“I have appointed you to examine My people like ore, so you may know and try their ways.
Parallel translations
- WEB “I have made you a tester of metals and a fortress among my people; that you may know and try their way.
- KJV I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
- NKJV “I have set you as an assayer and a fortress among My people, That you may know and test their way.
- NASB ¶“I have made you an assayer and an examiner among My people, So that you may know and put their way to the test.”
- NLT “Jeremiah, I have made you a tester of metals, that you may determine the quality of my people.
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
God appoints Jeremiah as an assayer to test the people and reveal what they are truly made of. The prophet's ministry exposes the real condition of hearts.
Overview
Using metallurgy imagery, God makes Jeremiah a 'tester of metals' to assess Judah's worth. His preaching functions like a refiner's test, revealing whether there is any pure metal among them. This sets up the verdict of the following verses that the people are corrupt through and through.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Jer 1:18Now behold, this day I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.
- Jer 15:20Then I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save and deliver you, declares the LORD.
- Jer 9:7Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of the daughter of My people?
- Ezek 3:8–10Behold, I will make your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.
- Ezek 20:4Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? Confront them with the abominations of their fathers
- Ezek 22:2“As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 6:27 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.