Jeremiah 17:1

The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron,.... Or an iron tool, such as engravers use in working on hard matter: [and] with the point of a diamond; such as glaziers use in cutting their glass;

The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars; The Septuagint omit the first four

CHAPTER 17 The captivity of Judah for her sin, . Trust in man cursed; in God, blessed, . The deceitful heart and most secret practices are known to God, . The salvation of God, . The prophet complaineth of the mockers of his prophecies, . Of keeping the sabbath, . There is much arguing amongst those that are critical about the true signification of words, what is here signified by dyjv which we translate a diamond; most agree that it doth not signify a diamond, (not used in engraving,) but that by the pen of iron, and the point of a diamond, are meant some tools with which they were wont to engrave things upon hard substances; it may be made in a figure resembling the claw of a bird, as the word seemeth to import. It is graven upon the table of their heart; it is graven in their hearts; they are so accustomed to sin, so inured to idolatry, that there is no hope of any reclaiming them. For how can they that are accustomed to do evil, do well? And upon the horns of your altars; nor is it a thing done in secret, but it is written, or painted, or engraven upon the horns of their altars. God’ s altar was foursquare, and at each corner there was a rising part made of brass something high, these were called the horns of the altar. See ,16. Now their sin is either said to be engraven or published upon the horns of the altar, because the blood of the sacrifices which they offered to idols was sprinkled there, or because their altars had some inscription upon them, declaring to what idol that altar was consecrated, as the altar of Athens had.

Jeremiah 17:1 The sin of Judah [is] written with a pen of iron, [and] with the point of a diamond: [it is] graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;Ver. 1. The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron.] The four first verses of this chapter are left out by the Septuagint. Jerome saith they omitted them in gratiam et honorem papuli sui, in favour, and for the honour of their countrymen the Jews; but that was no just reason. "For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven," though there were not a Bible left on earth. These sinners against their own souls had their idolatry so deeply engraven on their hearts, that they could not get out the stamp, and the guilt thereof stuck so fast to their consciences, that they could hardly get off either the sting or the stain thereof. It is graven upon the tables of their hearts.] Their sin lay there, where the law should have lain. Like as Queen Mary, when she died, told those about her that the loss of Calais lay at her heart, a place far fitter for Jesus Christ. And upon the horns of your altars,] Whereon the blood of your sacrifices are sprinkled, and so your sin proclaimed.

XVII. (1) A pen of iron.—i.e., a stylus, or graving tool, as in Job 19:24, chiefly used for engraving in stone or metal. In Psalms 45:1 it seems to have been used of the instrument with which the scribe wrote on his tablets. With the point of a diamond.—The word expresses the idea of the hardness rather than the brilliancy of the diamond, and is rendered “adamant” in Ezekiel 3:9; Zechariah 7:12. (For the diamond as a precious stone a different word is used in Exodus 28:18.) Strictly speaking, it was applied only to the diamond-point set in iron used by engravers. Such instruments were known to the Romans (Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxvii. 15), and may have been in use in Phœnicia or Palestine. The words describe a note of infamy that could not be erased, and this was stamped in upon the tablets of the heart (comp. 2 Corinthians 3:3), and blazoned upon the “horns of the altars” of their false worship, or of the true worship of Jehovah which they had polluted and rendered false. The plural “altars” points probably to the former.

CHAPTER XVII This chapter begins with setting forth the very strong bias which the people of Judah had to idolatry, with the fatal consequences, 1-4. The happiness of the man that trusted in Jehovah is then beautifully contrasted with the opposite character, 5-8. God alone knows the deceitfulness and wretchedness of the heart of man, 9, 10. The comparison of a bird's hatching the eggs of another of a different species, which will soon forsake her, is highly expressive of the vanity of ill-acquired riches, which often disappoint the owner, 11. The prophet continues the same subject in his own person, appeals to God for his sincerity, and prays that the evil intended him by his enemies may revert on their own heads, 12-18. The remaining part of the chapter is a distinct prophecy relating to the due observance of the Sabbath, enforced both by promises and threatenings, 19-27. NOTES ON CHAP. XVII Verse 1. The sin of Judah] Idolatry. Is written with a pen of iron] It is deeply and indelibly written in their heart, and shall be as indelibly written in their punishment. Writing with the point of a diamond must refer to glass, or some vitrified substance, as it is distinguished here from engraving with a steel burine, or graver. Their altars show what the deities are which they worship. There may be reference here to the different methods of recording events in those days: - 1. A pen or stile of iron, for engraving on lead or wood. 2. A point of a diamond, for writing on vitreous substances. 3. Writing on tables of brass or copper. 4. Writing on the horns of the altars the names of the deities worshipped there. This is probable. In several parts of India, and all through Ceylon, an iron or steel pen is used universally; with these the natives form the letters by incisions on the outer rind of the palm leaf. Books written in this way are very durable. This pen is broad at the top, has a very fine sharp point, and is sharp at one side as a knife, to shave and prepare the palm leaf. A pen of this description now lies before me.

Jeremiah 17:1-4. See introd. summary to section. The vv. are omitted in LXX, either (as St Jerome suggests) from unwillingness that the lasting condemnation here expressed should be put on permanent record against them, or because a translator’s eye accidentally wandered from the last word of Jer 16:21 to the same (“the Lord”) in Jeremiah 17:5. Jeremiah 17:3 f. are repeated from Jeremiah 15:13 f., where the LXX rendering exists. The passage is doubtless genuine, though the text is difficult and probably not free from corruption.

This section Jeremiah 17:1-4 is inseparably connected with the preceding. Judah’s sin had been described Jeremiah 16:19 as one of which the very Gentiles will become ashamed.

JUDAH’S SIN , Jeremiah 17:1-4.1. Sin of Judah — Namely, that very sin set forth in the previous chapter, of which even the Gentiles would become ashamed. Origen and Isidore understood by “Judah,” here, Judas Iscariot!