Jeremiah 5:30

A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;

A wonderful {H8047} and horrible thing {H8186} is committed {H1961} in the land {H776};

A shocking and horrifying thing has happened in the land:

A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land.

A wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land:

Jeremiah 5:30 declares a stark reality about the spiritual and moral condition of Judah during the prophet Jeremiah's time. The verse, concise yet impactful, points to a deeply disturbing state of affairs within the land.

Context of Jeremiah 5:30

This verse is situated within a chapter where God, through Jeremiah, issues a severe indictment against the people of Judah and Jerusalem for their widespread unfaithfulness and corruption. God seeks even one righteous person (Jeremiah 5:1), but finds pervasive sin. The preceding verses detail the people's deceit, injustice, and oppression of the poor. Jeremiah 5:30 serves as a powerful summary statement, setting the stage for the direct explanation in Jeremiah 5:31, which reveals the specific "wonderful and horrible thing": false prophets, corrupt priests, and a people who love to have it so.

Key Themes and Messages

  • Profound Moral Decay: The verse highlights a society where moral standards have collapsed to an astonishing degree. The "wonderful" (in the sense of astonishing or extraordinary) aspect refers to the sheer audacity and extent of the wickedness, while "horrible" emphasizes its dreadful nature.
  • Corrupt Leadership and Complacent People: The subsequent verse, Jeremiah 5:31, explicitly identifies the core issue: religious leaders (prophets and priests) who mislead the people, and a populace that not only tolerates but actively embraces this deception. This speaks to a widespread spiritual blindness and a rejection of divine truth, echoing themes found in Isaiah 1:4.
  • Impending Judgment: The gravity of the situation described in Jeremiah 5:30-31 underscores the inevitability of God's judgment. Such deep-seated corruption cannot go unpunished, a recurring theme throughout the prophetic books.

Linguistic Insights

The KJV phrase "wonderful and horrible" translates two significant Hebrew words. "Wonderful" comes from pala (פלא), meaning "to be marvelous, extraordinary, or astonishing." Here, it's used ironically or negatively, describing something so incredibly perverse it's astounding. "Horrible" comes from sha'arurah (שערורה), which conveys a sense of something appalling, shocking, or dreadful, evoking a shudder. The combination emphasizes the extreme, morally repugnant nature of the spiritual corruption that has taken root in Judah.

Practical Application

Jeremiah 5:30 serves as a timeless warning for any society or faith community. It cautions against:

  • Spiritual Complacency: When people prefer comfortable lies over uncomfortable truths, and when spiritual leaders compromise divine standards for personal gain or popularity, the results are devastating. This resonates with the warning in 2 Timothy 4:3 about people gathering teachers who tell them what their itching ears want to hear.
  • Failure of Leadership: The verse highlights the critical responsibility of spiritual leaders to uphold truth and righteousness, and the dire consequences when they fail to do so.
  • Call to Discernment: Believers are called to discern truth from falsehood and to stand for righteousness, even when it is unpopular. The "wonderful and horrible thing" reminds us that moral decay can become so normalized that it appears astonishingly prevalent yet remains inherently dreadful.

Note: Commentary was generated by an advanced AI, utilizing a prompt that emphasized Biblical fidelity over bias. We've found these insights to be consistently reliable, yet we always encourage prayerful discernment through the Holy Spirit. The Scripture text and cross-references are from verified, non-AI sources.
  • Jeremiah 23:14

    I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
  • Hosea 6:10

    I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there [is] the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
  • Isaiah 1:2

    ¶ Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
  • Jeremiah 2:12

    Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.

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