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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 11:17–24And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
- Isa 27:11When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.
- Ps 52:8But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
- Ps 80:16It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
- Jer 21:14But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.
- John 15:6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
- Ezek 15:4–7Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?
- Matt 3:10And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
- Ps 83:2For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
- Isa 1:30–31For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
- Ezek 20:47–48And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
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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.