Jer 3:1 “If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers— would you now return to me?” declares the LORD.
Jer 3:2 “Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
Jer 3:3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.
Jer 3:4 Have you not just called to me: ‘My Father, my friend from my youth,
Jer 3:5 will you always be angry? Will your wrath continue forever?’ This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can.”
Faithless Israel Called to Repentance
Jer 3:6 During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there.
Jer 3:7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.
Jer 3:8 I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery.
Jer 3:9 Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood.
Jer 3:10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the LORD.
Jer 3:11 The LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah.
Jer 3:12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north: “‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will not be angry forever.
Jer 3:13 Only acknowledge your guilt— you have rebelled against the LORD your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,'” declares the LORD.
Jer 3:14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion.
Jer 3:15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.
Jer 3:16 In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the LORD, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made.
Jer 3:17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.
Jer 3:18 In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.
Jer 3:19 “I myself said, “‘How gladly would I treat you like my children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me.
Jer 3:20 But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,” declares the LORD.
Jer 3:21 A cry is heard on the barren heights, the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel, because they have perverted their ways and have forgotten the LORD their God.
Jer 3:22 “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” “Yes, we will come to you, for you are the LORD our God.
Jer 3:23 Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
Jer 3:24 From our youth shameful gods have consumed the fruits of our ancestors’ labor— their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
Jer 3:25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our ancestors; from our youth till this day we have not obeyed the LORD our God.”
1 God’s great mercy in Judah’s vile whoredom. 6 Judah is worse than Israel. 12 The promises of the gospel to the penitent. 20 Israel reproved, and called by God, makes a solemn confession of their sins.
Jer 3:1 “If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers— would you now return to me?” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah had the difficult task of convincing the people of his day that God could not take them back as His own until they experienced a deep change of heart.
Many lovers. Because Judah had been joined in solemn covenant relationship with God, her act of going after other gods was regarded as spiritual adultery. She was guilty not only of a single case of infidelity but of persistent and repeated wanderings after numerous gods. Before God could take these wanderers back there would have to be some evidence of a change on their part, and of seriousness of purpose.
Jer 3:2 “Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
Heights. The scenes of Judah’s spiritual adulteries (see 2 Kings 21:3; cf. Jer. 2:20).
By the roadside. Like a prostitute, to entice passers-by (see Gen. 38:14; Prov. 7:12; Eze. 16:24, 25).
Judah’s eagerness for the idolatrous rites of the nature cults is compared with that of a desert bandit who lies in wait to despoil a passing caravan.
Jer 3:3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.
3. Withheld. As God had predicted (see Lev. 26:19; see on Deut. 28:23, 24), drought had come as a result of their apostasy (see Jer. 14:1–6).
Latter rain. The latter rain fell in March and the beginning of April, and the early rain, in October and November (see on Deut. 11:14; Jer. 5:24; Joel 2:23). Both were essential for a successful harvest.
Look of a prostitute. It implies impudence, obstinacy, and shamelessness (Jer. 6:15; 8:12; cf. Rev. 17:5). Affliction had made no impression upon Judah.
Jer 3:4 Have you not just called to me: ‘My Father, my friend from my youth,
Just called to me? Probably a reference to Josiah’s reforms, which began in the 12th year of his reign and culminated in the great celebration of the Passover feast six years later (2 Chron. 34:3; 35:19). Even though the king was in earnest, the response of the people was largely lip service.
Jer 3:5 will you always be angry? Will your wrath continue forever?’ This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can.”
The people express their confidence that the anger of their divine Husband will pass despite their unfaithfulness.
You talk. A sharp contrast is drawn between Judah’s specious words and her idolatrous ways.
Faithless Israel Called to Repentance
Jer 3:6 During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there.
The Lord said. The prophet compares the attitudes of Judah toward idolatry with those of Israel. Judah was inclined to regard with contemptuous scorn the northern tribes, who had been carried captive by Assyria. Jeremiah points out that her guilt is, in fact, greater.
Reign of King Josiah. This would place the address in the early years of Jeremiah’s ministry. It may have been delivered soon after Josiah’s attempt to purge the land of idolatry and to restore the pure worship of the true God.
Have you seen? Israel had been carried captive about 100 years previously. “Seen” is here used in the sense of “considered.”
Jer 3:7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.
Turn thou. Perhaps better, “she will return.” The Heb. tashub may be translated either way, but inasmuch as the former translation assumes that the one addressed is masculine, and Judah is here clearly referred to in the feminine, it is more logical to adopt the latter translation.
Her unfaithful sister. Israel openly broke her connection with God, but Judah professed loyalty, at the same time acting deceitfully. The specious insincerity of Judah was worse in God’s sight than Israel’s open profaneness. To Israel’s faithlessness Judah added deceit and hypocrisy.
Jer 3:8 I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery.
Send her away. The repudiation of the northern kingdom and the loss of Israel’s national life came at the time of the Assyrian exile (2 Kings 17:6, 18).
Jer 3:9 Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood.
Judah attached no importance to her fornication.
Jer 3:10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretence,” declares the LORD.
All her heart. The reformation under Josiah (v. 6) was a mere outward turning to God. At heart the people still clung to their idols. After the king’s death they lapsed into open idolatry (2 Kings 23:31, 32; 2 Chron. 36:5–8).
Feignedly. Literally, “in falsehood,” or “in deception.” Judah acted a lie in her pretended reformation.
Jer 3:11 The LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah.
Hypocrisy was as offensive to God as open apostasy (PP 523). The fact that Judah possessed greater privileges heightened her guilt. Among Judah’s advantages were the following: (1) An unbroken succession of kings descended from the house of David. During all the years of her existence as a kingdom, but one dynasty ruled. As a result she was spared the political upheavals that plagued her northern neighbour.
(2) The presence within her boundaries of the Temple and the visible manifestation of God’s presence in the Temple.
(3) The presence within her boundaries of most of the priests and Levites, official representatives of the worship of God.
(4) The warning example of Israel’s downfall for a hundred years.
In the face of all these advantages Judah became faithless, hypocritical, and intolerably proud. “The greater the knowledge of God’s will, the greater the sin of those who disregard it” (PP 584).
Jer 3:12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north: “‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will not be angry forever.
North. Here, the northern provinces of the Assyrian Empire to which the ten tribes had been exiled (see 2 Kings 15:29; 17:6; 18:11; Jer. 16:15; 23:8; 31:8). The exiles were invited to repent and return.
Return, faithless Israel. There is a play on words in the Hebrew, the word for “return” being shubah, and the word for backsliding, meshubah. The command is literally, “turn back, O backturning Israel” ( The appeal to Israel was doubtless to excite Judah to godly jealousy and repentance (see Rom. 11:14).
Jer 3:13 Only acknowledge your guilt— you have rebelled against the LORD your God, you have scattered your favours to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,'” declares the LORD.
Acknowledge your guilt. Repentance and acknowledgment of sin are prerequisites to pardon. Men must courageously face their own sins and frankly recognize them (see Ps. 51:3; Isa. 59:12; Jer. 14:20). Nothing must be kept back and there must be no vain excuses (see on Prov. 28:13).
Jer 3:14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion.
One of a town. The truly penitent would constitute but a small remnant. Men would be dealt with as individuals. Two were to be taken from a “clan,” whereas only “one” from a town. (see Gen. 10:5; 12:3; cf. 22:18). It should be noted that the word for “town” may denote a unit of any size, from a village to a large city.
Jer 3:15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.
According to mine own heart. David was called a man after God’s heart (1 Sam. 13:14; Ps. 89:20; Acts 13:22). The God-selected shepherds are contrasted with Israel’s kings, appointed, not by God, but according to the nation’s desires (see Hosea 8:4). These kings had led the nation to apostasy and ruin.
Jer 3:16 In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the LORD, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made.
The ark of the covenant. The ark was the symbol of the abiding presence of the Lord. As such it was an object of great reverence. Over its mercy seat was revealed the glory of the Shekinah, the visible symbol of the presence of the most high God.
It was the centre of ancient Israel’s symbolic service. Jeremiah predicted the coming of the time when God would set up His abode upon the earth. God’s actual presence would make the symbol of His presence obsolete. Glorious would have been the experiences of ancient Israel had the people accepted God’s plan for them.
Jer 3:17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honour the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.
If Israel had heeded the light from Heaven, Jerusalem would have been established as “the mighty metropolis of the earth” (DA 577; see p. 30).
Jer 3:18 In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.
The enmity that had existed between them for so long would be taken away and both would turn to God (see Jer. 30:3, 10, 11; 31:31–33; 50:4, 5).
Come from the northern land. The lands of the captivity, Assyria (see on v. 12) and Babylonia (see on ch. 1:14; cf. chs. 16:15; 23:8). After this phrase the LXX has “and from all the countries” (cf. ch. 32:37).
Jer 3:19 “I myself said, “‘How gladly would I treat you like my children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me.
Jer 3:20 But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,” declares the LORD.
Jer 3:21 A cry is heard on the barren heights, the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel, because they have perverted their ways and have forgotten the LORD their God.
In a sudden and dramatic transition (vs. 21–25) the prophet portrays his people as in heartfelt repentance and penitential confessions.
The very places that had been the scenes of licentious idolatry are pictured as echoing the cry of weeping and supplication (see ch. 7:29). According to Eastern custom, lofty or prominent places were often chosen for public lamentation (see Judges 11:37; Isa. 15:2).
Jer 3:22 “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” “Yes, we will come to you, for you are the LORD our God.
22. Return, ye backsliding. See on v. 12; cf. v. 14. The word for “turn” (v. 14) is the same as the one here translated “return.”
The Lord gave them “the very words with which they might turn to Him” (PK 410).
Jer 3:23 Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
The general thought is clear. A sharp contrast is drawn between the delusive, worthless orgies of idol worship and the security of the worship of God.
Jer 3:24 From our youth shameful gods have consumed the fruits of our ancestors’ labor— their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
Consumed. Some commentators refer this to the large numbers of sheep and cattle that were sacrificed to heathen deities and to the children burned as a sacrifice to Molech, the fiery god of Ammon (Ps. 106:38; Jer. 7:31). It seems more likely that the general ruin resulting from Israel’s apostasy is here referred to.
Jer 3:25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our ancestors; from our youth till this day we have not obeyed the LORD our God.” The Lord desired a complete acknowledgment of sin and an acceptance of the chastisement without any excuses being offered or any palliating circumstances being solicited. A man in pain and grief frequently throws himself on the ground or on a couch (see 2 Sam. 12:16; 13:31; 1 Kings 21:4) to give way to the overwhelming emotions that crush him.