◄ Jeremiah 17:11 ►
Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will be the fool."
Study Bible
Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay

A partridge may brood eggs that do not truly belong to it, only to lose them when they hatch. The image exposes the false security of possessions gathered outside God’s righteous order. What is gained by fraud, oppression, bribery, or exploitation may appear secure for a season, yet it has no rightful permanence.

Hab 2:6 Will not all of these take up a taunt against him…
Mic 2:1-2 Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds…
Pro 23:4-5 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough…

is the man who makes a fortune unjustly.

Judah’s leaders and wealthy citizens often used their power to defraud the weak, pervert justice, and enrich themselves at the expense of others. Such gain directly opposed the covenant demands of the Lord, who defends the poor, the widow, the fatherless, and the stranger. Wealth itself is not condemned, but wealth acquired through sin bears the judgment of God.

Hab 2:9-10 Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain,…
Pro 15:27 He who is greedy for unjust gain brings trouble…
Pro 21:6 Making a fortune by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist,…

In the middle of his days his riches will desert him,

Unjust wealth can disappear suddenly through loss, judgment, death, political upheaval, or the exposure of evil. The man who trusted his riches discovers that they cannot preserve his life or shield him from God’s hand. Proverbs warns that wealth can fly away like an eagle, and Job declares that the wicked may gather riches only for the righteous to inherit.

Job 20:15 He swallows wealth but vomits it out;…
Job 27:19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;…
Ecc 5:14-15 or wealth lost in a failed venture,…

and in the end he will be the fool.”

Biblical folly is rebellion against God’s wisdom and reliance on what cannot save. The unjustly rich man ends with neither lasting treasure nor honor before the Lord. Jesus gave the same warning when God called the wealthy man a fool for storing up earthly abundance while remaining poor toward God.

Luk 12:20-21 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night…
Psa 49:10-12 For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish…
Pro 1:32 For the waywardness of the simple will slay them…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, known for his prophecies concerning the judgment and restoration of Israel. He is the author of the Book of Jeremiah.

2. Partridge
A bird mentioned in this verse as a metaphor for someone who gains wealth unjustly. The partridge is used to illustrate the futility and eventual loss associated with ill-gotten gains.

3. Unjust Fortune
Refers to wealth or riches acquired through dishonest or unethical means. This is a central theme in the verse, highlighting the temporary nature of such wealth.

4. Middle of His Days
This phrase suggests a point in life when one might expect to enjoy the fruits of their labor, yet for the unjust, it is a time of loss.

5. Fool
In biblical terms, a fool is someone who acts without wisdom or moral integrity, often ignoring God's commandments and principles.
Teaching Points
The Futility of Unjust Gain
Wealth acquired through dishonest means is ultimately futile and will not bring lasting satisfaction or security.

God's Justice
God sees and judges the actions of individuals. Those who gain wealth unjustly will face consequences, as their riches will not endure.

True Riches
True wealth is found in righteousness and integrity, not in material possessions. Spiritual riches are eternal and far more valuable.

Contentment and Trust
Believers are called to be content with what they have and to trust in God's provision, rather than seeking wealth through unethical means.

Wisdom in Financial Matters
Christians should seek wisdom and guidance from God in all financial dealings, ensuring that their actions align with biblical principles.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the metaphor of the partridge in Jeremiah 17:11 illustrate the consequences of acquiring wealth unjustly?

2. In what ways can we apply the principle of contentment found in 1 Timothy 6:9-10 to our daily lives?

3. How does the concept of God's justice in Jeremiah 17:11 challenge us to evaluate our own financial practices?

4. What are some practical steps we can take to ensure that our pursuit of wealth aligns with biblical values?

5. How can we cultivate a mindset that values spiritual riches over material wealth, as suggested by the teachings in Proverbs 13:11 and Psalm 49:16-17?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Proverbs 13:11
This verse speaks about wealth gained hastily or through dishonest means dwindling away, while wealth gathered little by little grows over time. It reinforces the idea that ill-gotten gains do not last.

Psalm 49:16-17
These verses remind us that we cannot take our wealth with us when we die, emphasizing the temporary nature of earthly riches.

1 Timothy 6:9-10
Paul warns about the dangers of desiring to be rich, which can lead to temptation and a snare, ultimately resulting in ruin and destruction.
Sermons
Commercial MoralityH. Angus, D. D.Jeremiah 17:11
Riches Gotten not by RightJ. T. Davidson, D. D.Jeremiah 17:11
Riches that Escape from a ManT. De Witt Talmage.Jeremiah 17:11
Riches Wrongly Gotten, and the ConsequenceD. Young Jeremiah 17:11
People
Benjamin, David, Jeremiah
Places
Jerusalem, Negeb, People's Gate, Shephelah
Topics
Bringing, Brood, Broodeth, Desert, Eggs, Ended, Fool, Foolish, Forsake, Forth, Fortune, Gains, Gathers, Gets, Getteth, Getting, Half, Hatch, Hatches, Hatcheth, Hatching, Laid, Latter, Lay, Leave, Makes, Making, Midst, Partridge, Producing, Prove, Riches, Sits, Sitteth, Unjust, Unjustly, Wealth
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 17:11

     5349   injustice, examples
     5414   money, stewardship
     5465   profit
     5503   rich, the
     8760   fools, characteristics
     8780   materialism, and sin
     8812   riches, ungodly use

Library
Sin's Writing and Its Erasure
'The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars.'--JER. xvii. 1. 'Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.'-2 COR. iii. 3. 'Blotting out the handwriting that was against us.'---COL .ii. 14. I have put these verses together because they …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Soul Gazing on God
'A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.'--JER. xvii. 12. I must begin by a word or two of explanation as to the language of this passage. The word 'is' is a supplement, and most probably it ought to be omitted, and the verse treated as being, not a statement, but a series of exclamations. The next verse runs thus, 'O Lord! the hope of Israel, all that forsake Thee shall be ashamed'; and the most natural and forcible understanding of the words of my text is reached …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Two Lists of Names
'They that depart from Me shall be written in the earth'--JER. xvii. 13. 'Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'--LUKE x. 20. A name written on earth implies that the bearer of the name belongs to earth, and it also secondarily suggests that the inscription lasts but for a little while. Contrariwise, a name written in heaven implies that its bearer belongs to heaven, and that the inscription will abide. We find running throughout Scripture the metaphor of books in which men's names are …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Heath in the Desert and the Tree by the River
'He shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited...He shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.'--JER. xvii. 6, 8. The prophet here puts before us two highly finished pictures. In the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Nation's Duty in a War for Freedom.
(Preached March 28th, 1813.) TEXT: JEREMIAH xvii. 5-8, AND xviii. 7-10. MY devout hearers! Through an extraordinary occurrence we find the order of our discourses on the suffering Saviour interrupted, and our to-day's meeting devoted to a very different subject. How deeply have we all been moved by the events of the last weeks! We saw march forth from our gates the army of a people nominally allied to us, but our feeling was not that of parting with friends; with thankful joy did we feel at last …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

"The Carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. So Then they that Are
Rom. viii. s 7, 8.--"The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." It is not the least of man's evils, that he knows not how evil he is, therefore the Searcher of the heart of man gives the most perfect account of it, Jer. xvii. 12. "The heart is deceitful above all things," as well as "desperately wicked," two things superlative and excessive in it, bordering upon an infiniteness, such …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Severinus in Germany.
As the Lord ever sends his angels when there is most need of help, so in the midst of the desolation and destruction which ensued on that irruption of the barbarians by which the Roman empire was broken in pieces after the death of Attila, the great desolator and exterminator, (A. D. 453,) He sent to the aid of the oppressed people of Germany, on the banks of the Danube, in their sore need, a man endowed with an extraordinary energy of love. His whole appearance has in it something enigmatical. As …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Trust of the Wicked, and the Righteous Compared. Jer 17:5-8
 …
John Newton—Olney Hymns

But in Order that we Fall not Away from Continence...
10. But in order that we fall not away from Continence, we ought to watch specially against those snares of the suggestions of the devil, that we presume not of our own strength. For, "Cursed is every one that setteth his hope in man." [1838] And who is he, but man? We cannot therefore truly say that he setteth not his hope in man, who setteth it in himself. For this also, to "live after man," what is it but to "live after the flesh?" Whoso therefore is tempted by such a suggestion, let him hear, …
St. Augustine—On Continence

Epistle i. To the Roman Citizens.
To the Roman Citizens. Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to his most beloved sons the Roman citizens. It has come to my ears that certain men of perverse spirit have sown among you some things that are wrong and opposed to the holy faith, so as to forbid any work being done on the Sabbath day. What else can I call these but preachers of Antichrist, who, when he comes, will cause the Sabbath day as well as the Lord's day to be kept free from all work. For, because he pretends to die and rise …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

"And if any Man Sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,",
1 John ii. 1.--"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father,", &c. There is here a sad supposition, but too certain, that any man may sin, yea, that all men will sin, even those who have most communion with God, and interest in the blood of Christ. Yet they are not altogether exempted from this fatal lot of mankind. It is incident even to them to sin, and too frequently incident, but yet we have a happy and sweet provision, for indemnity from the hazard of sin,--"we have an advocate …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"For what the Law could not Do, in that it was Weak through the Flesh, God Sending his Own Son in the Likeness of Sinful Flesh,
Rom. viii. 3.--"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh." For what purpose do we meet thus together? I would we knew it,--then it might be to some better purpose. In all other things we are rational, and do nothing of moment without some end and purpose. But, alas! in this matter of greatest moment, our going about divine ordinances, we have scarce any distinct or deliberate …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Appendix xvii. The Ordinances and Law of the Sabbath as Laid Down in the Mishnah and the Jerusalem Talmud.
The terribly exaggerated views of the Rabbis, and their endless, burdensome rules about the Sabbath may best be learned from a brief analysis of the Mishnah, as further explained and enlarged in the Jerusalem Talmud. [6476] For this purpose a brief analysis of what is, confessedly, one of the most difficult tractates may here be given. The Mishnic tractate Sabbath stands at the head of twelve tractates which together from the second of the six sections into which the Mishnah is divided, and which …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Fourth Commandment
Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it. Exod 20: 8-11. This …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The First Part
Of the Apocalyptical Commentaries, according to the Rule of the Apocalyptical Key, on the First Prophecy which is contained in the Seals and Trumpets; with an Introduction concerning the Scene of the Apocalypse. As it is my design to investigate the meaning of the Apocalyptical visions, it is requisite for me to treat, in the first place, of that celestial theatre to which John was called, in order to behold them, exhibited as on a stage, and afterwards of the prophecies in succession, examined by …
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

Moral Depravity.
In discussing the subject of human depravity, I shall,-- I. Define the term depravity. The word is derived from the Latin de and pravus. Pravus means "crooked." De is intensive. Depravatus literally and primarily means "very crooked," not in the sense of original or constitutional crookedness, but in the sense of having become crooked. The term does not imply original mal-conformation, but lapsed, fallen, departed from right or straight. It always implies deterioration, or fall from a former state …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Inward Witness to the Truth of the Gospel.
"I have more understanding than my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my study; I am wiser than the aged, because I keep Thy commandments."--Psalm cxix. 99, 100. In these words the Psalmist declares, that in consequence of having obeyed God's commandments he had obtained more wisdom and understanding than those who had first enlightened his ignorance, and were once more enlightened than he. As if he said, "When I was a child, I was instructed in religious knowledge by kind and pious friends, who …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The True Manner of Keeping Holy the Lord's Day.
Now the sanctifying of the Sabbath consists in two things--First, In resting from all servile and common business pertaining to our natural life; Secondly, In consecrating that rest wholly to the service of God, and the use of those holy means which belong to our spiritual life. For the First. 1. The servile and common works from which we are to cease are, generally, all civil works, from the least to the greatest (Exod. xxxi. 12, 13, 15, &c.) More particularly-- First, From all the works of our …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

But Concerning True Patience, Worthy of the Name of this virtue...
12. But concerning true patience, worthy of the name of this virtue, whence it is to be had, must now be inquired. For there are some [2650] who attribute it to the strength of the human will, not which it hath by Divine assistance, but which it hath of free-will. Now this error is a proud one: for it is the error of them which abound, of whom it is said in the Psalm, "A scornful reproof to them which abound, and a despising to the proud." [2651] It is not therefore that "patience of the poor" which …
St. Augustine—On Patience

What the Scriptures Principally Teach: the Ruin and Recovery of Man. Faith and Love Towards Christ.
2 Tim. i. 13.--"Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." Here is the sum of religion. Here you have a compend of the doctrine of the Scriptures. All divine truths may be reduced to these two heads,--faith and love; what we ought to believe, and what we ought to do. This is all the Scriptures teach, and this is all we have to learn. What have we to know, but what God hath revealed of himself to us? And what have we to do, but what …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Jewish views on Trade, Tradesmen, and Trades' Guilds
We read in the Mishnah (Kidd. iv. 14) as follows: "Rabbi Meir said: Let a man always teach his son a cleanly and a light trade; and let him pray to Him whose are wealth and riches; for there is no trade which has not both poverty and riches, and neither does poverty come from the trade nor yet riches, but everything according to one's deserving (merit). Rabbi Simeon, the son of Eleazer, said: Hast thou all thy life long seen a beast or a bird which has a trade? Still they are nourished, and that …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Secret of Its Greatness
[Illustration: (drop cap G) The Great Pyramid] God always chooses the right kind of people to do His work. Not only so, He always gives to those whom He chooses just the sort of life which will best prepare them for the work He will one day call them to do. That is why God put it into the heart of Pharaoh's daughter to bring up Moses as her own son in the Egyptian palace. The most important part of Moses' training was that his heart should be right with God, and therefore he was allowed to remain …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

Division of Actual Grace
Actual grace may be divided according to: (1) the difference existing between the faculties of the human soul, and (2) in reference to the freedom of the will. Considered in its relation to the different faculties of the soul, actual grace is either of the intellect, or of the will, or of the sensitive faculties. With regard to the free consent of the will, it is either (1) prevenient, also called cooeperating, or (2) efficacious or merely sufficient. 1. THE ILLUMINATING GRACE OF THE INTELLECT.--Actual …
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

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