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Jeremiah 3

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God's Plea to the Harlot Nation 1–5

1
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD. ​
2
Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. ​
3
Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed. ​
4
Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth? ​
5
Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

Judah’s Failure to Learn from Israel 6–11

6
The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. ​
7
And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. ​
9
And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. ​
10
And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
11
And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. ​

Call for Israel’s Return and Restoration 12–18

12
Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. ​
13
Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. ​
14
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: ​
15
And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. ​
16
And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. ​
17
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. ​
18
In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. ​

The People’s Confession and Prayer 19–25

19
But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. ​
20
Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. ​
21
A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. ​
22
Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God. ​
23
Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel. ​
24
For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. ​
25
We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jeremiah 3

Verse 1

shall he return unto her again? — The question rests on Deut 24:4: a divorced wife who has been another man's 'may not' be taken back, 'for that is abomination before the LORD'. The people have gone to 'many lovers' and are still told, 'return again to me'. 'Polluted' (chanaph) is the verb of Num 35:33 and Ps 106:38, where the land is defiled by blood.

Verse 2

as the Arabian in the wilderness — The Arabian waits by the roads in the wilderness, and Judah sat in the ways for her lovers. 'The high places' (shephi) are the bare heights where she worshipped; 'whoredoms' (zenut) is the word of v.9. The land is polluted by it, as in v.1.

Verse 3

no latter rain — Deut 11:14 promised 'the first rain and the latter rain', and Deut 11:16–17 warned that if they 'serve other gods', the LORD would shut up 'the heaven, that there be no rain'. The withheld showers are that warning fulfilled. Yet she had a 'whore's forehead' and 'refusedst to be ashamed'; 6:15 says 'neither could they blush'.

Verse 4

the guide of my youth — Alluph, guide or companion, is the word of Prov 2:17, where the unfaithful wife 'forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God'. The LORD invites the cry 'My father', and v.19 repeats it. 'Youth' recalls 2:2, 'the kindness of thy youth'.

Verse 6

in the days of Josiah the king — The LORD speaks of 'backsliding Israel' (meshuvah), the northern kingdom, carried off to Assyria in 2 Kings 17:6. Her sin is that of 2:20, 'upon every high mountain and under every green tree'. It was now Josiah's reign, whom the book of Kings records as removing the high places of Judah.

Verse 8

a bill of divorce — Deut 24:1 gives the form, 'a bill of divorcement'; Isa 50:1 asks 'Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement?' The LORD put Israel away for her adultery, and her 'treacherous sister Judah' (bogedah), who had seen it, 'feared not'; 2 Kings 17:19 says 'Judah kept not the commandments… but walked in the statutes of Israel'.

Verse 9

with stones and with stocks — 'Stones' and 'stocks' (trees, wood) are the idols of 2:27, 'to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone'. Hab 2:19 calls them 'the wood' and 'the dumb stone'. Adultery with them 'defiled the land' (chanaph), the verb of vv.1 and 2.

Verse 11

hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah — Israel, though she was carried away, has fewer sins to answer for than Judah. Ezek 16:51 says the same of Samaria and Jerusalem: 'Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins… and hast justified thy sisters'. The word for 'treacherous' (bogedah) is the one of v.8.

Verse 12

Return, thou backsliding Israel — The message is sent 'toward the north', where Israel was carried (2 Kings 17:6). 'Return' (shub) and 'backsliding' (meshuvah) are one root. The LORD says 'I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you… I will not keep anger for ever', as Ps 103:9 says, 'neither will he keep his anger for ever'.

Verse 13

Only acknowledge thine iniquity — The one condition is to 'acknowledge' (yada, to know) the sin as sin; Ps 32:5 shows it, 'I acknowledged my sin unto thee… and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin'. 'The strangers' (zarim) are foreign gods, the word of 2:25. 'Have not obeyed my voice' is the charge repeated in v.25.

Verse 14

for I am married unto you — The verb is ba'al, to be husband or master, the one that gives Beulah, 'thy land shall be married' (Isa 62:4). The LORD calls his 'backsliding children' (shovavim), then promises to take them 'one of a city, and two of a family' to Zion, a remnant from every place.

Verse 15

pastors according to mine heart — Ro'im, shepherds, are given to replace those of 2:8 who 'transgressed against me'. They 'feed' (the same verb, ra'ah) 'with knowledge and understanding'. The promise is repeated in 23:4, 'I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them', and recalls David, 'a man after his own heart' (1 Sam 13:14).

Verse 16

The ark of the covenant of the LORD — The ark, which Josiah ordered returned to the house Solomon built (2 Chr 35:3), will no longer come to mind. Its place is taken by Jerusalem itself in v.17, 'the throne of the LORD'. The ark was the 'footstool' (1 Chr 28:2), the mercy seat from which he spoke (Ex 25:22).

Verse 17

the throne of the LORD — Jerusalem is called the LORD's throne, and 'all the nations shall be gathered unto it', as Isa 2:2 says, 'all nations shall flow unto it'. 'The imagination of their evil heart' (sheririt) is a phrase Jeremiah uses again in 7:24; 9:14; 11:8; 13:10; 16:12; 18:12 and elsewhere. They will 'walk' after it no more.

Verse 18

the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel — The two kingdoms are reunited and come 'out of the land of the north', as Isa 11:13 has it, 'Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim'. Ezek 37:22 adds, 'they shall be no more two nations'. The land is the one 'given for an inheritance unto your fathers'.

Verse 19

a pleasant land, a goodly heritage — 'Pleasant' (chemdah) is the word of Ps 106:24, 'they despised the pleasant land'. The LORD asks how he could set Israel 'among the children', then answers with the call, 'Thou shalt call me, My father'. The title was offered in v.4 and is promised in 31:9, 'I am a father to Israel'.

Verse 20

as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband — 'Husband' is rea, companion, the word translated 'lovers' in v.1. 'Treacherously' (bagad) is the verb of the 'treacherous' sister in vv.8 and 11. The comparison is made to the house of Israel as a whole.

Verse 21

A voice was heard upon the high places — The same hills where the idolatry was done (v.2) now carry 'weeping and supplications'. The reason given is that 'they have forgotten the LORD their God', the verb (shakach) of 2:32, 'my people have forgotten me days without number'.

Verse 22

I will heal your backslidings — 'Return' and 'backsliding' are the same root again: the LORD calls, and the people answer 'Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God'. Hos 14:4 says, 'I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely'.

Verse 23

salvation hoped for from the hills — The hills and 'multitude of mountains' are the high places of v.2. 'Vain' is sheqer, a lie. Salvation is 'in the LORD our God', as Ps 3:8 says, 'Salvation belongeth unto the LORD', and Ps 121:1–2, 'I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills… My help cometh from the LORD'.

Verse 24

shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers — 'Shame' (bosheth) is a name used for Baal: 11:13 speaks of 'altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal' and Hos 9:10 of 'that shame'. What was worked for 'from our youth', flocks, herds, sons and daughters, was consumed by it.

Verse 25

We lie down in our shame — The people's confession ends with 'we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day'; Ps 106:6 says, 'We have sinned with our fathers'. 'Shame' (bosheth) is again that of v.24. They 'have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God', as in v.13.