1. Jeremiah 17:6 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What happens to the cursed man?

Jeremiah 17:6 (ESV)

6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

The cursed man is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. Like the rain passes over a shrub in the desert, so will the man who does not trust in the Lord be passed over when the Lord’s blessings come.1 Instead, he will dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Instead of being in the land where the people flourish as the Lord dwells with them, the cursed man is left in the dry, lifeless wilderness where flourishing is impossible. This may be a reference to exile, or possibly something more permanent and sinister permanent exclusion from any hope of blessing—perhaps hell itself?