Moreover, Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has played the prostitute there.
Parallel Translations
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Moreover, Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has played the prostitute there.
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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.
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And the LORD said unto me in the days of Josiah the king: 'Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel did? she went up upon every high mountain and under every leafy tree, and there played the harlot.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 3:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Kings 14:23 For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
- 2 Kings 17:7-17 It was so because the children of Israel had sinned against Yahweh their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, and walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they made. The children of Israel secretly did things that were not right against Yahweh their God; and they built high places for themselves in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city; and they set up for themselves pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill, and under every green tree; and there they burned incense in all the high places, as the nations whom Yahweh carried away before them did; and they did wicked things to provoke Yahweh to anger; and they served idols, of which Yahweh had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” Yet Yahweh testified to Israel, and to Judah, by every prophet, and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” Notwithstanding, they would not listen, but hardened their neck, like the neck of their fathers, who didn’t believe in Yahweh their God. They rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified to them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom Yahweh had commanded them that they should not do like them. They abandoned all the commandments of Yahweh their God, and made molten images for themselves, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served Baal. They caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger.
- Isaiah 57:7 On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed. You also went up there to offer sacrifice.
- Jeremiah 2:19-20 “Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that my fear is not in you,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies. “For long ago I broke off your yoke, and burst your bonds. You said, ‘I will not serve;’ for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute.
- Jeremiah 3:8 I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, had no fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.
- Jeremiah 3:11-14 Yahweh said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel,’ says Yahweh; ‘I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against Yahweh your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,’ says Yahweh.” “Return, backsliding children,” says Yahweh; “for I am a husband to you. I will take one of you from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
- Jeremiah 7:24 But they didn’t listen or turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
- Jeremiah 17:2 Even their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles by the green trees on the high hills.
- Ezekiel 16:24-25 “that you have built for yourselves a vaulted place, and have made yourselves a lofty place in every street. You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution.
- Ezekiel 16:31 in that you build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty place in every street, and have not been as a prostitute, in that you scorn pay.
- Ezekiel 20:28 For when I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There they also made their pleasant aroma, and there they poured out their drink offerings.
- Ezekiel 23:11 “Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lusting than she, and in her prostitution which was more depraved than the prostitution of her sister.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here the Prophet enters on a new discourse: he…
Here the Prophet enters on a new discourse: he relates what God had committed to him, and mentions the time, even in the reign of Josiah. It is indeed well known, that the land was then cleansed from superstitions; for that pious king labored to restore the true worship of God, and to remove all the filth and defilements, by which the temple and the whole of religion had been corrupted. He strenuously exerted himself, and no doubt there was an improved appearance of religion throughout the land; but we shall see that a great portion of the people were under the influence of hypocrisy and deceit., as it is usually the case when rulers seek to support the pure worship of God, and to free it from all corruptions; for there are many hypocrites, who for a time dissemble, while the same antipathy to God still remains. Such was then the condition of the people.
And this ought to be carefully observed; for Jeremiah might have appeared to have dealt somewhat too sharply and rigorously with his own nation, as reform was in the mouth of all, according to what we find to be the case with many now, who having left the superstitions of the Papacy, seemed at first to embrace the doctrines of the Gospel, but all now wish to be satisfied with any kind of reformation; at the same time, they shake off the yoke of Christ and can bear submission to no discipline: in short, their object, is to subvert all order; and yet they boldly claim to be the advocates of reformation, whenever their impiety is reproved. This was no doubt the contest which Jeremiah had to carry on, the same with that by which the Lord tries his servants at this day. He therefore says, that he received this commission in the days of Josiah, that is, when that king was laboring to establish the pure worship of God, and no one dared to oppose; for we find that God was then worshipped by the whole people without any external corruptions.
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But what is contained in this commission? Hast thou seen, he says, what apostate Israel hath done? God here compares the ten tribes with the tribe of Judah, with whom was united, as it is well known, the half tribe of Benjamin: he then compares Israel with the tribe of Judah, “Do you not see what rebellious Israel hath done?” But he introduces the kingdom of Israel, as well as the kingdom of Judah, under the character of women; for God, as it has already appeared, represents himself as the husband of his people. He then says that he had two wives, even Israel and Judah. God had indeed espoused to himself the whole seed of Abraham by one contract; but Jeremiah speaks here in a popular manner. Though the Israelites had departed from God, yet he had not wholly rejected them. The kingdom of Israel had then become adulterous; but God for a time bore with that sin, so that the covenant, in part, remained. For this reason he acknowledges as his wives both Israel and Judah. Hence he says, “Hast thou not seen what estranged Israel hath done?” The word משבה, meshibe, is derived from שוב, shub, which signifies, both to return and to depart; and Jerome everywhere renders it aversatrix, one who turns aside, or is estranged. But some render it “rebellious;” we might say more correctly in French, debauchee She went, he says, on every high hill, and under every shady tree, and there played the harlot In short, God complains that the ten tribes had violated the sacred bond of marriage, when they prostituted themselves to idols, even on all high hills and under all shady trees: for as I have already said, they chose those places as though there was some holiness both on mountains and under shades of trees.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Meaning, the ten tribes.
Meaning, the ten tribes.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 3:6 The LORD said also unto me in…
Jer 3:6 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.
Ver. 6. The Lord also said unto me in the days of Josiah.] This is the beginning of a new sermon, as most hold. Josiah was a religious prince, and a zealous reformer; and hypocrisy reigned exceedingly in his days, as we see here: and as holy Bradford in his letters complaineth that it did likewise in King Edward VI’s days, who was our English Josiah, among the great ones especially, who were very corrupt.
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She is gone up upon every high mountain,] sc., Ever since Solomon’s mind began to be corrupted, {1Ki 11:4} and now she smarteth for it; yet is not Judah warned by her example.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The Lord said also, or again; showing that here…
The Lord said also, or again; showing that here begins a new sermon, in which the prophet from God,
1. Declares Israel’s apostacy, and how it fared with them for it.
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2. Aggravates Judah’s sin for not taking warning.
3. Issues forth an invitation of them both to repentance, with a promise of acceptation, and reuniting them under the Messiah.
4. Relates the compliance of the faithful among them with this invitation.
Unto me, viz. by revelation; for he speaks of things that Israel had done when they were carried away by the king of Assyria, 2Ki 17:5-13, long before Jeremiah was born; therefore he saith, Hast thou not seen, i.e. considered, wherefore God gave her a bill of divorce?
In the days of Josiah the king; when he would have purged the land, and restored the pure worship of God.
Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done, viz. the ten tribes, who fell off from Judah, and set up a distinct kingdom of their own under Jeroboam? what they did, viz. in their idolatries? expressed in the next words, and Jer 2:20; see there; when they openly apostatized from God, and that with one common consent, insomuch that all their kings proved wicked and idolatrous; and possibly it may look as far back as Solomon’s defection, 1Ki 11:4, &c., which may now come in remembrance.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain The date of this sermon must be observed, in…
The date of this sermon must be observed, in order to the right understanding of it; it was in the days of Josiah, who set on foot a blessed work of reformation, in which he was hearty, but the people were not sincere in their compliance with it; to reprove them for that, and warn them of the consequences of their hypocrisy, is the scope of that which God here said to the prophet, and which he delivered to them. The case of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah is here compared, the ten tribes that revolted from the throne of David and the temple of Jerusalem and the two tribes that adhered to both. The distinct history of those two kingdoms we have in the two books of the Kings, and here we have an abstract of both, as far as relates to this matter.
I. Here is a short account of Israel, the ten tribes. Perhaps the prophet had been just reading the history of that kingdom when God came to him, and said, Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel has done? Jer 3:6. For he could not see it otherwise than in history, they having been carried into captivity long before he was born. But what we read in the histories of scripture should instruct us and affect us, as if we ourselves had been eye-witnesses of it. She is called backsliding Israel because that kingdom was first founded in an apostasy from the divine institutions, both in church and state. Now he had seen concerning them, 1. That they were wretchedly addicted to idolatry. They had played the harlot upon every high mountain and under every green tree (Jer 3:6), that is, they had worshipped other gods in their high places and groves; and no marvel, when from the first they had worshipped God by the images of the golden calves at Dan and Bethel. The way of idolatry is down-hill: those that are in love with images, and will have them, soon become in love with other gods, and will have them too; for how should those stick at the breach of the first commandment who make no conscience of the second? 2. That God by his prophets had invited and encouraged them to repent and reform (Jer 3:7): "After she had done all these things, for which she might justly have been abandoned, yet I said unto her, Turn thou unto me and I will receive thee." Though they had forsaken both the house of David and the house of Aaron, who both had their authority jure divino - from God, without dispute, yet God sent his prophets among them, to call them to return to him, to the worship of him only, not insisting so much as one would have expected upon their return to the house of David, but pressing their return to the house of Aaron. We read not that Elijah, that great reformer, ever mentioned their return to the house of David, while he was anxious for their return to the faithful service of the true God according as they had it among them. It is serious piety that God stands upon more than even his own rituals. 3. That, notwithstanding this, they had persisted in their idolatries: But she returned not, and God saw it; he took notice of it, and was much displeased with it, Jer 3:7, Jer 3:8. Note, God keeps account, whether we do or no, how often he has called to us to turn to him and we have refused. 4. That he had therefore cast them off, and given them up into the hands of their enemies (Jer 3:8): When I saw (so it may be read) that for all the actions wherein she had committed adultery I must dismiss her, I gave her a bill of divorce. God divorced them when he threw them out of his protection and left them an easy prey to any that would lay hands on them, when he scattered all their synagogues and the schools of the prophets and excluded them from laying any further claim to the covenant made with their fathers. Note, Those will justly be divorced from God that join themselves to such as are rivals with him. For proof of this go and see what God did to Israel.
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II. Let us now see what was the case of Judah, the kingdom of the two tribes. She is called treacherous sister Judah, a sister because descended from the same common stock, Abraham and Jacob; but, as Israel had the character of a backslider, So Judah is called treacherous, because, though she professed to keep close to God when Israel had backslidden (she adhered to the kings and priests that were of God's own appointing, and did not withdraw from her allegiance, so that it was expected she should deal faithfully), yet she proved treacherous, and false, and unfaithful to her professions and promises. Note, The treachery of those who pretend to cleave to God will be reckoned for, as well as the apostasy of those who openly revolt from him. Judah saw what Israel did, and what came of it, and should have taken warning. Israel's captivity was intended for Judah's admonition; but it had not the designed effect. Judah feared not, but thought herself safe because she had Levites to be her priests and sons of David to be her kings. Note, It is an evidence of great stupidity and security when we are not awakened to a holy fear by the judgments of God upon others. It is here charged on Judah, 1. That when they had a wicked king that debauched them they heartily concurred with him in his debaucheries. Judah was forward enough to play the harlot, to worship any idol that was introduced among them and to join in any idolatrous usage; so that through the lightness (or, as some read it, the vileness and baseness) of her whoredom, or (as the margin reads it) by the fame and report of her whoredom, her notorious whoredom, for which she had become infamous, she defiled the land, and made it an abomination to God; for she committed adultery with stones and stocks, with the basest idols, those made of wood and stone. In the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, when they were disposed to idolatry, the people were so too, and all the country was corrupted with it, and none feared the ruin which Israel by this means had brought upon themselves. 2. That when they had a good king, that reformed them, they did not heartily concur with him in the reformation. This was the present case. God tried whether they would be good in a good reign, but the evil disposition was still the same: They returned not to me with their whole heart, but feignedly, Jer 3:10. Josiah went further in destroying idolatry than the best of his predecessors had done, and for his own part he turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul; so it is said of him, Kg2 23:25. The people were forced to an external compliance with him, and joined with him in keeping a very solemn passover and in renewing their covenants with God (Ch2 34:32, Ch2 35:17); but they were not sincere in it, nor were their hearts right with God. For this reason God at that very time said, I will remove Judah out of my sight, as I removed Israel (Kg2 23:27), because Judah was not removed from their sin by the sight of Israel's removal from their land. Hypocritical and ineffectual reformations bode ill to a people. We deceive ourselves if we think to deceive God by a feigned return to him. I know no religion without sincerity.
III. The case of these sister kingdoms is compared, and judgment given upon the comparison, that of the two Judah was the worse (Jer 3:11): Israel has justified herself more than Judah, that is, she is not so bad as Judah is. This comparative justification will stand Israel in little stead; what will it avail us to say, We are not so bad as others, when yet we are not really good ourselves? But it will serve as an aggravation of the sin of Judah, which was in two respects worse than that of Israel: - 1. More was expected from Judah than from Israel; so that Judah dealt treacherously, they vilified a more sacred profession, and falsified a more solemn promise, than Israel did. 2. Judah might have taken warning by the ruin of Israel for their idolatry, and would not. God's judgments upon others, if they be not means of our reformation, will help to aggravate our destruction. The prophet Ezekiel (Eze 23:11) makes the same comparison between Jerusalem and Samaria that this prophet here makes between Judah and Israel, nay, and (Eze 16:48) between Jerusalem and Sodom, and Jerusalem is made the worst of the three.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The Lord said also unto me, in the days…
The Lord said also unto me, in the days of Josiah the king,.... For in his time Jeremiah began to prophesy, even in the thirteenth year of his reign, Jer 1:2,
hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? the ten tribes; that is, hast thou not heard? or dost thou not know the idolatry of the ten tribes, which was the cause of their captivity? as Kimchi explains it; for the facts, or the idolatrous actions of the ten tribes, were not done in Josiah's and Jeremiah's time; for they were carried captive in the sixth year of Hezekiah, ninety years or more before Jeremiah began to prophesy, and their idolatry was before their captivity, and therefore could not be properly seen by him; only it had been heard of by him, it was known by him, it was notorious enough, being well attested:
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she is gone upon every high mountain, and under every green tree; that is, she did so, when in her own land, before she was carried captive, as Jarchi observes; for this respects not what she did in Josiah's and Jeremiah's time, or when in captivity, but before, which was the reason of it:
and there hath played the harlot: or committed idolatry, which was usually done in such places; so the Targum,
"and worshipped idols of wood.''
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Israel - The ten tribes who fell off from…
Israel - The ten tribes who fell off from Judah.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. The Lord said also unto me in…
Verse 6. The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king] This is a new discourse, and is supposed to have been delivered after the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah. Here the prophet shows the people of Judah the transgressions, idolatry, obstinacy, and punishment of their brethren, the ten tribes, whom he calls to return to the Lord, with the most gracious promises of restoration to their own country, their reunion with their brethren of Judah, and every degree of prosperity in consequence. He takes occasion also to show the Jews how much more culpable they were than the Israelites, because they practiced the same iniquities while they had the punishment and ruin of the others before their eyes. He therefore exhorts them to return to God with all their hearts, that they might not fall into the same condemnation. See the following verses.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jer 3:6. Then the Lord said unto me —…
Jer 3:6. Then the Lord said unto me — “Here begins an entire new section, or distinct prophecy, which is continued to the end of the sixth chapter. It consists of two distinct parts. The first part contains a complaint against Judah for having exceeded the guilt of her sister Israel, whom God had already cast off for her idolatrous apostacy, Jer 3:6-12. The prophet is hereupon sent to announce to Israel the promise of pardon upon her repentance, and the hopes of a glorious restoration in after times, which are plainly marked out to be the times of the gospel, when the Gentiles themselves were to become a part of the church, Jer 3:12-21. In the second part, which begins Jer 4:3, and is prefaced with an address to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, exhorting them to prevent the divine judgments by a timely repentance; the Babylonian invasion is clearly and fully foretold, with all the miseries which it would be attended with; and the universal and incorrigible depravity of the people is represented at large, and pointed out as the justly provoking cause of the national ruin.
In the days of Josiah the king — This date of the prophecy, or sermon, must be particularly observed, in order to the right understanding of it. It was delivered in the days of Josiah, who began a blessed work of reformation, in which he was hearty; but the people were not sincere in their compliance with it. To reprove them for that, and warn them of the consequences of their hypocrisy, is the scope of that which God here declares to the prophet, and which he delivers to them. Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel hath done — The case of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah is here compared, the ten tribes that revolted from the throne of David and the temple at Jerusalem, and the two tribes that adhered to both. The distinct history of these two kingdoms is given us in the two books of the Kings; by referring to the notes on which the reader will be enabled the better to understand this paragraph, and many other parts of this prophecy. When God asks, Hast thou seen what Israel has done? he refers to the prophet’s acquaintance with that history, for as he lived between sixty and seventy years after Israel was carried into captivity, he could not otherwise see what they had done. She hath gone up upon every high mountain: &c. — See note on Jer 2:20. They had openly, and almost with common consent, apostatized from the worship appointed by God, insomuch that all their kings proved wicked and idolatrous: and no marvel, since from the time of their defection from the kingdom of David, they worshipped God by the golden calves at Dan and Beth-el, and hence easily proceeded from worshipping by the medium of images, to worship images themselves, and other false and imaginary deities.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Backsliding Israel - The original is very strong: Hast…
Backsliding Israel - The original is very strong: Hast thou seen Apostasy? i. e., Israel: as though Israel were the very personificatiom of the denial of God.
She is gone up - Rather, she goes; it is her habitual practice.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Days, before the 18th year. God now pronounces sentence…
Days, before the 18th year. God now pronounces sentence (Calmet) on all. (Haydock) --- Rebellious, a faithless wife. The kingdom of Israel gave way to idolatry first. But the people were less favoured than Juda, which had many prophets and good kings, the temple, &c. Moreover, the misfortunes of Israel did not open the eyes of their brethren. (Calmet) --- Both the ten tribes, and the two tribes (Worthington) which adhered to the line of David, prevaricated. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain From here to Jer 6:30, is a new discourse,…
From here to Jer 6:30, is a new discourse, delivered in Josiah's reign. It consists of two parts, the former extending to Jer 4:3, in which he warns Judah from the example of Israel's doom, and yet promises Israel final restoration; the latter a threat of Babylonian invasion; as Nabopolassar founded the Babylonian empire, 625 B.C., the seventeenth of Josiah, this prophecy is perhaps not earlier than that date (Jer 4:5, &c.; Jer 5:14, &c.; Jer 6:1, &c.; Jer. 22:1-30); and probably not later than the second thorough reformation in the eighteenth year of the same reign.
backsliding--literally, "apostasy"; not merely apostate, but apostasy itself, the essence of it (Jer 3:14, Jer 3:22).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain JUDAH PERSISTS IN FOLLOWING ISRAEL, Jer_3:6-10.
JUDAH PERSISTS IN FOLLOWING ISRAEL, Jer_3:6-10.
6. In the days of Josiah — This formal note of time clearly indicates the beginning of a new discourse. It is not necessarily implied that the preceding discourse was not also in the time of Josiah; this may be taken only as a careful marking of the time of the following one, which is very extended and important.
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Backsliding Israel hath done — Namely, as you are now doing. Nearly a hundred years before was Israel destroyed, and had ceased to exist as a kingdom; and now her history and fate are pointed to as a warning to Judah. You are walking in her footsteps; you shall come to her calamitous end.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. backsliding Israel] lit. Israel “(which is) apostasy (itself).”…
6. backsliding Israel] lit. Israel “(which is) apostasy (itself).” The play on the two senses of the Hebrew verb to turn back from Yahweh, and to turn back (or return) from false gods to Him, which runs through all this passage (as far as Jer_4:1) is lost by the rendering “backsliding.” See Dr. p. 340.
hath done] rather did (and so for the following verbs, went up … there played). Samaria had fallen, c. b.c. 722.
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6–18. Dr. (with Co. and others) points out that here the word “Israel” is used in its restricted sense for the ten tribes, whereas in Jer_2:1 to Jer_3:5 it meant the people as a whole, and he infers that the passage, though (apart from certain insertions) genuine and of the age of Josiah, has been inserted from some other context, so that Jer_3:19 should follow immediately on Jer_3:5. Jeremiah’s general reasoning here is: Israel, though guilty, is less so than Judah, who, in defiance of the warning afforded by her sister’s exile, has since plunged deeper into sin. If then Judah may still avert overthrow by repentance and amendment, how much more Israel?
Chs. Jer_3:6 to Jer_4:4. Conditional offers of restoration
We may subdivide thus.
(1) Jer_3:6-18. The ten tribes as less guilty than Judah are invited to repent and return. (2) Jer_3:19 to Jer_4:4. The invitation includes the whole nation, on a like condition.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) The Lord said also unto me . .…
(6) The Lord said also unto me . . .—The main point of the second prophecy (we might almost call it sermon), delivered, like the former, under Josiah, is the comparison of the guilt of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The latter had been looking on the former with contemptuous scorn. She is now taught—the same imagery being continued that had begun in the first discourse—that her guilt is by far the greater of the two.
Backsliding Israel.—The epithet strikes the keynote of all that follows, and is, as it were, the text of the sermon. The force of the Hebrew is stronger than that of the English, and implies actual “apostasy,” being, indeed, a substantive rather than an adjective. Apostasy is, as it were, personified in Israel; she is the renegade sister.
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She is gone up.—Better, she goes, i.e., is going continually.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The Lord said also unto me, etc. It has…
The Lord said also unto me, etc. It has been suggested (see on ver. 1) that this introductory clause belongs rather to ver. 1. Some sort of introduction, however, seems called for; Ewald supposes a shorter form, such as "And the Lord said further unto me." The view is not improbable, for although there is evidently a break between ver. 5 and ver. 6, there are points of contact enough between vers. 1-5 and the following discourse to prove that they represent the same prophetic period (comp. ver. 10 with ver. 3, vers. 8, 9 with ver. 1, ver. 12 with ver. 5, ver. 19 with ver. 4). Backsliding Israel; literally, apostasy Israel. Usually a change or modification of a name is a sign of honor; here, however, it marks the disgrace of the bearer. Israel is apostasy personified (comp. vers. 14, 22). She is gone up; rather, her wont hath been to go up.
Vers. 6-10. An old and sad but very true story.
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I GOD LOOKING FOR FRUIT BUT NONE FORTHCOMING.
1. The fruit God looked for was Judah"s repentance (cf. the history of the times to which Jeremiah refers). Idolatry was rampant in the northern kingdom. The southern also had been very far from free from it. But at this time God looked for a true repentance on Judah"s part.
2. And such fruit was reasonably expected. There was the personal example and influence of King Josiah and the band of faithful men who were endeavoring to promote a true religious reformation. They had seen the degradation which followed Israel"s sin (ver. 9); how Israel had fallen so low as to worship stocks and stones, the "most scoundrel idols," as Matthew Henry calls them. They had heard the gracious appeal of God to Israel (ver. 7). They had seen the judgments of God which had followed when his grace was rejected. How severe and terrible these had been! God "had put Israel away" (ver. 8). For nearly a century Israel had been in dread captivity by reason of their sins. And the sin which had brought down their judgments was the sin which Judah herself was guilty of. And the judgment had not happened to an alien nation or in a remote land. No, but to Judah"s own sister, to members of the same family, of one blood and lineage; and close to her Own door, hence under her own eye. What more arousing and alarming call to the unconverted could there have been than all this? And to lend further force to this call, there was in Judah the presence of the temple, the possession of all manner of religious privilege. How reasonable, then, was the expectation that Judah should turn away from her idolatry and unfeignedly repent! But the like of all such reasons for the expectation of a true turning to God exists in the case of many today. Every influence and argument for such turning to God as bore upon Judah then, bears upon many still.
3. But that which God desired was not forthcoming. It is the burden of the prophet"s complaint that what Israel had done, and worse, was chargeable against Judah. And as now, all too often, those from whom real religion may reasonably be expected are found not only as evil, but outstripping others in ungodly ways. This is part of the story told us by these verses.
II Another is that of MEN SEEKING TO PALM OFF ON GOD FICTITIOUS FRUIT INSTEAD OF GENUINE. (Ver. 10) Cf. the history of the reformation in Josiah"s day how justly it is described in this verse! It was sudden, partial, external, short-lived. And such feigned reformations are common enough still. Cf. Luk_11:21-26; and sermon No. 613 by Spurgeon: "And as the devil looks round and finds the place swept, he finds it garnished too. The man has bought some pictures: he has not real faith, but he has a fine picture of it over the fireplace. He has no love to the cross of Christ, but he has a very handsome crucifix hanging on the wall. He has no graces of the Spirit, but he has a fine vase of flowers on the table of other peoples" experiences and other peoples" graces, and they smell tolerably sweet. There is a fireplace without fire, but there is one of the handsomest ornaments for the fireplace that was ever bought for money. It is swept and garnished. Oh, the garnished people I have met with! garnished sometimes with almsgiving, at other times with long-winded prayers; garnished with the profession of zeal and the pretence of reverence. You will find a zealous Protestant oh, so zealous! who would go into fits at the sign of a cross, and yet will be guilty of nameless vice. You find persons shocked because another boiled a teakettle on a Sunday, or insured his life, or assisted at a bazaar, who will cheat and draw the eye-teeth out of an orphan child if they could get sixpence by it. They are swept and garnished. Walk in, ladies and gentlemen! Did you ever see a house so delightfully furnished as this? How elegant! how tasteful! Just so: but men may be damned tastefully, and go to hell respectably, just as well as they can in a vulgar and debauched fashion." Wherefore do men thus act? Because conscience has been aroused by God"s dealings with them, and it will not let them rest without doing something. The question now comes, how little can they do which will be sufficient to still the inconvenient and uncomfortable clamor of conscience? And such turning to God "feignedly," such reformations as that of Judah under King Josiah, such sweeping and garnishing of the house empty of any true love to God, is the device they resolve upon. Then next, in this sad story, we see
III GREATER CONDEMNATION THAN EVER COMING UPON MEN IN CONSEQUENCE.
1. They are branded with a worse name than others (cf. "treacherous Judah," vers. 7, 10). Under pretence of being faithful to God, guardians of the temple, the priesthood, the Law, making loud profession, they were idolatrous even as Israel. Hence the name of infamy, "treacherous." And Christ"s most terrible words were for the "hypocrites" of his day.
2. A place less tolerable in the Day of Judgment will be assigned them, than that of those who sinned in like manner but without any suck religious profession (ver. 11). Oh, then, what need for the prayer
Search me, O God, and try my heart,
For thou that heart canst see;
And turn each cursed idol out
That dares to rival thee. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot…
Jer_3:6-11
Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
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Comparative criminality
I. State this decision of the Lord.
1. Israel, from the time they became a distinct nation, cast off God; therefore, given into Assyrian captivity and divorced by God.
2. Judah had retained the worship of God, but revelled in idolatry.
3. Because of their apparent superiority, Judah would scarcely own her relationship to Israel.
4. Though their sins were ostensibly less, they were committed with tenfold aggravations. Their advantages had been greater; larger number of prophets sent them; enjoyed stated ordinances; presence of God in their midst (in Temple).
II. Confirm this decision of the Lord. Specious insincerity is worse than open profaneness, because--
1. It argues a deeper depravity of heart.
2. It casts more dishonour upon God.
3. It does more extensive injury to man. Address--
(1) Those who are careless about religion.
(2) Those who profess religion. (C. Simeon, M. A.)
Judah hath not turned unto Me with her whole heart, but feignedly:--
Hypocrisy
The word feignedly is literally, with a lie. See the picture: here is one figured as a penitent woman, who comes to pray--in other words, to tell lies in the sanctuary, and to heap up falsehoods upon the altar where the fire has gone out. But is this possible? It is not only possible, it is actual, it is the history of today. Could we but see things as they really are, we should see that the largest figure amongst many competitive figures is that of hypocrisy. That admits of many colours and many definitions and modifications. All hypocrisy is not the same as to external attitude and bulk and colour. How subtle it is! It likes a little prayer; it does not object to go where the music is good, and where the preaching is pointless; it can speak smoothly, when it is full of anger; it can promise musically, and disappoint mockingly and triumphantly; it can sit like a saint, whilst its heart is far away or is plotting mischief. There is, then, a return to God which is no return; there is a going to Church which is not going to church; there is a piety which is impious; there is a calling to God as Father which God Himself replies to ironically, as if men would call Him anything to flatter Him into the suspension of His judgment or the conferring of an immediate favour. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Jer_3:6-25; Jer_4:1-2
CHAPTER III
ISRAEL AND JUDAH: A CONTRAST
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Jer_3:6-25; Jer_4:1-2
THE first address of our prophet was throughout of a sombre cast, and the darkness of its close was not relieved by a single ray of hope. It was essentially a comminatory discourse, the purpose of it being to rouse a sinful nation to the sense of its peril, by a faithful picture of its actual condition, which was so different from what it was popularly supposed to be. The veil is torn aside; the real relations between Israel and his God are exposed to view; and it is seen that the inevitable goal of persistence in the course which has brought partial disasters in the past, is certain destruction in the imminent future. It is implied, but not said, that the only thing that can save the nation is a complete reversal of policies hitherto pursued, in Church and State and private life; and it is apparently taken for granted that the thing implied is no longer possible. The last word of the discourse was: "Thou hast purposed and performed the evils, and thou hast conquered." {Jer_3:5} The address before us forms a striking contrast to this dark picture. It opens a door of hope for the penitent. The heart of the prophet cannot rest in the thought of the utter rejection of his people; the harsh and dreary announcement that his peoples woes are self-caused cannot be his last word. "His anger was only love provoked to distraction; here it has come to itself again," and holds out an offer of grace first to that part of the whole nation which needs it most, the fallen kingdom of Ephraim, and then to the entire people. The all Israel of the former discourse is here divided into its two sections, which are contrasted with each other, and then again considered as a united nation. This feature distinguishes the piece from that which begins Jer_4:3, and which is addressed to Judah and Jerusalem rather than to Israel and Judah, like the one before us. An outline of the discourse may be given thus. It is shown that Judah has not taken warning by Iahvahs rejection of the sister kingdom (Jer_3:6-10); and that Ephraim may be pronounced less guilty than Judah, seeing that she had witnessed no such signal example of the Divine vengeance on hardened apostasy. She is, therefore, invited to repent and return to her alienated God, which will involve a return from exile to her own land; and the promise is given of the reunion of the two peoples in a restored theocracy, having its centre in Mount Zion (Jer_3:11-19). All Israel has rebelled against God; but the prophet hears the cry of universal penitence and supplication ascending to heaven; and Iahvahs gracious answer of acceptance. {Jer_3:20-25; Jer_4:1-2}
The opening section depicts the sin which had brought ruin on Israel, and Judahs readiness in following her example, and refusal to take warning by her fate. This twofold sin is aggravated by an insincere repentance. "And Iahvah said unto me, in the days of Josiah the king, Sawest thou what the Turncoat or Recreant Israel did? she would go up every high hill, and under every evergreen tree, and play the harlot there. And methought that after doing all this she would return to Me; but she returned not; and the Traitress, her sister Judah saw it." And I saw that when for the very reason that she, the Turncoat Israel, had committed adultery, I had put her away, and given her her bill of divorce, the Traitress Judah, her sister, was not afraid, but she too went off and played the harlot. And so, through the cry {cf. Gen_4:10; Gen_18:20 sq.} of her harlotry (or defect through her manifold or abounding harlotry) she polluted the land (Jer_3:2), in that she committed adultery with the Stone and with the Stock. And yet though she was involved in all this guilt (lit. and even in all this.) Perhaps the sin and the penalties of it are identified; and the meaning is: "And yet for all this liability," cf. {Isa_5:25} the Traitress Judah returned not unto Me with all her heart (with a whole or undivided heart, with entire sincerity) but in falsehood, saith Iahvah. "The example of the northern kingdom is represented as a powerful influence for evil upon Judah. This was only natural; for although from the point of view of religious development Judah is incomparably the more important of the sister kingdoms; the exact contrary is the case as regards political power and predominance. Under strong kings like Omri and Ahab, or again, Jeroboam II, Ephraim was able to assert itself as a first-rate power among the surrounding principalities; and in the case of Athaliah, we have a conspicuous instance of the manner in which Canaanite idolatry might be propagated from Israel to Judah. The prophet declares that the sin of Judah was aggravated by the fact that she had witnessed the ruin of Israel, and yet persisted in the same evil courses of which that ruin was the result. She sinned against light. The fall of Ephraim had verified the predictions of her prophets; yet she was not afraid," but went on adding to the score of her own offences, and polluting the land with her unfaithfulness to her Divine Spouse. The idea that the very soil of her country was defiled by Judahs idolatry may be illustrated by reference to the well known words of Psa_106:38 : "They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and their daughters whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; and the land was defiled with the bloodshed." We may also remember Elohims words to Cain: "The voice of thy brothers blood is crying unto Me from the ground!" {Gen_4:10} As Iahvahs special dwelling place, moreover, the land of Israel was holy; and foreign rites desecrated and profaned it. and made it offensive in His sight. The pollution of it cried to heaven for vengeance on those who had caused it. To such a state had Judah brought her own land, and the very city of the sanctuary; and yet in all this amid this accumulation of sins and liabilities she turned not to her Lord with her whole heart. The reforms set on foot in the twelfth year of Josiah were but superficial and halfhearted; the people merely acquiesced in them, at the dictation of the court, and gave no sign of any inward change or deep-wrought repentance. The semblance without the reality of sorrow for sin is but a mockery of heaven, and a heinous aggravation of guilt. Hence the sin of Judah was of a deeper dye than that which had destroyed Israel. And Iahvah said unto me, The Turncoat or Recreant Israel hath proven herself more righteous than the Traitress Judah. Who could doubt it, considering that almost all the prophets had borne their witness in Judah; and that, in imitating her sisters idolatry, she had resolutely closed her eyes to the light of truth and reason? On this ground, that Israel has sinned less and suffered more, the prophet is bidden to hold out to her the hope of Divine mercy. The greatness of her ruin, as well as the lapse of years since the fatal catastrophe, might tend to diminish in the prophets mind the impression of her guilt; and his patriotic yearning for the restoration of the banished Ten Tribes, who, after all, were the near kindred of Judah, as well as the thought that they had borne their punishment, and thus atoned for their sin, {Isa_11:2} might cooperate with the desire of kindling in his own countrymen a noble rivalry of repentance, in moving the prophet to obey the impulse which urged him to address himself to Israel. Go thou, and cry these words northward (toward the desolate land of Ephraim), and say: Return, Turncoat or Recreant Israel, saith Iahvah; I will not let My countenance fall at the sight of you; {lit. against you, cf. Gen_4:5} for I am loving, saith Iahvah, I keep not anger forever. Only recognise thy guilt, that thou hast rebelled against Iahvah thy God, and hast scattered {or lavished: Psa_112:9} thy ways to the strangers hast gone now in this direction, now in that, worshipping first one idol and then another; cf. Jer_2:23; and so, as it were, dividing up and dispersing thy devotion under every evergreen tree; "but My voice ye have not obeyed, saith Iahvah." The invitation, "Return Apostate Israel!"-contains a play of words which seems to suggest that the exile of the Ten Tribes was voluntary, or self-imposed; as if, when they turned their backs upon their true God, they had deliberately made choice of the inevitable consequence of that rebellion, and made up their minds to abandon their native land. So close is the connection, in the prophets view, between the misfortunes of his people and their sins.
"Return, ye apostate children" (again there is a play on words-"Turn back, ye back-turning sons," or "ye sons that turn the back to Me) saith Iahvah; for it was I that wedded you" (Jer_3:14), and am, therefore, your proper lord. The expression is not stranger than that which the great prophet of the Return addresses to Zion: "Thy sons shall marry thee." But perhaps we should rather compare another passage of the Book of Isaiah, where it is said: "Iahvah, our God! other lords beside Thee have had dominion over us," {Isa_26:13} and render: "For it is I that will be your lord"; or perhaps, "For it is I that have mastered you," and put down your rebellion by chastisements; "and I will take you, one of a city and two of a clan, and will bring you to Zion." As a "city" is elsewhere spoken of as a "thousand," {Mic_5:1} and a "thousand" is synonymous with a "clan," as providing a thousand warriors in the national militia, it is clear that the promise is that one or two representatives of each township in Israel shall be restored from exile to the land of their fathers. In other words, we have here Isaiahs doctrine of the remnant, which he calls a "tenth," {Isa_6:13} and of which he declared that "the survivors of the house of Judah that remain, shall again take root downwards, and bear fruit upwards." {Isa_37:31} And as Zion is the goal of the returning exiles, we may see, as doubtless the prophets saw, a kind of anticipation and foreshadowing of the future in the few scattered members of the northern tribes of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun, who "humbled themselves," and accepted Hezekiahs invitation to the passover; {2Ch_30:11; 2Ch_30:18} and, again, in the authority which Josiah is said to have exercised in the land of the Ten Tribes (2Ch_34:6; 2Ch_34:9). We must bear in mind that the prophets do not contemplate the restoration of every individual of the entire nation; but rather the return of a chosen few, a kind of "firstfruits" of Israel, who are to be a "holy seed," {Isa_6:13} from which the power of the Supreme will again build up the entire people according to its ancient divisions. So the holy Apostle in the Revelation hears that twelve thousand of each tribe are sealed as servants of God. {Revelation 7}
The happy time of restoration will also be a time of reunion. The estranged tribes will return to their old allegiance. This is implied by the promise, "I will bring you to Zion," and by that of the next verse: "And I will give you shepherds after My own heart; and they shall shepherd you with knowledge and wisdom." Obviously, kings of the house of David are meant; the good shepherds of the future are contrasted with the "rebellious" ones of the Jer_2:8. It is the promise of Isaiah: {Isa_1:26} "And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning." In this connection, we may recall the fact that the original schism in Israel was brought about by the folly of evil shepherds. The coming King will resemble not Rehoboam but David. Nor is this all; for "It shall come to pass, when ye multiply and become fruitful in the land, in those days, saith Iahvah, men shall not say any more, The ark of the covenant of Iahvah," or, as LXX, "of the Holy One of Israel; nor shall it" (the ark) "come to mind; nor shall men remember it, nor miss it; nor shall it be made any more" (although the verb may be impersonal.) I do not understand why Hitzig asserts "Man wird keine andere machen" (Movers) oder; "sic wird nicht wieder gemacht" (Ew., Graf) "als ware nicht von der geschichtlichen Lade die Rede, sondern von ihr begrifflich, konnen die Worte nicht bedeuten." But cf. Exo_25:10; Gen_6:14; where the same verb is used. Perhaps, however, the rendering of C.B. Michaelis, which he prefers, is more in accordance with what precedes: "nor shall all that be done any more," Gen_29:26; Gen_41:34. But it does not mean "nachforschen." {cf. 1Sa_20:6; 1Sa_25:15} "In that time men will call Jerusalem the throne of Iahvah; and all the nations will gather into it," {Gen_1:9} "for the name of Iahvah" (at Jerusalem: LXX om.); "and they" (the heathen) "will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil heart." {Jer_7:24; Deu_29:19}
In the new Theocracy, the true kingdom of God, the ancient symbol of the Divine presence will be forgotten in the realisation of that presence. The institution of the New Covenant will be characterised by an immediate and personal knowledge of Iahvah in the hearts of all His people. {Jer_31:31 sq.} The small object in which past generations had loved to recognise the earthly throne of the God of Israel, will be replaced by Jerusalem itself, the Holy City, not merely of Judah, nor of Judah and Israel, but of the world. Thither will all the nations resort "to the name of Iahvah"; ceasing henceforth "to follow the hardness (or callousness) of their own evil heart." That the more degraded kinds of heathenism have a hardening effect upon the heart; and that the cruel and impure worships of Canaan especially tended to blunt the finer sensibilities, to enfeeble the natural instincts of humanity and justice, and to confuse the sense of right and wrong, is beyond question. Only a heart rendered callous by custom, and stubbornly deaf to the pleadings of natural pity, could find genuine pleasures in the merciless rites of the Molech worship; and they who ceased to follow these inhuman superstitions, and sought light and guidance from the God of Israel, might well be said to have ceased "to walk after the hardness of their own evil heart." The more repulsive features of heathenism chime in too well with the worst and most savage impulses of our nature; they exhibit too close a conformity with the suggestions and demands of selfish appetite; they humour and encourage the darkest passions far too directly and decidedly, to allow us to regard as plausible any theory of their origin and permanence which does not recognise in them at once a cause and an effect of human depravity. {cf. Romans 1}
The repulsiveness of much that was associated with the heathenism with which they were best acquainted, did not hinder the prophets of Israel from taking a deep spiritual interest in those who practised and were enslaved by it. Indeed, what has been called the universalism of the Hebrew seers-their emancipation in this respect from all local and national limits and prejudices-is one of the clearest proofs of their divine mission. Jeremiah only reiterates what Micah and Isaiah had preached before him; that "in the latter days the mountain of Iahvahs House shall be established as the chief of mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all the nations will flow unto it". {Isa_2:2} In Jer_16:19 sq. our prophet thus expresses himself upon the same topic. "Iahvah, my strength and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of distress! unto Thee shall nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say: Our forefathers inherited naught but a lie, vanity, and things among which is no helper. Shall a man make him gods, when they are no gods?" How largely this particular aspiration of the prophets of the seventh and eighth centuries B.C. has since been fulfilled in the course of the ages is a matter of history. The religion which was theirs has, in the new shape given it by our Lord and His Apostles, become the religion of one heathen people after another, until at this day it is the faith professed, not only in the land of its origin, but by the leading nations of the world. So mighty a fulfilment of hopes, which at the time of their first conception and utterance could only be regarded as the dreams of enthusiastic visionaries, justifies those who behold and realise it in the joyful belief that the progress of true religion has not been maintained for six and twenty centuries to be arrested now; and that these old world aspirations are destined to receive a fulness of illustration in the triumphs of the future, in the light of which the brightest glories of the past will pale and fade away.
The prophet does not say, with a prophet of the New Covenant, that "all Israel shall be saved". {Rom_11:26} We may, however, fairly interpret the latter of the true Israel, "the remnant according to the election of grace," rather than of "Israel according to the flesh," and so both will be at one, and both at variance with the unspiritual doctrine of the Talmud, that "All Israel," irrespective of moral qualifications, will have "a portion in the world to come," on account of the surpassing merits of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and even of Abraham alone. {cf. St. Mat_3:9; St. Joh_8:33}
The reference to the ark of the covenant in the sixteenth verse is remarkable upon several grounds. This sacred symbol is not mentioned among the spoils which Nebuzaradan (Nabuziriddin) took from the temple; {Jer_52:17 sqq.} nor is it specified among the treasures appropriated by Nebuchadrezzar at the surrender of Jehoiachin. The words of Jeremiah prove that it cannot be included among "the vessels of gold" which the Babylonian conqueror "cut in pieces". {2Ki_24:13} We learn two facts about the ark from the present passage: (1) that it no longer existed in the days of the prophet; (2) that people remembered it with regret, though they did not venture to replace the lost original by a new substitute. It may well have been destroyed by Manasseh, the king who did his utmost to abolish the religion of Iahvah. However that may be, the point of the prophets allusion consists in the thought that in the glorious times of Messianic rule the idea of holiness will cease to be attached to things, for it will be realised in persons; the symbol will become obsolete, and its name and memory will disappear from the minds and affections of men, because the fact symbolised will be universally felt and perceived to be a present and self-evident truth. In that great epoch of Israels reconciliation, all nations will recognise in Jerusalem "the throne of Iahvah," the centre of light and source of spiritual truth; the Holy City of the world. Is it the earthly or the heavenly Jerusalem that is meant? It would seem, the former only was present to the consciousness of the prophet, for he concludes his beautiful interlude of promise with the words: "In those days will the house of Judah walk beside the house of Israel; and they will come together from the land of the North" ("and from all the lands": LXX add. cf. Jer_16:15) "unto the land that I caused your fathers to possess." Like Isaiah {Isa_11:12 sqq.} and other prophets his predecessors, Jeremiah forecasts for the whole repentant and united nation a reinstatement in their ancient temporal rights, in the pleasant land from which they had been so cruelly banished for so many weary years.
"The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." If, when we look at the whole course of subsequent events, when we review the history of the Return and of the narrow religious commonwealth which was at last, after many bitter struggles, established on mount Sion; when we consider the form which the religion of Iahvah assumed in the hands of the priestly caste, and the half-religious, half-political sects, whose intrigues and conflicts for power constitute almost all we know of their period; when we reflect upon the character of the entire post-exilic age down to the time of the birth of Christ, with its worldly ideals, its fierce fanaticisms, its superstitious trust in rites and ceremonies; if, when we look at all this, we hesitate to claim that the prophetic visions of a great restoration found fulfilment in the erection of this petty state, this paltry edifice, upon the ruins of Davids capital; shall we lay ourselves open to the accusation that we recognise no element of truth in the glorious aspirations of the prophets? I think not.
After all, it is clear from the entire context that these hopes of a golden time to come are not independent of the attitude of the people towards Iahvah. They will only be realised, if the nation shall truly repent of the past, and turn to Him with the whole heart. The expressions "at that time," "in those days" (Jer_3:17-18), are only conditionally determinate; they mean the happy time of Israels repentance, "if such a time should ever come." From this glimpse of glorious possibilities, the prophet turns abruptly to the dark page of Israels actual history. He has, so to speak, portrayed in characters of light the development as it might have been; he now depicts the course it actually followed. He restates Iahvahs original claim upon Israels grateful devotion, {Jer_2:2} putting these words into the mouth of the Divine Speaker: "And I indeed thought, How will I set thee among the sons" (of the Divine household), "and give thee a lovely land, a heritage the fairest among the nations! And methought, thou wouldst call Me My Father, and wouldst not turn back from following Me." Iahvah had at the outset adopted Israel, and called him from the status of a groaning bondsman to the dignity of a son and heir. When Israel was a child, He had loved him, and called His son out of Egypt, {Hos_11:1} to give him a place and a heritage among nations. It was Iahvah, indeed, who originally assigned their holdings to all the nations, and separated the various tribes of mankind, "fixing the territories of peoples, according to the number of the sons of God". {Deu_32:8 Sept.} If He had brought up Israel from Egypt, He had also brought up the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir. {Amo_9:7} But He had adopted Israel in a more special sense, which may be expressed in St. Pauls words, who makes it the chief advantage of Israel above the nations that "unto them were committed the oracles of God". {Rom_3:2} What nobler distinction could have been conferred upon any race of men than that they should have been thus chosen, as Israel actually was chosen, not merely in the aspirations of prophets, but as a matter of fact in the divinely directed evolution of human history, to become the heralds of a higher truth, the hierophants of spiritual knowledge, the universally recognised interpreters of God? Such a calling might have been expected to elicit a response of the warmest gratitude, the most enthusiastic loyalty and unswerving devotion. But Israel as a nation did not rise to the level of these lofty prophetic views of its vocation; it knew itself to be the people of Iahvah, but it failed to realise the moral significance of that privilege, and the moral and spiritual responsibilities which it involved. It failed to adore Iahvah as the Father, in the only proper and acceptable sense of that honourable name, the sense which restricts its application to one sole Being. Heathenism is blind and irrational as well as profane and sinful; and so it does not scruple to confer such absolutely individual titles as "God" and "Father" upon a multitude of imaginary powers.
"Methought thou wouldst call Me My Father, and wouldst not turn back from following Me. But" {Zep_3:7} "a woman is false to her fere; so were ye false to Me, O house of Israel, saith Iahvah." The Divine intention toward Israel, Gods gracious design for her everlasting good, Gods expectation of a return for His favour, and how that design was thwarted so far as man could thwart it, and that expectation disappointed hitherto; such is the import of the last two verses (Jer_3:19-20). Speaking in the name of God, Jeremiah represents Israels past as it appears to God. He now proceeds to show dramatically, or as in a picture, how the expectation may yet be fulfilled, and the design realised. Having exposed the national guilt, he supposes his remonstrance to have done its work, and he overhears the penitent people pouring out its heart before God. Then a kind of dialogue ensues between the Deity and His suppliants. "Hark! upon the bare hills is heard the weeping of the supplications of the sons of Israel, that they perverted their way, forgot Iahvah their God." The treeless hill tops had been the scene of heathen orgies miscalled worship. There the rites of Canaan performed by Israelites had insulted the God of heaven (Jer_3:2 and Jer_3:6). Now the very places which witnessed the sin, witness the national remorse and confession. The high places are not condemned even by Jeremiah as places of worship, but only as places of heathen and illicit worships. The solitude and quiet and purer air of the hill tops, their unobstructed view of heaven and suggestive nearness thereto, have always made them natural sanctuaries both for public rites and private prayer and meditation: cf. 2Sa_15:32; and especially St. Luk_6:12.
In this closing section of the piece {Jer_3:19-25; Jer_4:1-2} "Israel" means not the entire people, but the northern kingdom only, which is spoken of separately also in Jer_3:6-18, with the object of throwing into higher relief the heinousness of Judahs guilt. Israel-the northern kingdom-was less guilty than Judah, for she had no warning example, no beacon light upon her path, such as her own fall afforded to the southern kingdom; and therefore the Divine compassion is more likely to be extended to her, even after a century of ruin and banishment, than to her callous, impenitent sister. Whether at the time Jeremiah was in communication with survivors of the northern Exile, who were faithful to the God of their fathers, and looked wistfully toward Jerusalem as the centre of the best traditions and the sole hope of Israelite nationality, cannot now be determined. The thing is not unlikely, considering the interest which the prophet afterwards took in the Judean exiles who were taken to Babylon with Jehoiachin (chapter 29) and his active correspondence with their leaders. We may also remember that "divers of Asher and Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves" and came to keep passover with king Hezekiah at Jerusalem. It cannot, certainly, be supposed, with any show of reason, that the Assyrians either carried away the entire population of the northern kingdom, or exterminated all whom they did not carry away. The words of the Chronicler who speaks of "a remnant escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria," are themselves perfectly agreeable to reason and the nature of the case, apart from the consideration that he had special historical sources at his command. {2Ch_30:6; 2Ch_30:11} We know that in the Maccabean and Roman wars the rocky fastnesses of the country were a refuge to numbers of the people, and the history of David shows that this had been the case from time immemorial. {cf. Jdg_6:2} Doubtless in this way not a few survived the Assyrian invasions and the destruction of Samaria (B.C. 721). But to return to the text. After the confession of the nation that they have "perverted their way" (that is, their mode of worship, by adoring visible symbols of Iahvah, and associating with Him as His compeers a multitude of imaginary gods, especially the local Baalim, Jer_2:23, and Ashtaroth), the prophet hears another voice, a voice of Divine invitation and gracious promise, responsive to penitence and prayer: "Return, ye apostate sons, let Me heal your apostasies!" or "If ye return, ye apostate sons, I will heal your apostasies!" It is an echo of the tenderness of an older prophet. {Hos_14:1; Hos_14:4} And the answer of the penitents quickly follows: "Behold us, we are come unto Thee, for Thou art Iahvah our God." The voice that now calls us, we know by its tender tones of entreaty, compassion, and love to be the voice of Iahvah our own God; not the voice of sensual Chemosh, tempting to guilty pleasures and foul impurities, not the harsh cry of a cruel Molech, calling for savage rites of pitiless bloodshed. Thou, Iahvah-not these nor their fellows-art our true and only God.
"Surely, in vain" (for naught, bootlessly, 1Sa_25:21; Jer_5:2; Jer_16:19) "on the hills did we raise a din" (lit. "hath one raised";) surely in Iahvah our God is the safety of Israel! The Hebrew cannot be original as it now stands in the Masoretic text, for it is ungrammatical. The changes I have made will be seen to be very slight, and the sense obtained is much the same as Ewalds "Surely in vain from the hills is the noise, from the mountains" (where every reader must feel that "from the mountains" is a forcible feeble addition which adds nothing to the sense). We might also perhaps detach the mem from the term for "hills," and connect it with the preceding word, thus getting the meaning: "Surely, for Lies are the hills, the uproar of the mountains!" that is to say, the high places are devoted to delusive nonentities, who can do nothing in return for the wild orgiastic worship bestowed on them; a thought which contrasts very well with the second half of the verse: "Surely, in Iahvah our God is the safety of Israel!"
The confession continues: "And as for the Shame"-the shameful idol, the Baal whose worship involved shameful rites, {Jer_11:13; Hos_9:10} and who put his worshippers to shame, by disappointing them of help in the hour of their need {Jer_2:8; Jer_2:26-27} -"as for the Shame"-in contrast with Iahvah, the Safety of Israel, who gives all, and requires little or nothing of this kind in return-"it devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters." The allusion is to the insatiable greed of the idol priests, and the lavish expense of perpetually recurring feasts and sacrifices, which constituted a serious drain upon the resources of a pastoral and agricultural community; and to the bloody rites which, not content with animal offerings, demanded human victims for the altars of an appalling superstition. "Let us lie down in our shame, and let our infamy cover us! for toward Iahvah our God we trespassed, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and obeyed not the voice of Iahvah our God." A more complete acknowledgment of sin could hardly be conceived; no palliating circumstances are alleged, no excuses devised, of the kind with which men usually seek to soothe a disturbed conscience. The strong seductions of Canaanite worship, the temptation to join in the joyful merriment of idol festivals, the invitation of friends and neighbours, the contagion of example, -all these extenuating facts must have been at least as well known to the prophet as to modern critics, but he is expressively silent on the point of mitigating circumstances in the case of a nation to whom such light and guidance had come as came to Israel. No, he could discern no ground of hope for his people except in a full and unreserved admission of guilt, an agony of shame and contrition before God, a heartfelt recognition of the truth that from the outset of their national existence to the passing day they had continually sinned against Iahvah their God and resisted His holy Will.
Finally, to this cry of penitents humbled in the dust, and owning that they have no refuge from the consequences of their sin but in the Divine Mercy, comes the firm yet loving answer: "If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith Iahvah, unto Me wilt return, and if thou wilt put away thine Abominations" ("out of thy mouth and," LXX) "out of My Presence, and sway not to" and 1Ki_14:15, "but wilt swear By the Life of Iahvah! in good faith, justice, and righteousness; then shall the nations bless themselves by Him, and in Him shall they glory." {Jer_4:1-2} Such is the close of this ideal dialogue between God and man. It is promised that if the nations repentance be sincere-not half-hearted like that of Judah {Jer_3:10; 2Ch_34:33} -and if the fact be demonstrated by a resolute and unwavering rejection of idol worship, evinced by the disuse of their names in oaths, and the expulsion of their symbols "from the Presence," that is, out of the sanctuaries and domain of Iahvah, and by adhering to the Name of the God of Israel in oaths and compacts of all kinds, and by a scrupulous loyalty to such engagements; {Psa_15:4' Isa_48:1} then the ancient oracle of blessing will be fulfilled, and Israel will become a proverb of felicity, the pride and boast of mankind, the glorious ideal of perfect virtue and perfect happiness. {Gen_12:3; Isa_65:16} Then, "all the nations will gather together unto Jerusalem for the Name of Iahvah"; {Jer_3:17} they will recognise in the religion of Iahvah the answer to their highest longings and spiritual necessities, and will take Israel for what Iahvah intended him to be, their example and priest and prophet.
Jeremiah could hardly have chosen a more extreme instance for pointing the lesson he had to teach than the long since ruined and depopulated kingdom of the Ten Tribes. Hopeless as their actual condition must have seemed at the time, he assures his own countrymen in Judah and Jerusalem that even yet, if only the moral requirements of the case were fulfilled, and the heart of the poor remnant and of the survivors in banishment aroused to a genuine and permanent repentance, the Divine promises would be accomplished in a people whose sun had apparently set in darkness forever. And so he passes on to address his own people directly in tones of warning, reproof, and menace of approaching wrath. {Jeremiah 4:3-Jeremiah 6:30}
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain Jeremiah's Third Prophecy. The Fate of the Ten Tribes…
Jeremiah's Third Prophecy. The Fate of the Ten Tribes a Warning to Judah
In this prophecy, as in the last, idolatry is denounced under the figure of unfaithfulness to the marriage vow. But as a marked distinction, God here invites to repentance, and on this there hinges pardon.
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6-20. Israel and Judah have both forsaken their Divine Spouse, but forgiveness will follow repentance.
7-11. Samaria, the capital of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, after a stubborn resistance had been captured by Sargon, king of Assyria, 722 b.c., and more than 27,000 of its inhabitants deported. The isolation and comparative poverty of Judah helped her to survive her northern sister for well over a hundred years. But failure to take advantage of the warning thus afforded her brought its inevitable results. Moreover, in spite of greater privileges, she had added to apostasy treachery, by hypocritically feigning still to pay homage to Jehovah under cover of idolatrous rites. She had rejected Josiah's reforms, and this rejection sealed her fate. 'It is not by the act of its government that a nation stands or falls; Ahaz and Manasseh lent the weight of their influence to the cause of idolatry; Hezekiah and Josiah to the cause of truth: but the nation had to determine which should prevail' (Speaker's Commentary).
8. I saw] some read, 'she saw.' Bill of di vorce] i.e. exile.
11. Justified herself more] for Judah had even more warning than Israel.
12. Toward the north] to Assyria, the place of Israel's captivity.
14. One of.. two of, etc.] A 'city' might be a mere village. A 'family,' i.e. descendants of a common ancestor, suggested a larger number. There were, e.g., only four or five families in the whole tribe of Judah. The reference here is to the return from the exile to Palestine.
16. The blessings of repentance and obedience. Even the ark with the mercy seat on which the brightness which marked Jehovah's presence rested shall be forgotten, for Jehovah shall no longer be confined to one place or one people. All nations shall serve Him; His dominion centred in Jerusalem shall extend to the ends, of the earth.
17. Imagination] RV 'stubbornness.'
19. The Lord tells of His affection for Israel. But] rather,'and.' How] i.e. In what honourable position? The children] the nations of the earth, all of them God's children, as created by Him.
22-25. An acceptable prayer of repentance.
23. The multitude of mountains] RV 'the tumult' (RM 'the noisy throng') 'on the mountains': the orgies and clamorous supplications of idolatrous crowds at the high places.
24. Shame] RV 'the shameful thing,' i.e. the god Baal: cp. Jer_11:13. Hath devoured] hath consumed in the form of sacrifices the fruits of our toil.
Jer_4:1-4. The assurance of forgiveness. 1. Then shalt, etc.] RM 'and wilt not wander.'
3. Break up, etc.] As the farmer is careful to clear the soil of weeds before sowing his seed, so with Israel. The sowing of repentance must be serious and real.
4. Circumcise] Circumcision was a dedication of self to God's service, and a removal of imperfections.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain The Lord said
The Lord said
The general character of the second message to Judah is:
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(1) of reproach that the example of Jehovah’s chastening of the northern kingdom 2Ki 17:1-18 had produced no effect upon Judah, e.g. Jer 3:6-10.
(2) of warning of a like chastisement impending over Judah, e.g. Jer 3:15-17.
(3) of touching appeals to return to Jehovah, e.g. Jer 3:12-14.
(4) of promises of final national restoration and blessing, e.g. Jer 3:16-18.
Israel
"Israel" and "Ephraim": names by which the northern kingdom (the ten tribes) is usually called in the prophets. When by "Israel" the whole nation is meant, it will appear from the context.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain The Call to Repentance and judgment Announced (3:6-6:30)
The Call to Repentance and judgment Announced (3:6-6:30)
CHAPTER 3
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1. The contrast between backslidden Israel and treacherous Judah (Jer 3:6-11)
2. The call to return and the promised glory (Jer 3:12-18)
3. The future true repentance predicted and anticipated (Jer 3:19-25)
Jer 3:6-11. The message which begins with the sixth verse was given to Jeremiah during the reign of Josiah. There is then, first of all, a contrast between Israel (the ten tribes) and her sister Judah. (Compare with Eze 23:1-49.) The house of Israel, the northern kingdom was judged first by the Lord. She played the harlot; after she had done so, the Lord said, “Turn thou to Me.” She refused, and her treacherous sister the house of Judah saw it. And when the Lord dealt with the house of Israel in judgment and they were carried away, Judah did not fear but played the harlot. The tenth verse proves conclusively that the reformation under Josiah was not a true spiritual revival: “And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto Me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.”
Jer 3:12-18. Here is a message to be proclaimed toward the north, calling on backsliding Israel to return. He promises mercy to them. One hundred years before, the house of Israel had gone northward as captives. The Lord knew where they dwelt and sent them this message of mercy. He knows today where the house of Israel is, the ten tribes, and at some future time the gracious offer given here will be consummated in their return. These verses are prophetic. They speak of the time when the chosen people will return. Then Jerusalem will be called “the throne of the LORD.” Israel will be converted. All the nations will be gathered unto the Name of Jehovah; the house of Judah with the house of Israel will be reunited. That will be when the King our ever blessed Lord comes back.
Jer 3:19-25. What the future true repentance of the people will be is here predicted and anticipated. There will be weeping and supplications. They will acknowledge that true salvation is in the Lord. They will confess their sins and their disobedience.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Call to Return
The Call to Return
v. 6. The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah, the king, an account which the prophet here inserts on account of the application. Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? Israel being called apostasy outright to emphasize the seriousness of her defection. She is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree and there hath played the harlot, in committing idolatry or spiritual adultery, the sanctuaries of idols being located in such places.
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v. 7. And I said after she had done all these things, these were the thoughts which filled the Lord’s heart. Turn thou unto Me, this being the underlying thought in all prophetic admonition. But she returned not, the northern kingdom consistently rejecting the Lord’s call. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it, being influenced by Israel’s evil example.
v. 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, a writing of dismissal, namely, at the time when the northern kingdom was led away into the Assyrian captivity; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, was not filled with a wholesome respect for the Lord’s punishment, but went and played the harlot also, was also given to idolatry.
v. 9. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, the ease with which she practiced her infamous wickedness, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and with stocks, with idols of wood and stone, so that the entire land was profaned before the Lord, the entire section inhabited by the northern tribes being polluted by the idolatrous customs so readily accepted by its people.
v. 10. And yet for all this, although she had the deterring example of Israel before her eyes always, her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto Me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord. The reformation in the eighteenth year of Josiah was not general or thorough; it was only a straw-fire without lasting consequences.
v. 11. And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah, she was righteous by comparison with the overwhelming guilt of the latter, who possessed the unusual advantages of the Temple and the center of worship in her midst.
v. 12. Go and proclaim these words toward the North, because Israel had been carried away captive in that direction, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, a loving invitation addressed to the northern tribes, which was also to arouse the zeal of Judah, and I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you, not continue to frown upon them in wrath and displeasure; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, preferring to show grace and mercy rather than indignation, and I will not keep anger forever. But there is one condition upon the fulfillment of which the Lord must insist:
v. 13. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, freely confessing her transgressions and her guilt, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord, thy God, against whom, in the last analysis, every sin is directed, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, wandering back and forth in her apostasy, and ye have not obeyed My voice, saith the Lord.
v. 14. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you, literally, "I am Lord and Husband to you"; and I will take you one of a city and two of a family, or tribe, collecting the true Israelites from the cities and nations where they are scattered, one by one, and I will bring you to Zion, at the time of the New Testament or Messianic kingdom;
v. 15. and I will give you pastors, leaders in both the spiritual and the civil domain, as Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, according to Mine own heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding, the New Testament teachers of the Gospel-message being foremost in this respect.
v. 16. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, in the days when the spiritual Israelites would be gathered in the kingdom of the Messiah, they shall say no more, The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, attaching the real importance of religion to the possession of this sacred vessel, neither shall it come to mind, they would, in fact, not even miss it; neither shall they remember it, neither shall they visit it, neither shall that be done any more, it would not be made again. The ark was, in fact, not restored after the Babylonian captivity, the Lord thus signifying that the time of types and shadows was soon to come to an end.
v. 17. At that time, in the Messianic period, they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, where He revealed Himself to His people, but no longer in a cloud and in a pillar of fire; and all the nations, namely, in their representatives, the true believers, shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem, because the name of the Lord, the Word of His grace, would be proclaimed in the midst of His holy congregation; neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart, in obstinacy or stubbornness.
v. 18. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, all true Israelites being united in the Church of Christ, and they shall come together out of the land of the North, from all the countries of the dispersion, to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers, to enjoy the Gospel-blessings together.
v. 19. But I said, the Lord here beginning His statement of the manner in which Israel may come to the knowledge of her sins. How shall I put thee among the children, adopting those into His family once more who had forsaken Him for idols, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? in enjoying the blessings of the Messianic era. And I said, Thou shall call Me, My Father, returning once more to the true God; and shall not turn away from Me, fully restored to the favor of Jehovah. Once more, however, the Lord sets forth the faithlessness of the people of His choice.
v. 20. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, forsaking the companion of her youth, so have ye dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. Upon this final accusation of the Lord the sorrow of the people and their confession of sins is brought out with dramatic intensity.
v. 21. A voice was heard upon the high places, the very scene of their idolatries becoming the scene of their open confession of their transgressions, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel, a public proclamation of their penitence; for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord, their God, a fact which they now acknowledge with deep sorrow. So the Lord calls to them:
v. 22. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. And they, full, of eager desire, answer: Behold, we come unto Thee; for Thou art the Lord, our God. Moreover, they now concede:
v. 23. Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills and from the multitude of mountains, it is a delusion and a snare to expect help from the priests of the mountain sanctuaries; truly, in the Lord, our God, is the salvation of Israel, He alone can bring about the deliverance of His people.
v. 24. For shame hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, namely, the idols, whose worship brought shame and disgrace upon their worshipers; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters, for not only did their service require a steady stream of sacrifices, but their worship also brought down upon the people the punishment of the Lord, by which their children were torn from their side.
v. 25. We lie down in our shame, as the penitent seats himself in dust and in ashes, 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. A full and unequivocal confession of sins, a complete acknowledgment of guilt, is the first step in true repentance. "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. " Pro 28:13.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Do you see what faithless Israel has done?
Do you see what faithless Israel has done?
God uses this question to draw Jeremiah's attention to Israel's faithlessness. It can be translated as a command or a statement. AT: "See how faithless Israel is to me." or "You see how faithless Israel is to me." (See: Rhetorical Question)
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She has gone up
The people of Israel are spoken of as if Israel were a woman. AT: "Israel's people have gone up" or "They have gone up" (See: Metaphor)
every high hill and under every leafy tree
The tops of hills and under shade trees were common places for people to worship idols. The word "every" is used as a generalization to show that the people were worshiping idols in many different places. (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
she has acted like a prostitute
God speaks as of Israel worshiping idols as if she were a woman having sex with many men. AT: (See: Simile)
her faithless sister Judah saw
God speaks of Israel and Judah as if they were sisters. AT: "the people of Judah, who also did not obey me, saw" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
Josiah
king
faithless
kingdom of Israel
high place
kingdom of Judah
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:6-10 The Lord had been addressing the kingdom of…
3:6-10 The Lord had been addressing the kingdom of Judah as “Israel” (2:1–3:5), emphasizing their identity as his people. Now the Lord distinguishes between Israel, the northern kingdom that had been destroyed (2 Kgs 17), and the kingdom of Judah. Since the people of the southern kingdom had learned nothing from the fate of the northern kingdom, they were doomed to experience the same fate. • Josiah (640–609 BC) promoted a return to historic faith and practice in 621 BC (2 Chr 34:29-33).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.