Bible Strands
Jeremiah 17:19
This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and stand at the gate of the people, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; and stand at all the other gates of Jerusalem.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Jeremiah directly following the prophet’s prayer in 17:18. The command places the prophet at the city gates where Judah’s kings and citizens regularly enter and exit.
The words — The verse opens with הָלֹךְ (ha.Lokh, “go”) and וְעָמַדְתָּ (ve./'a.mad.Ta, “and you will stand”), pairing movement with a fixed, public posture. The prepositional phrase בְּשַׁעַר (be./Sha.'ar, “at the gate”) marks the official civic space where royal and popular traffic converges.
The thread — This gate-prophetic pattern recurs in Jeremiah 7:2 and 26:2, where the prophet is similarly stationed at temple or city gates to deliver a warning. Jeremiah 19:2 extends the directive to the Potsherd Gate in the Valley of Ben-hinnom for a specific proclamation of judgment.
Why it lands — The text requires immediate physical obedience to a specific location before any speech is delivered. It frames prophetic authority as public and accountable, demanding that the reader recognize divine messages are issued in accessible civic spaces rather than private retreats.
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
Thus said the Lord unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 7:2 “Stand in the gate of the house of the LORD and proclaim this message: Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the LORD.
- Jeremiah 26:2 “This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard of the house of the LORD and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all the cities of Judah who come to worship there. Do not omit a word.
- Jeremiah 19:2 and go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you,
- Jeremiah 36:6 so you are to go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting, and in the hearing of the people you are to read the words of the LORD from the scroll you have written at my dictation. Read them in the hearing of all the people of Judah who are coming from their cities.
- Jeremiah 36:10 From the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, which was in the upper courtyard at the opening of the New Gate of the house of the LORD, Baruch read from the scroll the words of Jeremiah in the hearing of all the people.
- Acts 5:20 “Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life.”
- Proverbs 1:20 Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;
- Proverbs 8:1 Does not wisdom call out, and understanding raise her voice?
- Proverbs 9:3 She has sent out her maidservants; she calls out from the heights of the city.