Jeremiah 12 · Verse 17

Jeremiah 12:17

But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.
Jeremiah 12:17, King James Version

Jeremiah 12:17 in other translations

BSBBut if they will not obey, then I will uproot that nation; I will uproot it and destroy it, declares the LORD.”
WEBBut if they will not hear, then I will pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it,” says the LORD.
ASVBut if they will not hear, then will I pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it, saith Jehovah.
YLTAnd if they do not hearken, Then I have plucked up that nation, Plucking up and destroying, An affirmation of Jehovah!'
DARBYAnd if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith Jehovah.
BBEBut if they will not give ear, then I will have that nation uprooted, and given to destruction, says the Lord.
WebsterBut if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.

What does Jeremiah 12:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jeremiah 12:14-17

14-17. Prophecy as to the surrounding nations, the Syrians, Ammonites, &c., who helped forward Judah's calamity: they shall share her fall; and, on their conversion, they shall share with her in the future restoration. This is a brief anticipation of the predictions in the forty-seventh, forty-eighth, and forty-ninth chapters. touch--(Zec 2:8). pluck them out ... pluck out ... Judah--(Compare end of Jr 12:16)…

Read the full comment on Jeremiah 12:14-17 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 17 I will - destroy that nation - Several of them did not obey, and are destroyed. Of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Chaldeans, not one vestige remains. The sixteenth verse is supposed to be a promise of the conversion of the Gentiles. See Eph 2:13-22. From the thirteenth verse to the end is a different discourse, and Dahler supposes it to have been delivered in the seventh or eighth year of the reign of Jehoiakim.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Jeremiah 12:14-17

The Lord would plead the cause of his people against their evil neighbours. Yet he would afterwards show mercy to those nations, when they should learn true religion. This seems to look forward to the times when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in. Those who would have their lot with God's people, and a last end like theirs, must learn their ways, and walk in them.

Read the full comment on Jeremiah 12:14-17 →

Jeremiah 12:17 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְאִ֖םve.'Imand ifH518
לֹ֣אlo'notH3808
יִשְׁמָ֑עוּyish.Ma.'uthey will listenH8085
וְנָ֨תַשְׁתִּ֜יve.Na.tash.Tiand I will pluck upH5428
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הַגּ֥וֹיha.Goythe nationH1471
הַה֛וּאha.Hu'<the> thatH1931
נָת֥וֹשׁna.To.oshplucking upH5428
וְאַבֵּ֖דve.'a.Bedand destroyingH6
נְאֻם\־ne.'um-[the] utterance ofH5002
יְהוָֽה\׃\ \סYah.wehYahwehH3068

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Jeremiah 12:17

  • Isaiah 60:12

    For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

  • Psalms 2:8-12

    Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. …

  • Daniel 7:4-8

    The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. …

  • Jeremiah 12:14-17

    Thus saith the Lord against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people. But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.

  • Zechariah 14:16-19

    And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

  • Jeremiah 18:7

    At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

  • Luke 19:27

    But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

  • Ezekiel 19:12

    But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.

  • Daniel 11:4

    And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.

  • 1 Peter 2:6-8

    Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

  • 2 Thessalonians 1:8

    In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

  • Jeremiah 31:28

    And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
if.
Ps 2:8-12; Isa 60:12; Zec 14:16-19; Lu 19:27; 2Th 1:8; 1Pe 2:6-8
pluck.
14-17; 18:7; 31:28; Eze 19:12; Da 7:4-8; 11:4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Jeremiah 12:16

    And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.

  • Jeremiah 12:17

    But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.

Read all of Jeremiah 12

Jeremiah 12:17 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Mas si no oyeren, arrancaré á la tal gente, sacándola de raíz, y destruyendo, dice Jehová.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et s’ils n’écoutent pas, j’arracherai entièrement cette nation-là et je la ferai périr, dit l’ Éternel.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Wenn sie aber nicht hören, so werde ich selbige Nation ausreißen, ausreißen und vertilgen, spricht Jehova.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Quod si non audierint, evellam gentem illam evulsione et perditione, ait Dominus.