The LORD once called you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit. But with a mighty roar He will set it on fire, and its branches will be consumed.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh called your name, “A green olive tree, beautiful with goodly fruit.” With the noise of a great tumult he has kindled fire on it, and its branches are broken.
- KJV The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.
- NKJV The Lord called your name, Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit. With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, And its branches are broken.
- NASB The Lord named you “A green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form”; With the noise of a great tumult He has set fire to it, And its branches are worthless.
- NLT I, the Lord, once called them a thriving olive tree, beautiful to see and full of good fruit. But now I have sent the fury of their enemies to burn them with fire, leaving them charred and broken.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Once a flourishing olive tree, Judah will be set ablaze and broken in judgment.
Overview
God had made Judah like a beautiful, fruitful olive tree, an image of His gracious blessing. But because of sin, that tree is now consigned to fire and shattered branches. Paul later uses the olive tree image to warn that unbelief breaks off branches while faith grafts in (Romans 11:17-21).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Rom 11:17–24Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root,
- Isa 27:11When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
- Ps 52:8But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.
- Ps 80:16Your vine has been cut down and burned; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
- Jer 21:14I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the LORD. I will kindle a fire in your forest that will consume everything around you.’”
- John 15:6If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.
- Ezek 15:4–7No, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything?
- Matt 3:10The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
- Ps 83:2See how Your enemies rage, how Your foes have reared their heads.
- Isa 1:30–31For you will become like an oak whose leaves are withered, like a garden without water.
- Ezek 20:47–48Say to the forest of the Negev: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite in you a fire, and it will devour all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and by it every face from south to north will be scorched.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 11:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.