Bible Strands
Jeremiah 6:17
I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.’ But they answered, ‘We will not listen!’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through the prophet to the people of Judah immediately after they rejected his call to walk in the ancient paths. The declaration follows a judicial warning about impending national disaster.
The words — צֹפִים (tzo.Fim) translates literally to watchmen, and שׁוֹפָר (sho.Far) means trumpet or ram’s horn. These terms denote the appointed messengers and the urgent warning signal they were commanded to sound.
The thread — The pattern of rejected divine warnings recurs in Jeremiah 25:4, where repeated prophetic messages are ignored. The ram’s horn imagery echoes Isaiah 58:1’s command to proclaim transgression and Isaiah 21:11’s watchman awaiting dawn.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment of a received warning and a decision to heed it. It forces the reader to confront the consequences of deliberate refusal to listen to established authority.
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
Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 25:4 And the LORD has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear.
- Isaiah 58:1 “Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Isaiah 21:11 This is the burden against Dumah: One calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?”
- Zechariah 7:11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
- Isaiah 56:10 Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.
- Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the ramparts. I will watch to see what He will say to me, and how I should answer when corrected.
- Ezekiel 3:17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.
- Ezekiel 33:2 “Son of man, speak to your people and tell them: ‘Suppose I bring the sword against a land, and the people of that land choose a man from among them, appointing him as their watchman,
- Hosea 8:1 Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
- Amos 3:6 If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?