Thursday in Easter Week
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King James Version
Jeremiah 17:9
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The heart is more deceitful than anything else,and incurable—who can understand it?
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
"The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
"More than anything else, a person's mind is evil and cannot be healed. Who can understand it?
"The heart is deceitful above all things And it is extremely sick; Who can understand it fully and know its secret motives?
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?
The heart is deceitfull and wicked aboue all things, who can knowe it?
"The heart is more deceitful than all elseAnd is desperately sick;Who can know it?
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure-who can understand it?
You people of Judah are so deceitful that you even fool yourselves, and you can't change.
"The heart is more deceitful than anything else and mortally sick. Who can fathom it?
The heart is deceitful above all things, and incurable; who can know it?
"Nothing can hide its evil as well as the human mind. It can be very sick, and no one really understands it.
The heart is stubborn above all things; who can understand it?
"Who can understand the human heart? There is nothing else so deceitful; it is too sick to be healed.
The heart is deceitful more than anything else, and it is disastrous. Who can understand it?
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is incurable; who can know it?
Amonge all thinges lyuynge, man hath the most disceatfull and vnsercheable hert. Who shall then knowe it?
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?
The heart is a twisted thing, not to be searched out by man: who is able to have knowledge of it?
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceeding weak--who can know it?
The heart is deceitfull aboue all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?
Among all thynges, man hath the most deceiptfull and stubburne heart: Who shall then knowe it?
The heart is deep beyond all things, and it is the man, and who can know him?
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is desperately sick: who can know it?
The herte of man is schrewid, and `may not be souyt; who schal knowe it?
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?
The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?
The human mind is more deceitful than anything else. It is incurably bad. Who can understand it?
"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
"The heart is fooled more than anything else, and is very sinful. Who can know how bad it is?
The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse— who can understand it?
Deceitful is the heart above all things And, dangerously wayward, - Who can know it?
The heart is perverse above all things, and unsearchable, who can know it?
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?
Crooked [is] the heart above all things, And it [is] incurable -- who doth know it?
"The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God , search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be."
"The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Jeremiah 16:12, Genesis 6:5, Genesis 8:21, Job 15:14-16, Psalms 51:5, Psalms 53:1-3, Proverbs 28:26, Ecclesiastes 9:3, Matthew 15:19, Mark 7:21, Mark 7:22, Hebrews 3:12, James 1:14, James 1:15
Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 8:2 - to know Judges 3:1 - prove 1 Samuel 20:32 - what hath 2 Samuel 11:14 - wrote a letter 2 Samuel 20:20 - that I should 2 Kings 8:13 - he should do Job 1:5 - in their hearts Job 4:17 - shall a man Job 9:21 - yet would Job 11:11 - he knoweth Psalms 5:9 - inward Psalms 19:12 - secret Psalms 36:2 - For he Psalms 64:6 - they accomplish Psalms 139:1 - thou hast Psalms 139:24 - And see Proverbs 4:23 - Keep Proverbs 10:20 - the heart Isaiah 39:2 - was glad Jeremiah 5:23 - a revolting Jeremiah 13:23 - Ethiopian Jeremiah 23:26 - prophets of Ezekiel 11:21 - whose Ezekiel 14:3 - these men Hosea 7:15 - imagine Zechariah 7:6 - did not ye eat for Matthew 7:11 - being Matthew 23:28 - ye also Matthew 26:33 - yet Matthew 26:70 - General Mark 14:31 - he spake Mark 14:71 - General Luke 6:41 - but Luke 9:55 - Ye know Luke 22:33 - I am John 2:24 - because Romans 3:10 - none Romans 7:11 - deceived 1 Corinthians 2:11 - what James 4:1 - come they
Cross-References
As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
The heart is deceitful above all things,.... This is the source of the idolatry and creature confidence of the Jews, sins which were the cause of their ruin; and though what is here said is particularly applicable to their hearts, yet is in general true of the heart of every man; which is "deceitful", and deceiving; and puts a cheat upon the man himself whose it is: it deceives him with respect to sin; it proposes it to him under the notion of pleasure; it promises him a great deal in it, but does not yield a real pleasure to him; it is all fancy and imagination; a mere illusion and a dream; and what it gives is very short lived; it is but for a season, and ends in bitterness and death: or it proposes it under the notion of profit; it promises him riches, by such and such sinful ways it suggests; but, when he has got them, he is the loser by them; these deceitful riches choke the word, cause him to err from the faith, pierce him through with many sorrows, and endanger the loss of his soul: it promises honour and preferment in the world, but promotes him to shame; it promises him liberty, but brings him into bondage; it promises him impunity, peace, and security, when sudden destruction comes: it deceives him in point of knowledge; it persuades him that he is a very knowing person, when he is blind and ignorant, and knows nothing as he ought to know; and only deceives himself; for there is no true knowledge but of God in Christ, and of a crucified Christ, and salvation by him; see 1 Corinthians 3:18 it deceives in the business of religion; it makes a man believe that he is a very holy and righteous man, and in a fair way for heaven, when he is far from that, and the character it gives him; in order to this, it suggests to him that concupiscence or lust, or the inward workings of the mind, are not sin; and it is only on this principle that it can be accounted for, that Saul, before conversion, or any other man, should be led into such a mistake, as to conclude that, touching the righteousness of the law, he was blameless: it represents other sins as mere peccadillos, as little sins, and not to be regarded; and even puts the name of virtue on vices; profuseness and prodigality it calls liberality, and doing public good; and covetousness has the name of frugality and good economy: it directs men to compare themselves and their outward conduct with others, that are very profane and dissolute; and from thence to form a good character of themselves, as better than others; and as it buoys up with the purity of human nature, so with the power of man's freewill to do that which is good, and particularly to repent at pleasure; and it puts the profane sinner upon trusting to the absolute mercy of God, and hides from him his justice and holiness; and it puts others upon depending upon the outward acts of religion, or upon speculative notions, to the neglect of real godliness; see James 1:22. The man of a deceitful heart, the hypocrite, tries to deceive God himself, but he cannot; he oftentimes deceives men, and always himself; so do the profane sinner, the self-righteous man, and the false teacher; who attempts to deceive the very elect, but cannot; yea, a good man may be deceived by his own heart, of which Peter is a sad instance, Matthew 26:33. The heart is deceitful to a very great degree, it is superlatively so; "above all", above all creatures; the serpent and the fox are noted for their subtlety, and wicked men are compared to them for it; but these comparisons fall short of expressing the wicked subtlety and deceit in men's hearts; yea, it is more deceitful to a man than the devil, the great deceiver himself; because it is nearer to a man, and can come at him, and work upon him, when Satan cannot: or "about", or "concerning all things" q; it is so in everything in which it is concerned, natural, civil, or religious, and especially the latter. The Septuagint version renders it "deep"; it is an abyss, a bottomless one; there is no fathoming of it; the depths of sin are in it; see Psalms 64:6 and, seeing it is so deceitful, it should not be trusted in; a man should neither trust in his own heart, nor in another's, Proverbs 28:26, "and desperately wicked": everything in it is wicked; the thoughts of it are evil; the imaginations of the thoughts are so; even every imagination, and that only, and always, Genesis 6:5 the affections are inordinate; the mind and conscience are defiled; the understanding darkened, so dark as to call evil good, and good evil; and the will obstinate and perverse: all manner of sin and wickedness is in it; it is the cage of every unclean bird, and the hold of every foul spirit; all sin is forged and framed in it; and all manner of evil comes out of it, Revelation 18:1 yea, it is wickedness itself, Psalms 5:9, it is so even to desperation; it is "incurably wicked" r, as it may be rendered; it is so without the grace of God, and blood of Christ:
who can know it? angels do not, Satan cannot; only the spirit of a man can know the things of a man within him; though the natural man does not know the plague of his own heart; the Pharisee and perfectionist do not, or they would not say they were without sin; such rant arises from the ignorance of their own hearts; only a spiritual man knows his own heart, the plague of it, the deceitfulness and wickedness in it; and he does not know it all; God only knows it fully, as is expressed in the next words, which are an answer to the question; see 1 Corinthians 2:11.
q ××× "de omnibus", vid. Noldium, p. 548. r ××× ×© ××× "et immedicabili malo affectum", Gussetius; "incurabiliter aegrum", Cocceius.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
In the rest of the prophecy Jeremiah dwells upon the moral faults which had led to Judahâs ruin.
Jeremiah 17:6
Like the heath - Or, âlike a destitute manâ Psalms 102:17. The verbs âhe shall seeâ (or fear) and âshall inhabitâ plainly show that a man is here meant and not a plant.
Jeremiah 17:8
The river - Or, âwater-courseâ Isaiah 30:25, made for purposes of irrigation.
Shall not see - Or, âshall not fear Jeremiah 17:6.â Godâs people feel trouble as much as other people, but they do not fear it because they know
(1) that it is for their good, and
(2) that God will give them strength to bear it.
Jeremiah 17:9
The train of thought is apparently this: If the man is so blessed Jeremiah 17:7-8 who trusts in Yahweh, what is the reason why men so generally âmake flesh their armâ? And the answer is: Because manâs heart is incapable of seeing things in a straightforward manner, but is full of shrewd guile, and ever seeking to overreach others.
Desperately wicked - Rather, mortally sick.
Jeremiah 17:10
The answer to the question, âwho can know it?â To himself a manâs heart is an inscrutable mystery: God alone can fathom it.
Ways - Rather, way, his course of life. The âandâ must be omitted, for the last clause explains what is meant âby manâs way,â when he comes before God for judgment. It is âthe fruit,â the final result âof his doings, i. e., his real character as formed by the acts and habits of his life.
Jeremiah 17:11
Rather, âAs the partridge hath gathered eggs which it laid not, so ...â The general sense is: the covetous man is as sure to reap finally disappointment only as is the partridge which piles up eggs not of her own laying, and is unable to hatch them.
A fool - A Nabal. See 1 Samuel 25:25.
Jeremiah 17:12, Jeremiah 17:13
Or, âThou throne ... thou place ... thou hope ... Yahweh! All that forsake Thee etc.â The prophet concludes his prediction with the expression of his own trust in Yahweh, and confidence that the divine justice will finally be vindicated by the punishment of the wicked. The âthrone of gloryâ is equivalent to Him who is enthroned in glory.
Jeremiah 17:13
Shall be written in the earth - i. e., their names shall quickly disappear, unlike those graven in the rock forever Job 19:24. A board covered with sand is used in the East to this day in schools for giving lessons in writing: but writing inscribed on such materials is intended to be immediately obliterated. Equally fleeting is the existence of those who forsake God. âAll men are written somewhere, the saints in heaven, but sinners upon earthâ (Origen).
Jeremiah 17:15
This taunt shows that this prophecy was written before any very signal fulfillment of Jeremiahâs words had taken place, and prior therefore to the capture of Jerusalem at the close of Jehoiakimâs life. âNowâ means âI pray,â and is ironical.
Jeremiah 17:16
I have not hastened from - i. e., I have not sought to escape from.
A pastor to follow thee - Rather, âa shepherd after Thee.â âShepherdâ means âruler, magistrateâ (Jeremiah 2:8 note), and belongs to the prophet not as a teacher, but as one invested with authority by God to guide and direct the political course of the nation. So Yahweh guides His people Psalms 23:1-2, and the prophet does so âafter Him,â following obediently His instructions.
The woeful day - literally, âthe day of mortal sickness:â the day on which Jerusalem was to be destroyed, and the temple burned.
Right - Omit the word. What Jeremiah asserts is that he spake as in Godâs presence. They were no words of his own, but had the authority of Him before whom he stood. Compare Jeremiah 15:19.
Jeremiah 17:17
A terror - Rather, âa cause of dismay,â or consternation Jeremiah 1:17. By not fulfilling Jeremiahâs prediction God Himself seemed to put him to shame.
Jeremiah 17:18
Confounded - Put to shame.
Destroy them ... - Rather, break them with a double breaking: a twofold punishment, the first their general share in the miseries attendant upon their countryâs fall; the second, a special punishment for their sin in persecuting and mocking Godâs prophet.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Jeremiah 17:9. The heart is deceitful — ×¢×§× ××× akob halleb, "the heart is supplanting - tortuous - full of windings - insidious;" lying ever at the catch; striving to avail itself of every favourable circumstance to gratify its propensities to pride, ambition, evil desire, and corruption of all kinds.
And desperately wicked — ××× ×© ××× veanush hu, and is wretched, or feeble; distressed beyond all things, in consequence of the wickedness that is in it. I am quite of Mr. Parkhurst's opinion, that this word is here badly translated as ×× ×© anash is never used in Scripture to denote wickedness of any kind. My old MS. Bible translates thus: - Schrewid is the herte of a man: and unserchable: who schal knowen it?
Who can know it? — It even hides itself from itself; so that its owner does not know it. A corrupt heart is the worst enemy the fallen creature can have; it is full of evil devices, - of deceit, of folly, and abomination, and its owner knows not what is in him till it boils over, and is often past remedy before the evil is perceived. Therefore trust not in man, whose purposes are continually changing, and who is actuated only by motives of self-interest.
