Tyndale Open Study NotesJeremiah 5

A just person follows God's laws and treats others fairly. An honest person is reliable, truthful, and loyal to God. Jeremiah found neither justice nor honesty. Although some people were under oath, their claims of innocence were false. Their actions showed they had lied under oath (Genesis 4:2; 7:9; Genesis 18:23–32; Isaiah 48:1; Ezekiel 22:30; Titus 1:15–16).

Even when war brought disaster, the people ignored God and refused to turn away from their sins (Isaiah 9:13).

• Jeremiah looked for an economic reason for Jerusalem’s rebellion. He discovered that the leaders, despite their advantages, were as rebellious as the uneducated poor.

• A wooden yoke was placed on a farm animal's neck. Chains attached it to a plow or another tool for fieldwork (compare Jeremiah 27:2–12; Psalm 2:3).

The Babylonians would attack like a lion, a wolf, and a leopard. These fierce animals could destroy human life. The people's rebellion and sins were very serious to the Lord (Jeremiah 4:7; 30:14–15; Psalm 104:20; Ezekiel 22:27; Hosea 13:7; Habakkuk 1:8; Zephaniah 3:3).

These verses list the evidence of sins the people committed, such as:

• rejecting the Lord

• worshiping pagan gods

• engaging in sexual misconduct (Jeremiah 7:9; 12:16; Numbers 25:1–3; Deuteronomy 32:21; Joshua 23:7; Zephaniah 1:5; Galatians 4:8)

Idolatry and adultery were closely linked in Israel because both broke an exclusive covenant.

The Lord saw the people's sins as deserving punishment (Jeremiah 9:9; 13:27; 29:23; Ezekiel 22:11).

The Lord issued a decree to destroy Judah’s vineyards, likely symbolizing Judah itself (see Isaiah 5:1–7; 27:2–6). The people ignored the Lord. They did not belong to him as his children, and he could not ignore their betrayal through idol worship (Jeremiah 3:6; 4:27; 7:27).

• Even with the enemy approaching from the north, the people believed nothing bad would happen to them (Jeremiah 14:13; Isaiah 47:8). They did not respect God’s prophets (literally the prophets).

• Some interpreters end the people’s quote with Jeremiah 5:12 and attribute 5:13 to the Lord. The term "for the wind" would then refer to false prophets.

The approaching army was likely Babylon's, which attacked Jerusalem in 605 BC. The Lord summoned the Babylonians to deliver the promised punishment (see Deuteronomy 28:15–62).

The Babylonian language was Semitic like Hebrew, but the Israelites could not understand it.

The well-trained and well-equipped Babylonian army treated their victims cruelly and destroyed everything valuable in the lands they conquered (see Habakkuk 1:6–10).

The Lord reassured Jeremiah that the destruction would not be complete. He prepared Jeremiah to answer those who questioned why the Lord would bring such harsh judgment.

• in the house of Jacob: In the Old Testament, "Jacob" and "Israel" are often used interchangeably. They can refer to the patriarch or the nation.

• To be foolish means to act rashly and immorally, ignoring consequences.

• senseless: This literally means no heart. When "heart" is negative, it means a person or group does not want to do moral acts and rejects intelligent behavior that pleases God.

• The people's ears and eyes worked (see study note on Jeremiah 6:10), but they stubbornly ignored the true meaning of what they heard and saw (Isaiah 6:9; Ezekiel 12:2; Mark 8:18).

People should respect the Lord for his power and fear the idea of him using it against them. If the powerful sea cannot cross the boundaries the Lord set, then the rebellion of small Jerusalem will surely fail.

The people mistakenly believed they could manage without the Lord, who gave rain for their crops (Deuteronomy 11:14). This wrongdoing led them to miss out on wonderful blessings and good things (Jeremiah 3:3).

In Jerusalem, some wicked men became wealthy by oppressing orphans and the poor (Jeremiah 7:6).

The people's sins (Jeremiah 5:26–28) fully justified the Lord's punishment, but the religious leaders committed even more wrongs. The prophets lied and claimed these lies were prophecies from the Lord (Jeremiah 14:14; Ezekiel 13:6). The priests, who were supposed to serve the people, became tyrants and ruled harshly. Surprisingly, the people accepted their leaders' new roles, even though this left them unprepared for the disaster approaching them (Micah 2:11).