Jeremiah 17:3 - Exposition

O my mountain in the field ; a still more obscure passage. The question is whether "my mountain in the field" is a vocative or an accusative dependent on "I will give." If the former, then the phrase will mean Jerusalem (comp. "rock of the plain," Jeremiah 21:13 ). This, however, does not suit with the second half of the verse ("thy high places," etch), and still less with Jeremiah 17:4 , which evidently refers to the people of Judah. Added to this, if Jerusalem were here addressed we should certainly expect feminine suffixes. It remains to take "my mountain," etc; as an accusative. It describes, not Jerusalem, but Mount Zion as the site of the temple, the mountain of the house of Jehovah ( Isaiah 2:3 ; Zechariah 8:3 ; Psalms 24:3 ). Render, therefore, my mountain in the field will I give . The prophet magnifies Zion into a mountain with a widely extended prospect (comp. Jeremiah 17:12 and Jeremiah 21:13 ). Thy substance and all thy treasures ; i.e. these of the people. The part of the verse which begins here is almost the same as Jeremiah 15:13 (see note). And thy high places for sin . Keil explains, Jehovah declares that he will, on account of the sinful practices upon them, deliver up the high places throughout the land. Gesenius, "He will deliver up the high places with the sin attaching to them;" Hitzig, "as a sin offering." There is a question, however, whether there is not a corruption in the text, and whether we should not read, with Ewald, "without price for thy sins" (as in the parallel passage, Jeremiah 15:13 ).