Jeremiah 11:5
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This was in order to establish the oath I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is to this day.” “Amen, LORD,” I answered.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
In this chapter, I. God by the prophet puts the people in mind of the covenant he had made with their fathers, and how much he had insisted upon it, as the condition of the covenant, that they should be obedient to him (Jer 11:1-7). II. He charges it upon them that they, in succession to their fathers, and in confederacy among themselves, had obstinately refused to obey him (Jer 11:8-10). III. He threatens to punish them with utter ruin for their disobedience, especially for their idolatry (Jer 11:11, Jer 11:13), and tells them that their idols should not save them (Jer 11:12), that their prophets should not pray for them (Jer 11:14); he also justifies his proceedings herein, they having brought all this mischief upon themselves by their own folly and wilfulness (Jer 11:15-17). IV. Here is an account of a conspiracy formed against Jeremiah by his fellow-citizens, the men of Anathoth; God's discovery of it to him (Jer 11:18, Jer 11:19), his prayer against them (Jer 11:20), and a prediction of God's judgments upon them for it (Jer 11:21-23).
Open source ↗11:5 The Lord wanted to give Israel prosperity and blessing. Milk implies cattle, sheep, and goats. Honey, the product of bees, implies the presence of many different flowering and fruit-bearing plants. • The word Amen is a Hebrew word that can be translated may it be so. The NLT includes both the Hebrew word and its translation.
Open source ↗Cross-references
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“Amen!” Jeremiah said. “May the LORD do so! May the LORD fulfill the words you have prophesied, and may He restore the articles of His house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon.
And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites—the land He swore to your fathers that He would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you shall keep this service in this month.
Otherwise, if you speak a blessing in spirit, how can someone who is uninstructed say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?
Hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.
But I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance—a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the peoples.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’