Commentary - Jeremiah 11:1-17

Bird's-eye view

In this chapter, God formally commissions Jeremiah to renew the covenant lawsuit against Judah. The scene is a courtroom. God is the plaintiff and the judge, Jeremiah is the bailiff reading the indictment, and the men of Judah are the defendants. The basis of the lawsuit is the covenant made at Sinai, the very constitution of the nation. God reminds them of the terms: blessing for obedience, and curses for disobedience. He recounts their history of persistent, stubborn rebellion despite His constant warnings. The charge is not mere sporadic sin, but a deep-seated, corporate "conspiracy" of apostasy. They have systematically broken the covenant and turned to idolatry. Consequently, the verdict is announced: inescapable calamity is coming. The time for intercession is over, and their false gods will be exposed as utterly powerless. The beautiful olive tree that God planted is now so diseased with evil that He Himself will set it on fire. This is a terrifying look at the judicial finality of a covenant-keeping God when His people become covenant-breakers.

The central issue is the relationship between hearing and doing. Judah had a long history of hearing the words of the covenant. They had the scrolls, the priests, and the prophets. But their hearing was disconnected from their obedience. Their hearts were hard, and their worship was corrupt. This passage is a stark reminder that religious affiliation and knowledge of the law mean nothing apart from a heart that loves God and walks in His ways. The judgment pronounced here is not arbitrary petulance; it is the contractually obligated consequence of their treason against their covenant Lord.

Outline

Context In Jeremiah

Jeremiah 11 marks a significant point in the prophet's ministry. It follows his earlier calls to repentance and warnings of the "foe from the north." Here, the language becomes intensely legal and formal. This chapter likely corresponds to the period after the discovery of the Book of the Law during Josiah's reign (2 Kings 22). There was a brief, surface-level reformation, but Jeremiah sees that the people's hearts have not truly changed. This passage serves as God's official declaration that the reforms were insufficient and that the covenant curses, long delayed, are now being formally invoked. It sets the stage for the increasingly severe prophecies of destruction that will follow, as God systematically dismantles Judah's false securities: the temple, the city, and the land itself. The personal cost to Jeremiah also escalates from this point, as the latter part of the chapter reveals a plot against his own life by the men of his hometown.

Key Issues

The Covenant Lawsuit Renewed

When God deals with His people, He does so on the basis of covenant. A covenant is a solemn, binding agreement, a relationship defined by oaths and promises. The Mosaic covenant, given at Sinai, was the constitution of Israel. It laid out the terms of their relationship with Yahweh, their King. It came with blessings for fidelity and sanctions, or curses, for infidelity. What we are reading in Jeremiah 11 is not God losing His temper. It is the formal, legal process of a suzerain king bringing a lawsuit against his rebellious vassal nation for high treason. Every word is precise, measured, and judicial. God is laying out His case, demonstrating that He is entirely in the right to bring the judgment He is about to bring. He is not just the judge; He is the aggrieved party, the faithful husband to an adulterous wife.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1-3 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, “Hear the words of this covenant, and you shall speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Cursed is the man who does not hear the words of this covenant

The proceedings begin. Jeremiah is the herald, commanded to proclaim the words of "this covenant." This refers back to the Deuteronomic covenant, the very foundation of their national existence. The opening declaration is stark: "Cursed is the man..." This is the negative side of the covenantal arrangement. The blessings are real, but so are the curses. The word for "hear" here, shema in Hebrew, means more than just auditory reception. It means to hear, to pay attention, and to obey. To fail to obey the words of the covenant is to place oneself deliberately under its curse. This is not an arbitrary threat; it is the agreed-upon consequence for breaking the treaty with their King.

4-5 which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’ in order to establish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.” ’ ” Then I answered and said, “Amen, O Yahweh.”

God grounds the covenant in their history of redemption. He reminds them that He is the one who brought them out of Egypt, which He calls the "iron furnace." This is a picture of intense suffering and purification. The covenant was not given in a vacuum; it was given to a redeemed people. The central command was simple: "Listen to My voice, and do." The result would be the covenant relationship: "you shall be My people, and I will be your God." The purpose of their obedience was to maintain the blessing He had already given them in fulfillment of His promise to Abraham, the land "flowing with milk and honey." Jeremiah, acting as the representative of the people, responds with "Amen, O Yahweh." This is a solemn, legal affirmation. It means "so be it," or "this is true and binding." He is agreeing to the terms of the covenant, including its curses. He is siding with God against the people.

6-8 And Yahweh said to me, “Call out all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Hear the words of this covenant so that you will do them. For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising up early and warning, saying, “Listen to My voice.” Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’ ”

The message is to be public. This is not a secret proceeding. God's case must be made in the open. Again, the emphasis is on hearing and doing. God then presents the historical evidence for Judah's guilt. From the very beginning, He has been consistently warning them. The phrase "rising up early and warning" is a Hebrew idiom depicting diligence and persistence. God has not been a distant or silent landlord. But the response has been equally consistent: they refused to listen. The root of the problem is identified as the "stubbornness of his evil heart." This is a biblical diagnosis of total depravity. Their disobedience was not a series of unfortunate mistakes; it was the fruit of a rebellious nature. Because of this persistent rebellion, God says He "brought on them all the words of this covenant," meaning the curses for disobedience, which they had experienced throughout their history.

9-10 Then Yahweh said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My words, and they have walked after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I cut with their fathers.”

The charge is now specified. This is not just individual sinfulness; it is a conspiracy. This is organized, corporate rebellion. They are in league together against Yahweh. Their rebellion is a conscious return to the sins of previous generations, particularly the idolatry that defined the era of the judges and the northern kingdom. By going after other gods, they have committed high treason. The verdict is plain: both houses, Israel (the northern kingdom, already judged) and Judah (the southern kingdom, now on trial), have fundamentally "broken My covenant." The covenant is not just bent or strained; it is shattered.

11-13 Therefore thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am bringing calamity on them which they will not be able to get out of; and they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their calamity. For your gods are the number of your cities, O Judah; and the number of the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.

Because the covenant is broken, the sentence is now passed. The "therefore" is crucial; the judgment is the logical and just consequence of their actions. The calamity will be inescapable. In their desperation, they will cry out to Yahweh, but it will be too late. This is not the cry of repentance, but the cry of criminals who have been caught. God will not listen. So, they will turn to their idols, the very gods they preferred over Yahweh. This will be the ultimate test of their faith, and their gods will fail spectacularly. God points out the sheer scale of their idolatry with biting sarcasm: they have as many gods as they have cities, and an altar to Baal on every street corner. Their worship was pluralistic, pervasive, and pathetic.

14 “But as for you, do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry of lamentation or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their calamity.

This is one of the most chilling commands in all of Scripture. God tells His own prophet to cease intercession. The time for mercy has passed; the time for judgment has come. When God tells a prophet like Jeremiah to stop praying for the people, it means the case is closed and the sentence is irrevocable. This is not a general principle against praying for sinful nations, but a specific command for a specific historical judgment. The lines of communication are being judicially severed.

15-16 What possession has My beloved in My house When she has done many schemes of wickedness? Can the flesh, which is set apart as holy, take away from you your calamity, So that you can exult?” Yahweh called your name, “A green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form”; With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, And its foliage has an evil demise.

God speaks now as a betrayed husband. He calls Judah "My beloved," which highlights the intimacy of the covenant relationship and the pain of their treachery. What right does this unfaithful wife have to be in His house, the temple? They think their participation in the sacrificial system ("the flesh, which is set apart as holy") can magically ward off disaster. But their rituals are empty, a profane mockery in light of their wicked hearts. God reminds them of what He intended them to be: a beautiful, fruitful "green olive tree." But now, because of their sin, He Himself will set this tree ablaze. The planter is now the destroyer.

17 Yahweh of hosts, who planted you, has spoken forth evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger by burning incense to Baal.

The final verse summarizes the case. Yahweh of hosts, the sovereign Lord of all creation, the very one who planted and established them as a nation, has pronounced disaster ("evil") against them. And the reason is stated plainly: it is because of their evil, specifically the idolatrous worship of Baal. This was a direct violation of the first and second commandments, the very heart of the covenant. Their worship was corrupt, and as always, corrupt worship leads to a corrupt society. The judgment is righteous, deserved, and certain.

Application

This chapter serves as a potent warning against the kind of religion that maintains the external forms of faith while the heart is engaged in a conspiracy of rebellion. The men of Judah had the temple, the sacrifices, and the words of the covenant. They were God's "beloved." But they were also idolaters. We must ask ourselves what our Baals are. What have we set up on the street corners of our hearts? Is it career, comfort, political power, sexual gratification, or the approval of men? Anything we serve and trust in place of the living God is an idol, and it will be as useless to us in our day of calamity as Baal was to Judah.

Furthermore, we must see that the only solution to the "stubbornness of his evil heart" is a new heart. The Old Covenant revealed the sin, but could not provide the cure. That is why a New Covenant was necessary, one in which God promises to write His law on our hearts and give us His Spirit (Jer 31:33). Jesus Christ is the mediator of this better covenant. He is the true Israel, the faithful Son who heard and obeyed perfectly. On the cross, He took upon Himself the covenant curses that we deserved for our idolatry and rebellion. He was cast out so that we might be brought in. The warning of Jeremiah 11 should drive us away from any confidence in our own religious performance and lead us to cling to Christ alone. For it is only in Him that we can be God's people, and He can be our God, not because of our faithfulness, but because of His.