Jeremiah 10:21

Bishops' Bible (1568)

For the heardmen are become foolishe, and they haue not sought the Lorde: therefore haue they dealt vnwisely with their cattell, and all are scattered abrode.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּ֤י נִבְעֲרוּ֙ הָֽרֹעִ֔ים וְאֶת־יְהוָ֖ה לֹ֣א דָרָ֑שׁוּ עַל־כֵּן֙ לֹ֣א הִשְׂכִּ֔ילוּ וְכָל־מַרְעִיתָ֖ם נָפֽוֹצָה׃

Transliteration

Kî nibʿărû hā-rōʿîm and-ʾet-YHWH not dārāšû upon-thus not hiśkîlû and-all-marʿîtām nāfôṣāh

Grammar Details

• *nibʿărû*: niphal perfect, 3rd common plural - they are brutish/stupid
• *hā-rōʿîm*: definite article + qal participle, masculine plural - the shepherds
• *dārāšû*: qal perfect, 3rd common plural - they have sought
• *hiśkîlû*: hiphil perfect, 3rd common plural - they have prospered/succeeded
• *marʿîtām*: noun, feminine singular + 3rd masculine plural suffix - their flock/pasture
• *nāfôṣāh*: niphal perfect, 3rd feminine singular - it is scattered/dispersed

Word Meanings

• *nibʿărû*: are brutish/stupid/senseless/ignorant
• *hā-rōʿîm*: the shepherds/pastors/rulers
• *dārāšû*: have sought/inquired of/consulted/investigated
• *hiśkîlû*: have prospered/succeeded/acted wisely/had insight
• *marʿîtām*: their flock/pasture/feeding place
• *nāfôṣāh*: is scattered/dispersed/spread abroad

Referenced Verses

• Jer 12:10 : 10 Diuers heardmen haue broke downe my vineyarde, and troden vpon my portion: of my pleasaunt portion they haue made a wildernesse and desert.
• Ezek 34:2-9 : 2 Thou sonne of man, prophecie against the shepheardes of Israel, prophecie and speake vnto them: thus saith the Lorde God vnto the shepheardes, Wo be vnto the shepheardes of Israel that feede them selues: should not the shepheards feede the flockes? 3 Ye eate vp the fat, ye clothe you with the wooll, the best fed do ye slay: but the flocke do ye not feede. 4 The weake haue ye not strengthened, the sicke haue ye not healed, the broken haue ye not bounde together, the dryuen away haue ye not brought againe, the lost haue ye not sought: but with force and crueltie haue ye ruled them. 5 They are scattered without a shephearde, yea all the beastes of the fielde deuour them, and they go astray. 6 My sheepe go wandring vpon al mountaines, and vpon euery hie hill, yea my flocke is scattered through all the face of the earth, and there is no man that seeketh or searcheth after them. 7 Therefore O ye shepheardes, heare the worde of the Lorde. 8 As truely as I lyue saith the Lorde God, forsomuch as my sheepe are robbed, & deuoured of all the wylde beastes of the fielde, hauing no shepheard, and seeing that my shepheardes seke not my sheepe, but the shepheardes feede them selues, and feede not my sheepe: 9 Therefore heare the worde of the Lorde O ye shepheardes, 10 Thus saith the Lorde God: beholde, I wyll vpon the shepheardes, and require my sheepe from their handes, and make them ceasse from feeding of the sheepe, yea the shepheardes shall feede them selues no more: for I wyll deliuer my sheepe out of their mouthes, so that they shall not deuour them after this.
• Ezek 34:12 : 12 Lyke as a shephearde when he hath ben among the flocke, seeketh after the sheepe that are scattered abroade: euen so wyll I seeke after my sheepe, and deliuer them out of all places where they haue ben scattered, in the cloudie and darke day.
• Zech 10:3 : 3 My wrothfull displeasure was moued against the shepheardes, and I wyll visite the goates: for the Lorde of hoastes wyl visite his flocke the house of Iuda, and wyll make them as a goodly fayre horse in the battaile.
• Zech 13:7 : 7 Aryse O thou sworde vpon my shephearde, and vpon the man that is my felow, saith the lord of hoastes: smite the shepheard, & the sheepe shalbe scattred abroade: and so wyll I turne my hande to the litle ones.
• Jer 10:8 : 8 They are altogether brutishe and vnwise in this one thing: wood is the teaching of vanitie.
• Ezek 22:25-30 : 25 There is a conspiracie of her prophetes in the middest therof: as a roring lion rauenyng his pray, they deuour soules, they haue taken the riche and pretious thynges, they haue made her many widowes in the middest therof. 26 Her priestes haue broken my lawe, and defiled my holy thynges, they put no difference betweene the holy & vnholy, neither discerne they betweene the cleane & vncleane: they turne their eyes from my Sabbathes, and I am defiled among them. 27 Thy rulers in thee are lyke woolues rauenyng the pray, to shed blood, and destroy soules, for their owne couetous lucre. 28 As for her prophetes, they daube with vntempered morter, they see vanities, and diuine lyes vnto them, saying, The Lorde saith so: wheras the Lorde hath not spoken. 29 The people in the lande vsed wicked extortion and robbery, they vexe the poore and needy, and oppresse the straunger agaynst right. 30 And I sought among them for a man that woulde make vp the hedge, and set hym selfe in the gap before me in the landes behalfe, that I shoulde not destroy it: but I coulde fynde none.
• Jer 23:1-2 : 1 Wo vnto the shepheardes that destroy and scatter my flocke, saith the Lorde. 2 Wherefore this is the saying of the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepheardes that feede my people, Ye scatter and thrust out my flocke, and loke not vpon them: therefore nowe wyll I visite the wickednesse of your imaginations, saith the Lorde.
• Jer 23:9-9 : 9 My heart breaketh in my body, because of the false prophetes all my bones shake, I am become like a drunken man that by the reason of wine can take no rest, for very feare of the Lorde and his holy wordes. 10 Because the lande is full of adulterers, and thorowe swearing it mourneth, and the pleasaunt pastures of the desert are dryed vp: yea the way that men take is wicked, and their power is nothing right. 11 For the prophetes and the priestes them selues are polluted hypocrites, and their wickednesse haue I founde in my house, saith the Lorde. 12 Wherefore their way shalbe slipperie in the darknesse, wherein they may stacker and fall: for I wyll bryng a plague vpon them, euen the yere of their visitation, saith the Lorde. 13 I haue seene folly among the prophetes of Samaria, that preached for Baal, and deceaued my people of Israel. 14 I haue seene also among the prophetes of Hierusalem foule adultrie, and presumptuous lyes: they take the most shamefull men by the hande, flattering them, so that they can not returne from their wickednes: all these with their citizens are vnto me as Sodom, and as the inhabitours of Gomorre. 15 Therefore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes concerning these prophetes: Beholde, I wyll feede them with wormewood, and make them drinke the water of gall: For from the prophetes of Hierusalem is hypocrisie come into all the lande. 16 And therfore the Lorde of hoastes geueth you this warning: Heare not the wordes of the prophetes that preache vnto you and deceaue you, truely they reache you vanitie: for they speake the meaning of their owne heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lorde. 17 They say vnto them that despise me, The Lorde hath spoken it, tushe, ye shall prosper right well: and vnto all them that walke after the lust of their owne heart, they say, tushe, there shall no misfortune happen you. 18 For who hath sitten in the counsayle of the Lorde, that he hath hearde and vnderstande what he is about to do? who hath marked his deuice, and hearde it? 19 Beholde, the stormie weather of the Lorde that is his indignation, shall go foorth, and a violent whirlewinde shall fall downe vpon the head of the vngodly. 20 And the wrath of the Lorde shall not turne agayne, vntill he perfourme and fulfill the thought of his heart: and in the latter dayes ye shall knowe his meaning. 21 I haue not sent these prophetes saith the Lorde and yet they ranne, I haue not spoken to them, and yet they preached. 22 But if they had continued in my counsayle, they had opened to my people my wordes, and they had turned my people from their euyll wayes, and wicked imaginations. 23 Am I then God that seeth but the thing whiche is nye at hande, and not that is farre of, saith the Lorde? 24 May any man hide him selfe so, that I shall not see hym saith the Lorde? do not I fulfill heauen and earth saith the Lorde? 25 I haue hearde well inough what the prophetes say that preache lyes in my name, saying, I haue dreamed, I haue dreamed. 26 Howe long wyll this continue in the prophetes heart to tell lies, and preache the craftie subtiltie of their owne heart? 27 Whose purpose is with the dreames that euery one tell, to make my people forget my name, as their fathers dyd when Baal came vp. 28 The prophete that hath a dreame, let hym tell it, and he that vnderstandeth my worde, let hym shewe it faythfully: for what hath chaffe and wheate to do together saith the Lorde? 29 Is not my worde like a fire saith the Lorde? and like an hammer that breaketh the harde stone? 30 Therefore thus saith the Lodre: beholde, I wyll vpon the prophetes that steale my worde priuilie from euery man. 31 Beholde, here am I saith the Lorde, against the prophetes that make tongues tender to speake, and to say, The Lorde hath saide it. 32 Beholde, here am I saith the Lorde, against those prophetes that dare prophecie lying dreames, and deceaue my people with their vanities and inconstant deuices, yet I neuer sent nor commaunded them: They shall do this people no good at all, saith the Lorde.
• Isa 56:10-12 : 10 For his watchmen are all blynde, they haue altogether no vnderstanding, they are all dumbe dogges not beyng able to barke, they are sleepy, sluggishe are they and lye snortyng. 11 They are shamelesse dogges that be neuer satisfied: The sheepheardes also in like maner haue no vnderstandyng, but euery man turneth his owne way, euery one after his owne couetousnesse with all his power. 12 Come say they I wyll fetche wine, so shall we fyll our selues, that we may be drunken: and do to morowe lyke as to day, yea and much more.
• Jer 2:8 : 8 The priestes them selues sayde not, Where is the Lord? They that had the lawe in their handes knewe me not, the sheepheardes offended agaynst me, the prophetes did prophecie in Baal, and folowed such thinges as shal bryng them no profite.
• Jer 5:31 : 31 The prophetes teache falsely, and the preachers receaue giftes, and my people hath pleasure therein: what wyll come thereof at the last.
• Jer 8:9 : 9 Therefore shall the wyse be confounded, they shalbe afraide and taken: for lo, they haue cast out the worde of the Lorde, what wisdome can then be among them?
• Jer 49:32 : 32 Their camels shalbe a pray, and the droues of their cattell driuen awaye: Moreouer, those wil I scatter towarde all the wyndes, and to the farthest partes of the worlde, yea from all the sides therof will I bryng their destruction, saith the Lorde.
• Jer 50:17 : 17 Israel is a scattered flocke, the lions haue dispearsed them: First the kyng of the Assyrians deuoured them, last of all this Nabuchodonozor king of Babylon hath brused all their bones.
• Jer 10:14 : 14 His wisdome maketh all men fooles, and confounded be casters of images: for that they cast, is but a vayne thing, and hath no life.
• John 10:12-13 : 12 An hyrelyng, and he which is not the sheephearde, neither the sheepe are his owne, seeth the wolfe commyng, and leaueth the sheepe, and fleeth, and the wolfe catcheth, & scattereth the sheepe. 13 The hyrelyng fleeth, because he is an hyrelyng, and careth not for the sheepe.