| Geneva Study Bible The sin of Judah is {a} written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the {b} tablet of their heart, and upon the horns of your {c} altars; (a) The remembrance of their contempt of God cannot pass, although for a time he defers the punishment, for it will be revealed to men and angels. (b) Instead of the law of God, they have written idolatry and all abomination in their heart. (c) Your sins appear in all the altars that you have erected to idols. Wesley's Notes 17:1 Graven - Nor is it a thing done in secret, but it is engraven upon the horns of their altars. God's altar was four - square, and at each corner there was a rising part made of brass, these were called the horns of the altar. Now their sin is said to be engraven upon the horns of the altar, because the blood of the sacrifices which they offered to idols was sprinkled there, or because their altars had some inscription upon them, declaring to what idol that altar was consecrated. King James Translators' Notes point: Heb. nail Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary CHAPTER 17 Jer 17:1-27. The Jews' Inveterate Love of Idolatry. The the Septuagint omits the first four verses, but other Greek versions have them. 1. The first of the four clauses relates to the third, the second to the fourth, by alternate parallelism. The sense is: They are as keen after idols as if their propensity was "graven with an iron pen (Job 19:24) on their hearts," or as if it were sanctioned by a law "inscribed with a diamond point" on their altars. The names of their gods used to be written on "the horns of the altars" (Ac 17:23). As the clause "on their hearts" refers to their inward propensity, so "on . altars," the outward exhibition of it. Others refer "on the horns of . altars" to their staining them with the blood of victims, in imitation of the Levitical precept (Ex 29:12; Le 4:7, 18), but "written . graven," would thus be inappropriate. table of . heart-which God intended to be inscribed very differently, namely, with His truths (Pr 3:3; 2Co 3:3). your-Though "their" preceded, He directly addresses them to charge the guilt home to them in particular. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 17:1-4 The sins which men commit make little impression on their minds, yet every sin is marked in the book of God; they are all so graven upon the table of the heart, that they will all be remembered by the conscience. That which is graven in the heart will become plain in the life; men's actions show the desires and purposes of their hearts. What need we have to humble ourselves before God, who are so vile in his sight! How should we depend on his mercy and grace, begging of God to search and prove us; not to suffer us to be deceived by our own hearts, but to create in us a clean and holy nature by his Spirit! | 
