For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.

JEREMIAH 16:17KJV
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Jeremiah 16:17 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 16:17 mean?

Jeremiah 16:17 says that God sees everything people do; nothing is hidden from Him, including their wrongdoing. The verse emphasizes that God’s awareness covers all actions and sins, so people cannot conceal anything from Him.

In this verse, God is speaking through the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Judah, warning them that their behavior and sins are fully visible to Him. The context is a message of coming judgment because the people have turned away from God and practiced evil. Jeremiah 16:17 stresses God’s complete knowledge and the impossibility of hiding guilt or actions from Him.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 16:17

  • "eyes" (עַיִן, ʿayin): This word refers to God’s watchful presence. The verse uses it to show that God’s attention is personal and active, not distant or indifferent.
  • "ways" (דֶּרֶךְ, derek): This word often means a person’s path or way of life. Here, it highlights that God is aware of every aspect of a person’s conduct, not just isolated actions.
  • "hid" (סָתַר, satar) and "hid" (צָפַן, tsafan): Two different Hebrew words for “hidden” appear in this verse. The first (סָתַר, satar) means to be concealed or out of sight, and the second (צָפַן, tsafan) means to be stored away or kept secret. The use of both words underlines that no kind of hiding—whether out of sight or deeply secret—can keep anything from God.

Why Jeremiah 16:17 matters

  • Jeremiah 16:17 clears up the idea that God might overlook or miss some actions; the verse insists that God’s awareness is total and nothing escapes Him.
  • The verse highlights a key reason for the coming judgment in Jeremiah’s time: the people’s sins are not just known to God, but fully exposed before Him.
  • This statement connects to the larger message of Jeremiah 16, where God explains why He will allow disaster to come upon Judah—because their wrongdoing is open and persistent, not hidden or accidental.

Where else these words appear

“from” Hebrew H5048 · used in 23 verses

  • Genesis 21:16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
  • 2 Samuel 22:25 Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight.
  • Nehemiah 11:22 The overseer also of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micha. Of the sons of Asaph, the singers were over the business of the house of God.

“hid” Hebrew H6845 · used in 30 verses

  • Exodus 2:2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
  • Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
  • Proverbs 1:18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

“hid” Hebrew H5641 · used in 80 verses

  • Genesis 4:14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
  • Psalms 10:11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
  • Proverbs 27:12 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.