), people from other nations needed to stop worshiping idols and learn God's ways. This change required publicly accepting the Sinai covenant, which included saying, as surely as the Lord lives. They also needed to reject any promises made in Baal's name, which had led Israelites to worship foreign idols.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 14-1714-17. Prophecy as to the surrounding nations, the Syrians, Ammonites, &c., who helped forward Judah's calamity: they shall share her fall; and, on their conversion, they shall share with her in the future restoration. This is a brief anticipation of the predictions in the forty-seventh, forty-eighth, and forty-ninth chapters. touch--(Zec 2:8). pluck them out ... pluck out ... Judah--(Compare end of Jr 12:16). During the thirteen years that the…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 12:16

• Blessing
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Oath

In the dictionaries

• Baal
• Pluck
• Talk
• Builder
• Covenant, the New
• Crime; Crimes
• Eschatology of the Old Testament
• Oath

Commentaries on Jeremiah 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings