Jeremiah 35:12–17, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Jeremiah 35:12–17
Rechabite Hearing Exposes Judah's Nonhearing
Rechabite hearing becomes a contrast with Judah's refusal of prophetic speech
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? The words of Jonadab are performed to this day: they drink none, but obey their father.
I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, but ye hearkened not unto me. I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land. But ye have not inclined your ear.
The comparison is responsiveness, not a slur on Jews or a hymn to rigid control
Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.
A family kept a human father's charge; Judah did not keep the LORD's. That contrast must not romanticize controlling households, and it must not stigmatize Jewish people as uniquely disobedient. The issue is ignored prophets, not ethnicity.
How this should shape us
Let a small community's kept word expose a larger community's unkept one without hating the larger community. Do not baptize family rigidity, and do not preach this as a Jewish defect.
Teach it back
Explain Jeremiah 35:12–17 in your own words. Name its place in Jeremiah, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Jeremiah 35:12–17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 35:12–17
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.
Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 35:12–17
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.
Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline and Themes: restoration, new covenant, field, Baruch scroll, siege, and fall; applied to Jeremiah 35:12–17
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.
Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 2 study guide, pp. 1-6: prophetic conflict, politics, exile, and restoration; applied to Jeremiah 35:12–17
Supports: Controls anti-Judaism and supersessionism risk, especially readings that detach the new covenant from Israel and Judah.
Fuller, 'Christian Antisemitism in Biblical Studies,' section on Jeremiah 31 and the new covenant, inspected author manuscript; applied to Jeremiah 35:12–17
Sources for This Section
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Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Jeremiah 35:12–17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Jeremiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2; fixed commit
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 35:12–17
Open the fixed Hebrew Jeremiah file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Jeremiah with Translator, Textual, and Study Notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; official eBible PDF distribution, NET Bible Second Edition; official PDF accessed 2026
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 35:12–17
Open the official NET Jeremiah PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Jeremiah: Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Themes, and Bible in the World
Terence E. Fretheim and Michael Chan
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current public course accessed 2026
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline and Themes: restoration, new covenant, field, Baruch scroll, siege, and fall; applied to Jeremiah 35:12–17
Open the Enter the Bible Jeremiah course ↗open university study guide series
Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Jeremiah Parts 1-3 Study Guides
Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub
Yale Bible Study, 2024
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 2 study guide, pp. 1-6: prophetic conflict, politics, exile, and restoration; applied to Jeremiah 35:12–17
Open the Yale Jeremiah and Ezekiel course ↗scholarly conference paper
Christian Antisemitism in Biblical Studies: Two Examples
R. Fuller
An End to Antisemitism conference archive, University of Vienna, conference manuscript archived 2018
Supports: Controls anti-Judaism and supersessionism risk, especially readings that detach the new covenant from Israel and Judah.
Exact location: Fuller, 'Christian Antisemitism in Biblical Studies,' section on Jeremiah 31 and the new covenant, inspected author manuscript; applied to Jeremiah 35:12–17
Open Fuller on antisemitism and Jeremiah 31 ↗