4 Don't trust in lying words, saying, The temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, are these.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
The temple of the Lord - Thrice repeated, to emphasize the rejection of the cry ever upon the lips of the false prophets. In their view the maintenance of the temple-service was a charm sufficient to avert all evil.
These - The buildings of the temple, to which Jeremiah is supposed to point. The Jews put their trust in the material buildings.
The temple of the Lord - In the Chaldee the passage stands thus: - "Do not trust in the words of lying prophets, which say, Before the temple of the Lord ye shall worship; Before the temple of the Lord ye shall sacrifice; Before the temple of the Lord ye shall adore; thrice in the year ye shall appear before it." This the Targumist supposes to have been the reason why the words are here thrice repeated. They rather seem to express the conviction which the people had, that they should be safe while their temple service continued; for they supposed that God would not give it up into profane hands. But sacred places and sacred symbols are nothing in the sight of God when the heart is not right with him.
Trust ye not in (a) lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, [are] these.
(a) Believe not the false prophets, who say that for the temple's sake, and the sacrifices there the Lord will preserve you, and so nourish you in your sin, and vain confidence.
Trust ye not in lying words,.... In the words of the lying prophets, as the Targum; and to the same purpose is the Arabic version,
"do not trust in lying words, for the false prophets do not profit you in anything;''
the things in which they trusted, and in which the false prophets taught them to place their confidence, were their coming up to the temple at certain times for religious exercises, and their attendance on temple service and worship, offering of sacrifices, and the like. The Septuagint version is, "trust not in yourselves, in lying words"; see Luke 18:9, in their external actions of devotion, in their ritual performances, taking them for righteousness; and adds, what is not in the Hebrew text, "for they altogether profit you not"; in the business of justification before God, and acceptance with him:
saying, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these; that is, the people that hypocritically worshipped there, as the false prophets told them; and so the Syriac version, "ye are the temple of the Lord"; though that begins the next verse, with the last clause of this,
if ye amend your ways, &c. see 1-Corinthians 3:16 or rather the temple of the Lord are those gates through which they entered, Jeremiah 7:2 or those buildings which were pointed at with the finger; or "these", is a clause by itself; and the sense is, these are the lying words that should not be trusted in, namely, the temple and temple services; when all manner of sin and wickedness were committed by them, which they thought to atone for by coming to the temple and worshipping there. The mention of these words three times is, as Jarchi thinks, in reference to the Jews appearing in the temple three times a year, at the feast of passover, pentecost, and tabernacles; and so the Targum,
"who say (i.e. the false prophets), before the temple of the Lord ye worship; before the temple of the Lord ye sacrifice; before the temple of the Lord ye bow; three times in a year ye appear before him.''
Kimchi's father, R. Joseph, is of opinion, that it refers to the three parts of the temple, the porch, the holy place, and the holy of holies; but Kimchi himself takes it that these words are trebled for the greater confirmation of them; and they may denote the vehemence and ardour of affection for the temple.
The Jews falsely thought that because their temple had been chosen by Jehovah as His peculiar dwelling, it could never be destroyed. Men think that ceremonial observances will supersede the need of holiness (Isaiah 48:2; Micah 3:11). The triple repetition of "the temple of Jehovah" expresses the intense confidence of the Jews (see Jeremiah 22:29; Isaiah 6:3).
these--the temple buildings which the prophet points to with his finger (Jeremiah 7:2).
Saying - Because this was God's house, they flattered themselves that he would not suffer the Chaldeans to destroy it, therefore the prophet cautions them not to deceive themselves, trusting to the temple and its buildings, as the two courts and house, and holy of holies implied in the word these, which he doth as it were point to with his finger. The emphasis, in this threefold repetition, seems to relate to the confident, and reiterated boasts of the temple, that were in their mouths. These - The prophet standing in the gate at which the people entered, as it were, points at the several buildings pertaining to the temple.
*More commentary available at chapter level.