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From: Jeremiah 17:5-10

God Rewards People as They Deserve (Continuation)

[5] Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh
his arm, whose heart turns away from the LORD. [6] He is like a shrub in the de-
sert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of
the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

[7] “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. [8]
He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and
does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious
in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

[9] The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can un-
derstand it? [10] “I the LORD search the mind and try the heart, to give to every
man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

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Commentary:

17:1-13. This passage includes a number of short oracles in the style of wisdom
writing, graphically expressing themes that were constant in Jeremiah’s preaching.
Judah’s sin of idolatry was quite obvious: anyone travelling the country could see
people frequenting the places where Canaanite gods were worshipped; they were
everywhere one went (vv. 1-3a). That is why the Lord will abandon the Israelites,
who will be uprooted from their land and enslaved (vv. 3b-4).

Using words similar to those of Psalm 1, the prophet describes the misfortune
that will befall those who trust in themselves, as against the prosperity of those
who trust in God (vv. 5-8). St Thomas Aquinas’ commentary on Psalm 1 fits in
nicely with the simile here of the tree planted beside water (v. 8): “We are asked
to consider three things in the image of the tree—its being well-rooted, its fruitful-
ness, and the sustaining of its life. To be well-rooted, the tree must be well-wa-
tered, otherwise it will dry up and wither away; thus, we are told that the tree is
planted beside running waters, which symbolize the currents of grace. ‘He who
believes in me...out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water’ (Jn 7:38). The one
whose roots draw on the living waters will bear much fruit in all the good works
that he does, and fruitfulness is the second aspect of the image that we are
asked to contemplate. ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness’, etc. (Gal 5:22). The tree does not wither a-
way: it is sustained in life. Some trees lose their leaves, but others never lose
their leaves; and thus it is with righteous men [...]; they will not be forgotten by
God even in their tiniest and least significant actions. ‘The righteous will flourish
like a green leaf’ (Prov 11:28)” (”Postilla super Psalmos”, 1, 3).

God cannot be deceived; he sees right into a person’s heart, and he will judge
each on his merits (vv. 9-11). The hope of Israel is the Lord (vv. 12-13), the fount
of water (cf. 2:13; Ps 42:2; Jn 4:10) without which none can live (cf. v. 8). To
show that those who forsake God will be judged and condemned, Jeremiah uses
an image (they “shall be written in the earth”: v. 13) that is reminiscent of Jesus’
gesture when he “judges” the men who accuse the woman caught in adultery (Jn
8:6). The wind will blow their names away: they will have no place in the book of
life.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.