Bible Strands
Jeremiah 17:1
“The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus, engraved with a diamond point on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah addresses the nation of Judah during a period of entrenched idolatry, declaring their collective guilt before God.
The words — `חַטַּ֣את (cha.Tat)` means sin, and `שָׁמִ֑יר (sha.Mir)` means flint or diamond point, emphasizing the permanence of the inscription.
The thread — The motif of writing on the heart appears in Proverbs 3:3 and Proverbs 7:3 as a call to internalize instruction, while 2 Corinthians 3:3 contrasts physical tablets with a heart written by the Spirit.
Why it lands — The text states Judah’s sin is permanently engraved on their hearts and altars, requiring the reader to acknowledge the fixed nature of their rebellion without minimizing its depth.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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;
Cross-references
- Proverbs 3:3 Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
- 2 Corinthians 3:3 It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
- Proverbs 7:3 Tie them to your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
- Leviticus 4:25 Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.
- Job 19:23 I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,
- Leviticus 4:17 and he is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD in front of the veil.
- Hosea 12:11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.