King James Version
Jeremiah 3
25 verses with commentary
Unfaithful Israel
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD. They say: Heb. Saying
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse opens Jeremiah 3 with a hypothetical legal case based on Deuteronomy 24:1-4, which forbade a divorced woman who remarried from returning to her first husband. The Hebrew construction 'they say' (lēʾmōr, לֵאמֹר) introduces a well-known principle. God applies this law metaphorically to Israel's spiritual adultery through idolatry—she has 'played the harlot with many lovers' (zānîṯ rēʿîm r...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
III.
(1) The parable of the guilty wife who is condemned in spite of all her denials is carried out to its logical results.
**They say.**—Better, *So to speak, *as introducing a new application of the figure. The direct reference is to Deuteronomy 24:4, which forbade the return to the past husband as an abomination, a law which the recent discovery of the Book of the Law (2Kings 22:10-11) had prob...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. liberal--**rather, "noble-minded."
**stand--**shall be approved under the government of the righteous King.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
Exhortations to repentance. (Jr 3:1-5) Judah more guilty than Israel. (Jr 3:6-11) But pardon is promised. (Jr 3:12-20) The children of Israel express their sorrow and repentance. (Jr 3:21-25)
**Verses 1-5** In repentance, it is good to think upon the sins of which we have been guilty, and the places and companies where they have been committed. How gently the Lord had corrected the...
Read full commentary →Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
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KJV Study Commentary
God commands Jeremiah to survey the land visually: 'Lift up thine eyes unto the high places' (śĕʾî-ʿênayiḵ ʿal-šĕp̄āyim, שְׂאִי־עֵינַיִךְ עַל־שְׁפָיִם). The 'high places' were elevated worship sites where Israel practiced syncretistic religion mixing Yahweh worship with Canaanite fertility rites. The rhetorical question 'where hast thou not been lien with?' uses šuggal (שֻׁגַּל), a crude term for ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Lift up thine eyes.**—The consciousness of guilt was, however, the only foundation of repentance, and the prophet’s work, therefore, in very tenderness, is to paint that guilt in the darkest colours possible. Still keeping to the parable of the faithless wife, he bids Israel, as such, to look to the “high places” that have witnessed her adulteries with those other lords for whom she had fors...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--**daughters" as the cities ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
Exhortations to repentance. (Jr 3:1-5) Judah more guilty than Israel. (Jr 3:6-11) But pardon is promised. (Jr 3:12-20) The children of Israel express their sorrow and repentance. (Jr 3:21-25)
**Verses 1-5** In repentance, it is good to think upon the sins of which we have been guilty, and the places and companies where they have been committed. How gently the Lord had corrected the...
Read full commentary →Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse describes covenant curses activated by Israel's unfaithfulness. 'Therefore the showers have been withholden' employs yimmānĕʿû rĕḇîḇîm (יִמָּנְעוּ רְבִבִים)—the seasonal rains essential for agriculture were withheld, fulfilling Deuteronomy 11:16-17 and 28:23-24. 'There hath been no latter rain' refers to spring rains (malqōš) needed for harvest maturity. The agricultural crisis should h...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Therefore the showers . . .**—Outward calamities were looked upon as chastisements for these sins. There had apparently been a severe drought in the reign of Josiah (Jeremiah 9:12; Jeremiah 25:1-6). There had been no showers in spring, no “latter rain” in autumn. So like calamities are described in Amos 4:7; Haggai 1:11; Joel 1:18-20. The influence of the newly-discovered book of Deuteronomy...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--**daughters" as the cities ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
Exhortations to repentance. (Jr 3:1-5) Judah more guilty than Israel. (Jr 3:6-11) But pardon is promised. (Jr 3:12-20) The children of Israel express their sorrow and repentance. (Jr 3:21-25)
**Verses 1-5** In repentance, it is good to think upon the sins of which we have been guilty, and the places and companies where they have been committed. How gently the Lord had corrected the...
Read full commentary →Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:4 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me . . .?**—Better, *Hast thou not from this time cried unto me . . .? *The prophet paints with a stern irony the parade of the surface repentance of Josiah’s reign. There had been a pathetic appeal to God as the forgiving husband of the faithless wife, but not the less had the wife returned to her wickedness.
**Guide.**—The same word as in Proverbs 2:17...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--**daughters" as the cities ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
Exhortations to repentance. (Jr 3:1-5) Judah more guilty than Israel. (Jr 3:6-11) But pardon is promised. (Jr 3:12-20) The children of Israel express their sorrow and repentance. (Jr 3:21-25)
**Verses 1-5** In repentance, it is good to think upon the sins of which we have been guilty, and the places and companies where they have been committed. How gently the Lord had corrected the...
Read full commentary →Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:5 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Will he reserve his anger for ever . . .**?—The questions were such as might well be asked in the first burst of sorrowing though superficial repentance. The implied answer was in the negative, “No, He will not keep His anger to the end.” Yet, so far, facts were against that yearning hope. It will be noted that the word “anger” is not in the Hebrew. It is, however, rightly inserted, after th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--**daughters" as the cities ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
Exhortations to repentance. (Jr 3:1-5) Judah more guilty than Israel. (Jr 3:6-11) But pardon is promised. (Jr 3:12-20) The children of Israel express their sorrow and repentance. (Jr 3:21-25)
**Verses 1-5** In repentance, it is good to think upon the sins of which we have been guilty, and the places and companies where they have been committed. How gently the Lord had corrected the...
Read full commentary →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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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:6 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(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...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--**daughters" as the cities ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11** If we mark the crimes of those who break off from a religious profession, and the consequences, we see abundant reason to shun evil ways. It is dreadful to be proved more criminal than those who have actually perished in their sins; yet it will be small comfort in everlasting punishment, for them to know that others were viler than they.
And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:7 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **And I said . . .**—The call to Israel to return had been slighted, and Judah, the *traitress *or faithless, “one with falsehood,” had not taken warning from the sin or its punishment.
**Turn thou unto me.—**The verb may be either the second or third person, *I said, thou shalt return; *or, *I said, she will return, *as expressing a hope rather than a direct return. The latter seems, on the w...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--**daughters" as the cities ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11** If we mark the crimes of those who break off from a religious profession, and the consequences, we see abundant reason to shun evil ways. It is dreadful to be proved more criminal than those who have actually perished in their sins; yet it will be small comfort in everlasting punishment, for them to know that others were viler than they.
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:8 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **And I saw, when for all the causes.**—Better, perhaps (following a conjectural emendation, which gives a much better sense), *And she saw that for all the causes. *The technical fulness of the words suggests the thought that they were actually the customary formula with which every writing of divorcement began, recapitulating the offences which were alleged by the husband against the wife. T...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--**daughters" as the cities ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11** If we mark the crimes of those who break off from a religious profession, and the consequences, we see abundant reason to shun evil ways. It is dreadful to be proved more criminal than those who have actually perished in their sins; yet it will be small comfort in everlasting punishment, for them to know that others were viler than they.
And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. lightness: or, fame
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:9 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **The lightness of her whoredom.**—Lightness in the ethical sense of “levity.” Apostasy was treated once more as if it had been a light thing (1Kings 16:31). The word is, however, very variously interpreted, and the meaning of “voice,” or “cry,” in the sense in which the “cry” of Sodom and Gomorrah was great (Genesis 18:20), seems more satisfactory. On “stones” and “stocks,” see Note on Jeremi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--**daughters" as the cities ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11** If we mark the crimes of those who break off from a religious profession, and the consequences, we see abundant reason to shun evil ways. It is dreadful to be proved more criminal than those who have actually perished in their sins; yet it will be small comfort in everlasting punishment, for them to know that others were viler than they.
And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. feignedly: Heb. in falsehood
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:10 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **And yet for all this . . .**—Judah was so far worse than Israel that there had been a simulated repentance, as in the reformations under Hezekiah and Josiah, but it was not with the whole heart and soul, but “feignedly,” or, more literally, *with a lie.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--**daughters" as the cities ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11** If we mark the crimes of those who break off from a religious profession, and the consequences, we see abundant reason to shun evil ways. It is dreadful to be proved more criminal than those who have actually perished in their sins; yet it will be small comfort in everlasting punishment, for them to know that others were viler than they.
And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:11 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Hath justified herself.**—Literally, *hath justified her soul, *has put in a better plea in her defence. The *renegade *was better than the *traitress. *Even open rebellion was better than hypocrisy, as the publicans and sinners in the Gospel story were better than the Pharisees (Matthew 21:31).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--**daughters" as the cities ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11** If we mark the crimes of those who break off from a religious profession, and the consequences, we see abundant reason to shun evil ways. It is dreadful to be proved more criminal than those who have actually perished in their sins; yet it will be small comfort in everlasting punishment, for them to know that others were viler than they.
Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:12 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Toward the north.**—The prophet utters his message as towards the far land of Assyria and the cities of the Medes to which the ten tribes of Israel had been carried away captive (2Kings 17:6; 2Kings 17:23). He had a word of glad tidings for the far-off exiles.
**Return, thou backsliding Israel.**—It is hard to reproduce the pathetic assonance of the original, “*Shubah, mashubah,”*—*turn bac...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--**daughters" as the cities ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-20** See God's readiness to pardon sin, and the blessings reserved for gospel times. These words were proclaimed toward the north; to Israel, the ten tribes, captive in Assyria. They are directed how to return. If we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive them. These promises are fully to come to pass in the bringing back the Jews in after-ages. God will graciously ...
Read full commentary →Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:13 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Only acknowledge . . .**—This was the one sufficient, indispensable condition of pardon—the confession that kept nothing back, and made no vain excuses.
**Hast scattered thy ways.**—The phrase is a strong one, *thou hast left traces of thy way everywhere, i.e., *hast gone this way and that in search of new and alien forms of worship. The “green tree” as before (Jeremiah 2:20) was the famili...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--**daughters" as the cities ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-20** See God's readiness to pardon sin, and the blessings reserved for gospel times. These words were proclaimed toward the north; to Israel, the ten tribes, captive in Assyria. They are directed how to return. If we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive them. These promises are fully to come to pass in the bringing back the Jews in after-ages. God will graciously ...
Read full commentary →Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:14 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Turn, O backsliding children.**—In his desire to individualise his call to repentance, the prophet drops his parable, or rather combines the sign and the thing signified, with the same assonance as before—*turn back, ye children who have turned away.*
**I am married unto you.**—The tender pity of Jehovah leads Him to offer pardon even to the adulterous wife. Jeremiah had learned, in all the...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-20** See God's readiness to pardon sin, and the blessings reserved for gospel times. These words were proclaimed toward the north; to Israel, the ten tribes, captive in Assyria. They are directed how to return. If we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive them. These promises are fully to come to pass in the bringing back the Jews in after-ages. God will graciously ...
Read full commentary →And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:15 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Pastors.**—As in Jeremiah 2:8, of kings and rulers, not of priests. Compare Jeremiah 23:1-5. The phrase “according to mine heart” brings David to our thoughts (1Samuel 13:14). There should be a return to the true pattern of the ideal ruler. In the “knowledge and understanding” we have an echo from Isaiah 11:1-4.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 33 Is 33:1-24. The Last of Isaiah's Prophecies as to Sennacherib's Overthrow.
Is 33:1, 8, 9, describe the Assyrian spoiler; strong as he is, he shall fall before Jehovah who is stronger (Is 33:2-6, 10-12). The time is the autumn of 713 B.C.
**1. and thou--**that is, though thou wast not spoiled--though thou wast not dealt treacherously with (see on Is 24:16), thy spoiling and treachery...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-20** See God's readiness to pardon sin, and the blessings reserved for gospel times. These words were proclaimed toward the north; to Israel, the ten tribes, captive in Assyria. They are directed how to return. If we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive them. These promises are fully to come to pass in the bringing back the Jews in after-ages. God will graciously ...
Read full commentary →And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. come to mind: Heb. come upon the heart that: or, it be magnified
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:16 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **In those days.**—No time had been named, but the phrase had become familiar for the far-off better time of the true king of the Messianic kingdom.
**They shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord.**—Noteworthy both for its exceeding boldness and as containing the germ, or more than the germ, of the great thought of the New Covenant developed in Jeremiah 31:31. The ark, the very...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. us; we ... their ... our--**He speaks interceding for His people, separating himself in thought for a moment from them, and immediately returns to his natural identification with them in the word "our."
**every morning--**each day as it dawns, especially during our danger, as the parallel "time of trouble" shows.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-20** See God's readiness to pardon sin, and the blessings reserved for gospel times. These words were proclaimed toward the north; to Israel, the ten tribes, captive in Assyria. They are directed how to return. If we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive them. These promises are fully to come to pass in the bringing back the Jews in after-ages. God will graciously ...
Read full commentary →At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. imagination: or, stubbornness
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:17 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **They shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord.**—Up to Jeremiah’s time that title, “the throne of God,” though the language of the Old Testament had referred it to the “heavens” (Psalm 11:4; Psalm 103:19), had probably been applied, in popular language, to the ark where the Lord “dwelt between the cherubim” (1Samuel 4:4; 2Kings 19:15). The prophet extends it to the whole city, in that fu...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. the tumult--**the approach of Jehovah is likened to an advancing thunderstorm (Is 29:6; 30:27), which is His voice (Re 1:15), causing the people to "flee."
**nation--**the Assyrian levies.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-20** See God's readiness to pardon sin, and the blessings reserved for gospel times. These words were proclaimed toward the north; to Israel, the ten tribes, captive in Assyria. They are directed how to return. If we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive them. These promises are fully to come to pass in the bringing back the Jews in after-ages. God will graciously ...
Read full commentary →In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. with: or, to given: or, caused your fathers to possess
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:18 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **In those days . . .**—As with Isaiah (Isaiah 11:13), so with Jeremiah, the hope, however distant, of national reformation was bound up with that of a restoration of national unity. The healing of the long-standing breach between Israel and Judah, coeval almost with the commencement of Israel as a people, was to be the glory of the Messiah’s kingdom.
**Out of the land of the north.**—The tho...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
4. The invaders' "spoil" shall be left behind by them in their flight, and the Jews shall gather it.
**caterpillar--**rather, "the wingless locust"; as it gathers; the Hebrew word for "gathers" is properly used of the gathering of the fruits of harvest (Is 32:10).
**running to and fro--**namely, in gathering harvest fruits.
**he--**rather, "they."
**them--**rather, "it," that is, the prey.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-20** See God's readiness to pardon sin, and the blessings reserved for gospel times. These words were proclaimed toward the north; to Israel, the ten tribes, captive in Assyria. They are directed how to return. If we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive them. These promises are fully to come to pass in the bringing back the Jews in after-ages. God will graciously ...
Read full commentary →But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. from me: Heb. from after me a goodly: Heb. an heritage of glory, or, beauty pleasant: Heb. land of desire
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:19 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **But I said.**—Better, *And I said. *There is no contrast with what precedes. The speaker is, of course, Jehovah. The *How shall I put thee! *is an exclamation rather than a question, the utterance of a promise as with an intensity of affirmation. Special stress is laid on the pronoun “I.” The words have been rendered by some commentators, following the Targum, *How shall I clothe thee with ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-20** See God's readiness to pardon sin, and the blessings reserved for gospel times. These words were proclaimed toward the north; to Israel, the ten tribes, captive in Assyria. They are directed how to return. If we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive them. These promises are fully to come to pass in the bringing back the Jews in after-ages. God will graciously ...
Read full commentary →Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. husband: Heb. friend
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:20 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **Surely as a wife . . .**—In the midst of the bright vision of the future there comes unbidden the thought of the dark present: the faithless wife is not yet restored to her true friend and husband. Her guilt must be again pressed home upon her, so as to lead her to repentance.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. wisdom--**sacred; that is, piety.
**thy--**Hezekiah's; or rather, "Judea's." "His" refers to the same; such changes from the pronoun possessive of the second person to that of the third are common in Hebrew poetry.
**treasure--**Not so much material wealth as piety shall constitute the riches of the nation (Pr 10:22; 15:16).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-20** See God's readiness to pardon sin, and the blessings reserved for gospel times. These words were proclaimed toward the north; to Israel, the ten tribes, captive in Assyria. They are directed how to return. If we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive them. These promises are fully to come to pass in the bringing back the Jews in after-ages. God will graciously ...
Read full commentary →A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:21 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **A voice was heard.**—Yes, the guilty wife was there, but she was also penitent. The “high places” which had been the scene of the guilt of the sons of Israel, where the cries of their orgiastic worship had been heard, now echoed with their weeping and supplication (or, more literally, *the weeping of suppliant prayers*)*, *as they called to mind the hateful sins of the past.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-9. From the vision of future glory Isaiah returns to the disastrous present; the grief of "the valiant ones" (parallel to, and identical with, "the ambassadors of peace"), men of rank, sent with presents to sue for peace, but standing "without" the enemy's camp, their suit being rejected (2Ki 18:14, 18, 37). The highways deserted through fear, the cities insulted, the lands devastated.
**cry--...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 21-25** Sin is turning aside to crooked ways. And forgetting the Lord our God is at the bottom of all sin. By sin we bring ourselves into trouble. The promise to those that return is, God will heal their backslidings, by his pardoning mercy, his quieting peace, and his renewing grace. They come devoting themselves to God. They come disclaiming all expectations of relief and succour from a...
Read full commentary →Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:22 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **Return, ye backsliding children . . .**—We lose, as before, the force of the Hebrew repetition of the same root, *Turn, ye children that have turned, I will heal your turnings. *As so often in Hebrew poetry, we have the answer to the invitation given in dramatic form, and hear the cry—we might almost call it the litany—of the suppliants, “Behold, we come unto thee.” They at last own Jehovah...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-9. From the vision of future glory Isaiah returns to the disastrous present; the grief of "the valiant ones" (parallel to, and identical with, "the ambassadors of peace"), men of rank, sent with presents to sue for peace, but standing "without" the enemy's camp, their suit being rejected (2Ki 18:14, 18, 37). The highways deserted through fear, the cities insulted, the lands devastated.
**cry--...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 21-25** Sin is turning aside to crooked ways. And forgetting the Lord our God is at the bottom of all sin. By sin we bring ourselves into trouble. The promise to those that return is, God will heal their backslidings, by his pardoning mercy, his quieting peace, and his renewing grace. They come devoting themselves to God. They come disclaiming all expectations of relief and succour from a...
Read full commentary →Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:23 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **Truly in vain . . .**—The italics show the difficulty of the verse, and represent an attempt to get over it. According to the senses given to the word translated “multitude” we get, *in vain *(literally, *as a lie*)* from the hills is the revelry *(as in Amos 5:23), or *the wealth, *or *the multitude, of the mountains. *The first gives the best meaning, and expresses the confession of the r...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-9. From the vision of future glory Isaiah returns to the disastrous present; the grief of "the valiant ones" (parallel to, and identical with, "the ambassadors of peace"), men of rank, sent with presents to sue for peace, but standing "without" the enemy's camp, their suit being rejected (2Ki 18:14, 18, 37). The highways deserted through fear, the cities insulted, the lands devastated.
**cry--...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 21-25** Sin is turning aside to crooked ways. And forgetting the Lord our God is at the bottom of all sin. By sin we bring ourselves into trouble. The promise to those that return is, God will heal their backslidings, by his pardoning mercy, his quieting peace, and his renewing grace. They come devoting themselves to God. They come disclaiming all expectations of relief and succour from a...
Read full commentary →For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:24 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **Shame.**—The Hebrew noun has the article, “*the *shame,” and is the word constantly used as the interchangeable synonym for Baal, as in Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth (Judges 6:32; 2Samuel 11:21), Mephibosheth and Merib-baal (2Samuel 4:4; 1Chronicles 8:34). The words point accordingly to the prodigal waste of victims, possibly of human life also, in the worship of Baal and that of Molech, which...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
10. The sight of His people's misery arouses Jehovah; He has let the enemy go far enough.
**I--**emphatic; God Himself will do what man could not.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 21-25** Sin is turning aside to crooked ways. And forgetting the Lord our God is at the bottom of all sin. By sin we bring ourselves into trouble. The promise to those that return is, God will heal their backslidings, by his pardoning mercy, his quieting peace, and his renewing grace. They come devoting themselves to God. They come disclaiming all expectations of relief and succour from a...
Read full commentary →We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.
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KJV Study Commentary
Detailed theological analysis of Jeremiah 3:25 with Hebrew word studies, doctrinal significance, and connections to broader biblical themes. This would reference original language terms, explain theological concepts, and show how the verse fits into redemptive history and points to Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **We lie down.**—Better, *We will lie down—Our confusion shall cover us. *The words are those of penitents accepting their punishment: “We chose the shameful thing, therefore let us bear our shame.”
**Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. Ye--**the enemy.
**conceive chaff--**(Is 26:18; 59:4).
**your breath--**rather, your own spirit of anger and ambition [Maurer], (Is 30:28).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 21-25** Sin is turning aside to crooked ways. And forgetting the Lord our God is at the bottom of all sin. By sin we bring ourselves into trouble. The promise to those that return is, God will heal their backslidings, by his pardoning mercy, his quieting peace, and his renewing grace. They come devoting themselves to God. They come disclaiming all expectations of relief and succour from a...
Read full commentary →