Jeremiah 17:6 (DRB)

Passage

For he shall be like tamaric in the desert, and he shall not see when good shall come: but he shall dwell in dryness in the desert in a salt land, and not inhabited.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 17:4 And thou shalt be left stripped of thy inheritance, which I gave thee: and I will make thee serve thy enemies in a land which thou knowest not: because thou hast kindled a fire in my wrath, it shall burn for ever.

Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.

Jeremiah 17:6 For he shall be like tamaric in the desert, and he shall not see when good shall come: but he shall dwell in dryness in the desert in a salt land, and not inhabited.

Jeremiah 17:7 Blessed be the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence.

Jeremiah 17:8 And he shall be as a tree that is planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its roots towards moisture: and it shall not fear when the heat cometh. And the leaf thereof shall be green, and in the time of drought it shall not be solicitous, neither shall it cease at any time to bring forth fruit.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "like", "tamaric", "desert", "good", and "come". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "like", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "Thus saith the Lord Cursed be the..." into verse 7's "Blessed be the man that trusteth in...", so "shall" and "like" belong inside that flow. In Jeremiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "shall" and "like" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.