{"id":69827,"date":"2020-02-08T10:07:28","date_gmt":"2020-02-08T08:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=69827"},"modified":"2023-09-04T17:21:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T14:21:05","slug":"hey-jeremiah-dont-pray-for-this-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/hey-jeremiah-dont-pray-for-this-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Hey, Jeremiah: Don\u2019t Pray For This People!"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[395,459,506,400],"acf":{"old_id":"69827","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"411","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But isn\u2019t that my job?\r\n\r\n","content":"

The term \u201ccovenant\u201d (<\/span>b\u2019rit<\/span><\/i>) appears five times in this chapter referring, specifically, to the initial covenant that God forged with Israel at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. At that time, Israel promised that in exchange for God\u2019s upholding His promise to their ancestors, they would forsake other gods and remain true to Him alone (4-5). Instead, they sacrificed to numerous gods\u2014\u201cas many as [their] towns\u201d\u2014albeit gratuitously, since these deities would not be able to assist them in their time of need (12-13).<\/span><\/p>\n

Then God said to Jeremiah: <\/span><\/p>\n

As for you, do not pray for this people, do not raise a cry of prayer on their behalf; for I will not listen when they call to Me on account of their disaster (14). <\/span><\/p>\n

How counterintuitive. God told the prophet\u2014whose entire raison d\u2019etre is to intercede on behalf of the people\u2014to refrain from exercising his function. Actually, this is the second time God had so enjoined him, cf. 7:16.<\/span><\/p>\n

The following verse, which appears to provide a reason or rationale for that injunction, poses its own exegetical challenge: \u201cWhy should My beloved be in My House, who executes so many vile designs? The sacral flesh will pass away from you, for you exult while performing your evil deeds\u201d (15). Shadal* commented:<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of the commentaries on this verse are farfetched. I compare the expression \u201cpass away from you\u201d (<\/span>ya`avru me`alayikh<\/span><\/em>) with \u201cI have caused your sins to pass away from you\u201d (Zekh. 3:4) [which means to forgive]. I see this verse as a continuation of its predecessor: \u201cDo not pray for this people.\u201d \u201cWhy should My beloved,\u201d Jeremiah, \u201cbe in My House,\u201d which is the Temple, to pray on behalf of this nation when its vile deeds are deliberate?<\/span><\/p>\n

At this juncture, He turns [from the prophet] towards the people, saying: You may think that by means of \u201csacral flesh,\u201d by means of the sacrifices you have brought in this House, that your sins will be forgiven. [He adds] by way of disdain, that were it so, you would be able to \u201cexult while doing evil\u201d and would be at peace in spite of all your iniquities, and that is impossible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, when God quoted the people of Anathoth, Jeremiah\u2019s hometown, as telling him \u201cYou must not prophesy any more\u2026 or you will die by our hand\u201d (21), Shadal pointed out that this reflected their thoughts only and not their actual words, for otherwise how could Jeremiah have said earlier, \u201cI did not realize they plotted against me\u201d (19).<\/span><\/p>\n

*For an explanation of our objectives in studying Shadal\u2019s commentary, <\/span>see our introduction<\/span><\/a> in Jeremiah chapter 1.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69828,"id":69828,"title":"Jer11-prayer","filename":"Jer11-prayer.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/hey-jeremiah-dont-pray-for-this-people\/jer11-prayer\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer11-prayer","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69827,"date":"2020-02-08 08:07:09","modified":"2022-12-26 16:26:03","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":1008,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer-300x236.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":236,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer-768x605.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":605,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer-1024x806.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":806,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1008,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1008,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer-1200x945.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":945,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer-533x420.png","home_baner-width":533,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Hey, Jeremiah: Don\u2019t Pray For This People!","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"But isn\u2019t that my job?","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":69828,"id":69828,"title":"Jer11-prayer","filename":"Jer11-prayer.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/hey-jeremiah-dont-pray-for-this-people\/jer11-prayer\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer11-prayer","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69827,"date":"2020-02-08 08:07:09","modified":"2022-12-26 16:26:03","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":1008,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer-300x236.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":236,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer-768x605.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":605,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer-1024x806.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":806,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1008,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1008,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer-1200x945.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":945,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer11-prayer-533x420.png","home_baner-width":533,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69827"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69827"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117566,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69827\/revisions\/117566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}