Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 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.
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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?
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 3:6-11
Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
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.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The Lord said also, or again; showing that here begins a new sermon, in which the prophet from God,
1. Declares Israels apostacy, and how it fared with them for it.
2. Aggravates Judahs 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 Solomons defection, 1Ki 11:4, &c., which may now come in remembrance.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. Jer3:6-6:30, is a new discourse, delivered in Josiah’s reign. Itconsists of two parts, the former extending to Jer4:3, in which he warns Judah from the example of Israel’s doom,and yet promises Israel final restoration; the latter a threat ofBabylonian invasion; as Nabopolassar founded the Babylonian empire,625 B.C., the seventeenthof Josiah, this prophecy is perhaps not earlier than that date(Jer 4:5; Jer 5:14;Jer 6:1; Jer 22:1-30);and probably not later than the second thorough reformation in theeighteenth year of the same reign.
backslidingliterally,”apostasy”; not merely apostate, but apostasyitself, the essence of it (Jer 3:14;Jer 3:22).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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:
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.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Israel’s backsliding and rejection a warning for Judah. – Jer 3:6. “ And Jahveh spake to me in the days of King Josiah, Hast thou seen what the backsliding one, Israel, hath done? she went up on every high mountain, and under every green tree, and played the harlot there. Jer 3:7. And I thought: After she hath done all this, she will return to me; but she returned not. And the faithless one, her sister Judah, saw it. Jer 3:8. And I saw that, because the backsliding one, Israel, had committed adultery, and I had put her away, and had given her a bill of divorce, yet the faithless one, Judah, her sister, feared not even on this account, and went and played the harlot also. Jer 3:9. And it befell that for the noise of her whoredom the land was defiled, and she committed adultery with stone and wood. Jer 3:10. And yet with all this, the faithless one, her sister Judah, turned not to me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, saith Jahveh.” The thought of these verses is this: notwithstanding that Judah has before its eyes the lot which Israel (of the ten tribes) has brought on itself by its obdurate apostasy from the covenant God, it will not be moved to true fear of God and real repentance. Viewing idolatry as spiritual whoredom, the prophet developes that train of thought by representing the two kingdoms as two adulterous sisters, calling the inhabitants of the ten tribes , the backsliding, those of Judah , the faithless. On these names Venema well remarks: “ Sorores propter unam eandemque stirpem, unde uterque populus fuit, et arctam ad se invicem relationem appellantur. Utraque fuit adultera propter idololatriam et faederis violationem; sed Israel vocatur uxor aversa; Juda vero perfida, quia Israel non tantum religionis sed et regni et civitatis respectu, adeoque palam erat a Deo alienata, Juda vero Deo et sedi regni ac religionis adfixa, sed nihilominus a Deo et cultu ejus defecerat, et sub externa specie populi Dei faedus ejus fregerat, quo ipso gravius peccaverat .” This representation Ezekiel has in Jer 23 expanded into an elaborate allegory. The epithets and or (Jer 3:11) are coined into proper names. This is shown by their being set without articles before the names; as mere epithets they would stand after the substantives and have the article, since Israel and Judah as being nomm. propr . are definite ideas. is elsewhere an abstract substantive: apostasy, defection (Jer 8:5; Hos 11:7, etc.), here concrete, the apostate, so-called for her many , Jer 3:22 and Jer 2:19. , the faithless, used of perfidious forsaking of a husband; cf. Jer 3:20, Mal 2:14. , going was she, expressing continuance. Cf. the same statement in Jer 2:20. , 3rd pers. fem., is an Aramaizing form for or ; cf. Isa 53:10.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Idolatries of Israel; The Treachery of Judah. | B. C. 620. |
6 The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. 7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. 11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
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? v. 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 (v. 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 (v. 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 (v. 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.
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, v. 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, 2 Kings xxiii. 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 (2Ch 34:32; 2Ch 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 (2 Kings xxiii. 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 (v. 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 (ch. xxiii. 11) makes the same comparison between Jerusalem and Samaria that this prophet here makes between Judah and Israel, nay, and (Ezek. xvi. 48) between Jerusalem and Sodom, and Jerusalem is made the worst of the three.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Vs. 6-10 A COMPARISON OF TWO ADULTEROUS WOMEN
1. This section is specifically dated “in the days of Josiah the king,” (vs. 6a).
2. God calls the attention of Jeremiah to Israel (the northern kingdom) as the very personification of apostasy, (comp. vs. 8, 11-12; Jer 7:24).
a. He characterizes her idolatry as “playing the harlot,” (vs. 6b; comp. Jer 17:2; Eze 23:1-10).
b. In spite of this, the Lord pleaded with her to return to Him with her whole heart; but she did not choose to obey, (vs. 7a).
c. Because of her persistent apostasy (her adulterous actions), God is said to have put her away and given her a bill of divorcement – in the sense that He delivered her up to the discipline of captivity in Assyria, (vs. 8; Deu 24:1).
1) It should be understood, however, that this was NOT God’s desire; it was the fruit of her own doing (vs. 20), and only a temporary arrangement.
2) A blessed reconciliation will yet be realized! 3. Judah, on the other hand, is the very personification ‘of FAITHLESSNESS (treachery) – exhibiting the disobedience of inexcusable unbelief, (vs. 7). , 4. Though she saw what judgment God brought upon her sister
(Israel), Judah did not so take it to heart as to reverence Jehovah.
a. It is true that she did PRETEND to turn to the Lord – under the reforms of both Hezekiah and Josiah; but it was sheer hypocrisy, (vs. 10b; comp. Jer 12:2; Hos 7:14).
b. In reality, she “played the harlot” – bestowing her love upon gods of wood and stone with such light-hearted abandon as polluted the whole land! (vs. 9; comp. Jer 2:7 b).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
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.
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 , m e sh i be, 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. (77) 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.
(77) It is correctly rendered as a noun, for had it been an adjective or a participle, it would have followed the word Israel. Literally it is, “the apostates,” —
Hast thou seen what she did, the apostates Israel?
Or, it may be rendered, “the backslider Israel,” though the word is deficient, having no feminine termination. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
B. The Need for Repentance Jer. 3:6-10
TRANSLATION
(6) And the LORD said unto me in the days of Josiah the king: Have You seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She continuously goes upon every high mountain and under every green tree and you commit harlotry there. (7) And I said, After she has done all these things, she will return unto Me; but she did not return. And the faithless one, her sister Judah, saw it. (8) And I saw, when, because of the fact that Backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I put her away and gave a writing of divorcement unto her, yet the Treacherous One, Judah her sister, did not fear but she went and committed harlotry. (9) And it came to pass that because of the lightness of her harlotry she polluted the land and she committed adultery with stones and stocks. (10) And even in all of this her treacherous sister Judah did not return unto Me with all her heart, but deceitfully (oracle of the LORD).
COMMENTS
The need for repentance in Judah was made manifest by what had happened in the northern kingdom of Israel. Israel was Backsliding personified. Throughout her history Israel had recklessly pursued the false gods upon every prominent noll where they would feel closer to the deities and under every green tree which would furnish welcome shade for the practice of their lustful desires. The last clause of verse six is actually in the second person though this has been obscured in the standard English translations: and you commit harlotry there. This is either a parenthetical direct address to the northern tribes which are presently in exile or else the prophet points to his hearers and declares you too have engaged in such licentious acts.
Through the two hundred years of the history of the northern kingdom God waited patiently for His foolhardy people to tire of roving from Him. God is not willing that any should perish. He was hopeful, even anxious, that wayward Israel would return to Him. But if God knows the future did He not know Israel would refuse to repent? Jeremiah does not bother to deal with this question. He has no interest in working out a systematic theology. He is not concerned with questions of omniscience and foreknowledge in this passage. Jeremiah is not attempting to be a logician but an artist. He is painting a picture of a loving and gracious God on the one hand and a stubborn and rebellious people on the other. Judah saw what transpired in the north and yet refused to profit from that experience (Jer. 3:7). Even when God divorced His adulterous wife Israel by sending her into Assyrian captivity Judah did not fear but continued in her own harlotry (Jer. 3:8). Apostasy in Judah was regarded rather lightly and consequently the land was polluted. Judah forsook her Bridegroom and committed adultery with gods of wood and stone (Jer. 3:9). The wickedness of idolatry is only exceeded by the folly of it. Like an adulterous wife who promises to be faithful to her husband while at the same time perpetuating liaison with her lover, so Judah deceitfully pledged herself to the Lord. The Treacherous One had not returned to the Lord with her whole heart. Some scholars think that in Jer. 3:10 Jeremiah is giving his assessment of the reformation of Josiah, that it was not sincere but hypocritical. It is not certain, of course, that this paragraph should be dated after the reform.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(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 taughtthe same imagery being continued that had begun in the first discoursethat 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.
She is gone up.Better, she goes, i.e., is going continually.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
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.
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.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
YHWH Calls On Judah To Consider what Had Happened To Israel, Her Northern Neighbour, When She Had Failed To Turn Back To Him, Something That Judah Is Also Failing To Do ( Jer 3:6-11 ).
YHWH here refers Judah back to consideration of the behaviour of Israel, her erstwhile northern neighbour whose land had been devastated and had by now been taken over by strangers. Because backsliding Israel had herself ‘played the harlot’ on every high hill and every green tree, and had subsequently refused to turn back to YHWH, she had been punished and sent into exile. This was now intended to be an object lesson to ‘treacherous Judah’. For it was YHWH Who had given Israel a bill of divorce which had resulted in her exile among the nations. And yet even now it appeared that Judah had not learned her lesson and was demonstrating by her behaviour that Israel had been more righteous than ‘treacherous Judah’, in that, while following in the ways of Israel, Judah was feigning a response to YHWH that was not genuine. This will then later lead on to the question as to what that would mean for Judah (Jer 4:3 ff.), but first the issue must be pressed home, accompanied by a remarkable promise of future hope.
Jer 3:6
‘Moreover YHWH said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She went up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there she played the harlot.”
During the days when Josiah the king was on the throne YHWH, with a view to giving a message to Judah, asked Jeremiah whether he had noted what backsliding Israel had done. She had gone up on every high hill and under every green tree where she had ‘played the harlot’. (Compare Jer 2:20 where the same was then true of Judah). In other words the whole of Israel, apart from the few who had heeded the teaching of the prophets like Hosea and Amos, had been following idolatrous practises.
Jer 3:7
“And I said after she had done all these things, ‘She will return to me’, but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.’
But YHWH then informed Jeremiah (speaking anthropomorphically) that He had consoled Himself with the thought that Israel would eventually realise their folly and return to Him. Once they had sated themselves with these things surely they would return! But the truth had turned out to be that they did not return. And not only did they not return but the fact was observed by their treacherous sister Judah (many of whom probably visited the shrines at Bethel and Gilgal for the syncretistic feasts). The description of Judah as ‘treacherous’ (it will be repeated three times) indicates that what He is now saying is really aimed at Judah.
Jer 3:8
“And I saw, when, for the very reason that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet treacherous Judah her sister did not fear, but she also went and played the harlot.”
But although Judah had observed what Israel had done in committing adultery against YHWH, and had noted that as a result YHWH had given to Israel a certificate of divorce (sending her into exile), ‘treacherous Judah’ did not learn from it and become faithful to YHWH, but instead, she also went and ‘played the harlot’. She too committed adultery against YHWH.
Jer 3:9
“And it came about that through the lightness of her whoredom (i.e. Israel’s casual attitude towards her whoredom), the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with trees.’
The result of Israel’s light-hearted attitude towards her ‘whoredom’ (that is, to her seeking to Baal and Asherah through ritual sexual misbehaviour) was that the land was polluted, and ‘she committed adultery with stones and trees’. The reference is seemingly to the fact that the sacred prostitutes with whom they mated represented Baal and Asherah who in turn were represented by stone pillars and wooden images.
Jer 3:10
“And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not returned to me with her whole heart, but feignedly (in pretence),” the word of YHWH (neum YHWH).’
And yet even with this vivid example before her, treacherous sister Judah also did not genuinely return to YHWH, but only pretended to do so – and this was stated to be so on ‘the word of YHWH’ (neum YHWH).
Jer 3:11
‘And YHWH said to me, “Backsliding Israel has showed herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.”
Consequently YHWH sums up the situation by declaring that ‘backsliding Israel had showed herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah’. Better an honest sinner than a hypocrite! And Judah’s failure was made all the worse because they had already had the warning which Israel’s fate should have brought home to them, and because they had experienced the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem in the time of Hezekiah.. Note the threefold description of Judah as ‘treacherous’ demonstrating the completeness of her treachery.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Israel Is Held Up As An Example To Judah, Both Of Faithlessness And Of Hope For The Future ( Jer 3:6 to Jer 4:2 ).
Because of what they had done Israel were in exile, and were ashamed of their ways, but if only they would turn to Him in their exile they would be restored. For them there was hope. It was very different with ‘treacherous Judah’. They were without shame and without repentance.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Subsection 2). YHWH’s Solemn Warning To Judah In The Days Of Josiah ( Jer 3:6 to Jer 6:30 ).
This section can be divided into four parts:
Jer 3:6 to Jer 4:2. Israel is held up as an example to Judah, both of faithlessness and of hope for the future. For because of what they had done Israel were in exile, and were ashamed of their ways, but if only they would turn to Him in their exile they would be restored. For them there was hope. It was very different with ‘treacherous Judah’. They were without shame and without repentance.
Jer 4:3-31. YHWH warns Judah that if they will not repent invasion by a fierce adversary is threatening and will undoubtedly come because of their sins, something which calls to mind the vision of a world returned to its original unformed condition, and a nation in anguish.
Jer 5:1-31. YHWH presents the reasons why the invasion is necessary. It is because there are no righteous people in Jerusalem, and they are full of adultery (both spiritual and physical), and have grown fat and sleek, whilst they also appear to be unaware of Who He is, and their prophets and priests are untrustworthy.
Jer 6:1-30. YHWH stresses the imminence of the invasion which will be violent and complete, because He has rejected His people.
YHWH now gives a solemn warning to Judah based on what had happened to the northern tribes (‘the ten tribes’) as a result of their behaviour towards YHWH, thereby facing Judah up to the certainty of coming judgment if they do not amend their ways, a judgment that would come in the form of a ravaged land and exile for its people (Jer 3:6 to Jer 6:30). Included, however, within this warning, almost as an appetiser, is a brief glimpse of the everlasting kingdom, which was being offered to Israel, when YHWH will be seated on His throne, and all His people will look to Him as Father (Jer 3:12-18). Like Hosea, Isaiah, and other prophets before him Jeremiah balances his message of doom with promises of future blessing. Whatever Israel and Judah did, he knew that God’s purposes would not fail in the end.
In the words found in Jer 3:6 to Jer 6:30 we have now come to the only passage in chapters 1-20 which is specifically said to have been a revelation given, at least in part, during the days of a particular king, and in this case it is in the days of King Josiah. This is probably intended to underline the fact that Jeremiah’s early teaching, while giving an overall coverage, includes words spoken during that reign, and it is thus of prime importance as continually stressing that even during Josiah’s reign things were not well in Judah.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Call to Return
v. 6. The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah, the king, v. 7. And I said after she had done all these things, 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, v. 9. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, v. 10. And yet for all this, v. 11. And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah, v. 12. Go and proclaim these words toward the North, v. 13. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, v. 14. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you, v. 15. and I will give you pastors, v. 16. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, v. 17. At that time, v. 18. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, v. 19. But I said, v. 20. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, v. 21. A voice was heard upon the high places, v. 22. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. And they, v. 23. Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills and from the multitude of mountains, v. 24. For shame hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, v. 25. We lie down in our shame,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Jer 3:6. The Lord said also unto me A new discourse begins at this verse. Jeremiah having convinced the Jews of their infidelity, idolatry, and all sorts of corruption, in the way of pleading, from the second chapter to the present verse; here the Lord, as judge, pronounces the sentence, and exhorts the Jews again to return to him. All this passed in the 18th year of Josiah, when the Jews were again plunged into the greatest irregularities. Backsliding Israel, means the ten tribes. See Calmet.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
It should seem, that this is the opening of a new sermon; perhaps it was preached at a different period from the former: but the subject is the same. A sad account is given of both kingdoms, Judah and Jerusalem. The Reader will not fail to recollect, that the division of the nation continued as it had long been, at this time, when the Prophet Jeremiah exercised his ministry. Ten tribes had revolted from the house of David, and became formed into a separate kingdom. But in one point they both agreed: namely, in their rebellion against God. How graciously the Lord takes occasion from the treachery of the one, and the backsliding of the other, to recommend the exceeding riches of his love and forbearance. The figure of a divorce is uncommonly striking, and it should seem, that the Lord was pleased with it, both to represent his love and union with our nature; and the incorrigible hardness and insensibility of the human heart. Hosea that had been prophesying to the Church some ages before, dwelt very largely in representing Israel’s unworthiness, under the same figure . Hos 1 ; Hos 2 ; Hos 3 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
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.
She is gone up upon every high mountain,
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 3:6-10
6Then the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. 7I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. 9Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception, declares the LORD.
Jer 3:6 Then the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king This surely dates the poem and by implication the surrounding strophes.
For the reign of King Josiah see Special Topic: Kings of the Divided Monarchy .
Israel These are the northern ten tribes (see Special Topic at Jer 2:3). Jer 3:7-8; Jer 3:10-11 show that in light of Israel’s sin, Judah should have learned, but she did not, and even copied her sister’s sins (cf. Eze 16:44-52; Ezekiel 23).
on every high hill and under every green tree This was the site for Ba’al worship (see Special Topic: Fertility Worship of the Ancient Near East ).
Jer 3:7 Judah These are the southern three tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. Most of the Levites and priests also stayed with the southern tribes.
she will return to Me The word return (BDB 996, KB 1427) is the Hebrew concept of repentance (see Special Topic: Repentance in the Old Testament ). It is used several times in this chapter (cf. Jer 3:1 [twice], 7 [twice], 10, 12,14, 19, 22). The OT, as the NT, is a conditional covenant as it relates to human choices, but an unconditional covenant as to YHWH’s plan to redeem those individuals who will turn to Him by repentance and faith (cf. Mar 1:15; Act 3:16; Act 3:19; Act 20:21).
SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT
Jer 3:8
NASB, NKJVI saw. . .
TEVJudah also saw. . .
NRSVShe also saw. . .
NJB, REBShe saw
JPSOAI noted:
The MT has and I saw (), but the DSS and the Syriac versions have she saw (). The UBS Text Project gives the MT a B rating (some doubt).
The next line of the verse describes YHWH’s actions in light of Israel’s response.
I had sent her away This seems to be linking the Assyrian exile (i.e., 722 B.C.) with the metaphor of divorce (send away, BDB 1018, KB 1511, cf. Deu 22:19; Deu 22:29; Deu 24:1; Deu 24:3; Jer 3:1).
writ of divorce This was a legal document first discussed in Deu 24:1-4.
1. involved some legal procedures which took some time so that the couple could work out their differences if possible
2. another person had to be involved (i.e., a Levite)
3. involved the restitution of the dowry to the wife or her family
4. allowed the vulnerable woman to remarry and be a functioning member of that society
Jer 3:9
NASBthe lightness of her harlotry
NKJVher casual harlotry
NRSVher shameless whoring
TEVwas not at all ashamed
NJBshe took her whoredom so lightly
JPSOAher casual immorality
REBher casual prostitution
LXXher whoredom came to nothing
The key word is so light (, BDB 887, KB 1101 I), found only here. BDB suggests lightness or frivolity.
stones and trees This is a reference to the male Canaanite deity, Ba’al, and the female Canaanite deity, Asherah (cf. Jer 2:27, see Special Topic: Fertility Worship of the Ancient Near East ).
Jer 3:10 Judah did not return to Me with all her heart This may be a reference to the reforms of Hezekiah or Josiah. The reforms of these godly kings were only superficially accepted by the populous.
For returned see the Special Topic at Jer 2:22. For heart see Special Topic: Heart .
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Jer 3:6-25; Jer 4:1-4 is Jeremiah’s Fifth prophecy. (see Book comments for Jeremiah).
in the days of Josiah. This must be noted to understand the context.
Israel. Here refers to the Northern Kingdom. In Jeremiah it usually refers to the whole nation.
mountain . . . tree. Compare Jer 2:20, and Hos 4:13.
played the harlot. The whole of this refers to idolatry, chiefly because of the uncleanness connected with the phallic worship of the Canaanitish nations.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Let us read part of the 3rd chapter of Jeremiah where God brings a solemn accusation against the two nations of Israel and Judah because they forsook the living God, and went after idols neglected his pure and holy worship, and followed after the abominable rites of the heathen.
Jer 3:6-7. 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. And I said after she had done all these things. Turn thou unto me.
Depth of mercy that God should bid such a polluted one return to him. Yet I said, after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me.
Jer 3:7-8. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 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.
Some cannot be kept back from sin by the punishment of others, but they run into the fire in which others have been burnt, and so they aggravate their sin.
Jer 3:9. And it came to pas through the lightness of her whoredom that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
That is to say, she gave her heart to false gods, and worshipped stones and stocks. And how it must anger the living God to see men turn away from him to worship blocks of wood and stone, instead of him and especially a people who have been instructed concerning the living God, and so commit the grossest act of disloyalty to him, and be rebellious to the lot degree.
Jer 3:10-11. And for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
The one sinned openly and persevered in it. The other pretended to repent and did not, and that pretended repentance was more hateful in the sight of God than even the daring and open sin of Israel. What next?
Jer 3:12. Go and proclaim these words towards 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.
The offense was foul. It is such a one as stabs at the heart of mans honour. It is an offense which a man will scarcely ever forgive, But God bids his wandering Israel come back, and proclaims mercy free mercy even to such gross transgressors.
Jer 3:13. Only acknowledge thine iniquity,
It is all he asks thee to do. Confess that thou host done wrong. Only acknowledge thine iniquity.
Jer 3:13. That thou halt 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,
It was under the trees that they set up their altars to worship their false gods; so that they turned the graves, which should be full of beauty and sweet with song, into the places of idolatry, whereby God was provoked. But he says, Only confess it. Come and lament it. Own that you have been guilty, and I will put away the sin.
Jer 3:14-16. 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: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. 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.
Evangelical repentance, when it brings pardon with it, usually puts a slight upon mere legal ceremonies. We need not the symbol when we get the substance. We need no ark of the covenant nor holy place at Jerusalem when once the Lord appear in plenteous grace to put away our sin.
Jer 3:17-18. 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. In those days, the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel,
Nothing unites people like the grace of God. Two men that have been pardoned by the same Saviour ought to love one another, and they will.
Jer 3:18-19. And they shall come together out of the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. But I said,
After all this mercy, he seems to come to a pause, But I said
Jer 3:19. How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations?
Is it possible? Can it be done? These harlot nations that have defiled and polluted themselves with unutterable filthiness can they be put among the children the children of God?
Jer 3:19-22. And I said, Thou shalt call me, My father and shalt not turn away from me. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. 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. Return ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.
Do you hear it? Do you hear Gods promise? Do you hear his command? Return, ye backsliding children. I will heal your backslidings. Now for the answer. God grant that it may well up in your hearts.
Jer 3:22-23. Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the LORD our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains:
We leave all false confidences. We forsake our earthly joys.
Jer 3:23-24. Truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel. For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
They have not profited by worshipping idols. They have suffered through it.
Jer 3:25. We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.
There you see the repentance which the Lord commanded at his peoples hands, and wherever there is such a repentance as that there are sure to be acceptance and salvation. God grant us that repentance, and save us for his mercys sake.
This exposition consisted of readings from Jer 3:6-25; Jer 4:1-29.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Jer 3:6-10
Jer 3:6-10
“Moreover Jehovah said 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. And I said after she had done all these things, She will return unto me; but she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly.”
We have already noted the nature of the harlotry and whoredom of God’s people, and there is no need to elaborate it here. Notice the fourfold reiteration of the appellation `treacherous’ as applied to Judah in Jer 3:7-8; Jer 3:10-11.
The aggravated nature of Judah’s sin is seen in this: “Israel had openly broken the political and religious connection with Jehovah; but Judah nominally retained both; but her heart was toward the false gods.” The idea here is that, “Judah did not profit by the experience of the Northern Kingdom and is therefore more guilty.
“The lightness of her whoredom …” (Jer 3:9). This is a reference to the casual, carefree attitude of Judah with regard to their shameful conduct.
“But feignedly …” (Jer 3:10). It seems to us that this could not apply to anything else besides the reforms sponsored and executed by the good king Josiah. The reason why those reforms had little or no effect upon the ultimate fate of Judah is found in these two words right here. They publicly went along with all the reforms; but, at heart, they still adored and worshipped their beloved fertility gods of the Baalim.
Jer 3:6 has the words, “Hast thou seen … backsliding Israel?” Cook tells us that in the Hebrew here, “The original is very strong: Hast thou seen Apostasy? It is the same as if the Holy Spirit said that, “Israel is the very personification of the denial of God and rebellion against him.”
The need for repentance in Judah was made manifest by what had happened in the northern kingdom of Israel. Israel was Backsliding personified. Throughout her history Israel had recklessly pursued the false gods upon every prominent noll where they would feel closer to the deities and under every green tree which would furnish welcome shade for the practice of their lustful desires. The last clause of verse six is actually in the second person though this has been obscured in the standard English translations: and you commit harlotry there. This is either a parenthetical direct address to the northern tribes which are presently in exile or else the prophet points to his hearers and declares you too have engaged in such licentious acts.
Through the two hundred years of the history of the northern kingdom God waited patiently for His foolhardy people to tire of roving from Him. God is not willing that any should perish. He was hopeful, even anxious, that wayward Israel would return to Him. But if God knows the future did He not know Israel would refuse to repent? Jeremiah does not bother to deal with this question. He has no interest in working out a systematic theology. He is not concerned with questions of omniscience and foreknowledge in this passage. Jeremiah is not attempting to be a logician but an artist. He is painting a picture of a loving and gracious God on the one hand and a stubborn and rebellious people on the other. Judah saw what transpired in the north and yet refused to profit from that experience (Jer 3:7). Even when God divorced His adulterous wife Israel by sending her into Assyrian captivity Judah did not fear but continued in her own harlotry (Jer 3:8). Apostasy in Judah was regarded rather lightly and consequently the land was polluted. Judah forsook her Bridegroom and committed adultery with gods of wood and stone (Jer 3:9). The wickedness of idolatry is only exceeded by the folly of it. Like an adulterous wife who promises to be faithful to her husband while at the same time perpetuating liaison with her lover, so Judah deceitfully pledged herself to the Lord. The Treacherous One had not returned to the Lord with her whole heart. Some scholars think that in Jer 3:10 Jeremiah is giving his assessment of the reformation of Josiah, that it was not sincere but hypocritical. It is not certain, of course, that this paragraph should be dated after the reform.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
CHAPTER THREE
FUTURE GLORY CONDITIONED ON REPENTANCE
(Chaps. 3:6-6:30)
The next prophecy is a more extensive one, going on to the end of the sixth chapter, and was uttered during the reign of the pious king Josiah (Jer 3:6); but at what particular time we are not told.
The details of the departure from GOD of both the northern and southern kingdoms (the former one already in captivity) are here more fully gone into; but there are interspersed precious promises of restoration and blessing upon their repentance which the goodness of GOD will yet lead them to, though it be through deepest tribulation.
“Backsliding Israel” had openly revolted from the Lord from the day that Jeroboam’s golden calves were set up. GOD’s center was disowned and His Word (see especially Deuteronomy 12) despised. It is an oft-noted fact that of only one of their kings do we find it said that he sought the Lord, and then only when pressed by the Syrian invasion (2Ki 13:4-5); on which occasion, as in the period of the Judges (to which they had practically returned, for “every man did that which was right in his own eyes”) (Jdg 17:6, Jdg 21:25), “The Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as beforetime.” (2Ki 13:5)
But though GOD was gracious, responding to the feeblest evidence of felt need, the people were unchanged: “They departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam . . . and there remained the grove also in Samaria.” (2Ki 13:6)
This was but one instance of the many in which He said, “Turn thou unto Me,” but she returned not. Finally, as an adulterous wife, she was put away when the ten tribes were carried to Assyria (Jer 3:6-7).
“Her treacherous sister Judah’s” case (Jer 3:7), however, was quite different.
She had, as a rule, professed obedience to the Lord. At least open idolatry had not always characterized her. Backsliding was not so much her continual sin as treachery. A strict attention to the outward ordinances of the temple worship, but the heart going after the filthiness of the nations, was generally her course; as it had been even in the days of Solomon – who built the house of the Lord, and erected altars to the gods of his heathen wives!
This is what markedly characterizes much of what is called Christendom to-day.
There is talk of devotedness to the Lord, a prating of loyalty to CHRIST; but alas, alas, how little is known of separation from that which dishonors Him!
In fact, the position of Jeremiah in this book must be very much that of the man today who would stand for CHRIST and walk in the truth. Judah had, after all, but copied Israel, though not always so openly. “Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto Me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord” (Jer 3:10).
The king, and many more associated with him in the revival that was then beginning, were doubtless real; but there were not wanting those, as Ananias and Sapphira in the early days of the Church, who sought a reputation for piety and devotedness while never truly separated from the abounding iniquity.
This is a great snare, and only too common in our own day.
It is, in fact, the very essence of Laodiceanism. Lukewarmness in divine things is treachery against CHRIST. Better to be cold than this. So he says here, “The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah” (Jer 3:11).
She made no attempt to conceal her condition, at any rate. He gives her a gracious invitation to return (even though He had given her a bill of divorce), coupled with an assurance that He was married to her still! (Jer 3:12-14). Precious it is to know that her sons will, in the “age to come,” ask the way to Zion and return to Himself. But one thing His holiness demands: “Only acknowledge thine iniquity” (Jer 3:13).
His mercy longed to go forth; His anger was already well-nigh overpast; but confession there must be. She must sit in judgment on her ways, and repent of her backslidings. The confession must be clear, and the evils specified.
No mere general acknowledgment of failure will suffice (Jer 3:13):
(1) “Thou hast transgressed against Me,
(2) and hast scattered thy ways to strangers;
(3) ye have not obeyed My voice.”
Nor can it be merely a national repentance.
Nations, as such, do not repent. It must be individual work; so He says, “Turn, O backsliding children” (or sons), though the figure of a wife is still maintained; but the nation will be saved in the remnant. “I will take you one of a city and two of a family and will bring you to Zion; and I will give you pastors according to Mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer 3:14-15).
Jeroboam, with many successors to follow his steps, had been an evil shepherd, had led them in false ways hitherto, the fruit of which they were now eating; but GOD had for them shepherds who would delight to direct their feet to green pastures where the soul would find nourishment in the things of GOD.
It may be well to state here that it is of a literal return of the scattered Israelites, to a literal Zion in the land from whence they were carried, that the prophet speaks throughout, as we shall see more particularly when we look at chapters 30 and 31. The words are too plain and explicit to require spiritualizing, as has falsely been done.
In Jer 3:16 we have the last mention of the ark of the covenant; as in 2Ch 35:3 we have its last historical notice.
There was no ark in the second temple. There will be none in that depicted by Ezekiel for the Millennium. A mere legend, for we cannot count it as anything more, tells us that at the destruction of the city and temple Jeremiah hid the ark in a cave, as also the altar of incense. This story is recorded in 2 Maccabees 2:48, an apocryphal record of very dubious authority. However that may be, we are assured that “in those days” (the days of the coming kingdom), “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;” (Jer 3:16) or, according to a marginal reference, “neither shall they miss it, neither shall it be made any more.”
Of old, under the first covenant, it was the throne of the Lord in the midst of Israel: but Jerusalem shall be called “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” (Jer 3:17).
In that day the Lord JESUS, whom it typified, – the One in whom the wood and gold, humanity and divinity, are found in one Person, will Himself be in their midst; the ark, that but feebly foreshadowed Him, will no longer be needed.
In the end of the chapter, from Jer 3:19-25, we have the repentance of the people already made good by faith. It is a prophecy of what will yet be when they will realize that it is vain to hope for salvation from any but the Lord, so long neglected. This will take place after the Lord has saved the tents of Judah first (Zechariah 12).
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
The Call to Repentance and judgment Announced (3:6-6:30)
CHAPTER 3
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.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
The Lord said
The general character of the second message to Judah is:
(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.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
am 3292, bc 612
backsliding: Jer 3:8, Jer 3:11-14, Jer 2:19, Jer 7:24, 2Ki 17:7-17, Eze 23:11
she is: Jer 2:20, Isa 57:7, Eze 16:24, Eze 16:25, Eze 16:31, Eze 20:28, 1Ki 14:23
played: Jer 3:1
Reciprocal: Gen 38:24 – played the harlot Deu 12:2 – possess Psa 106:39 – went Isa 1:29 – the gardens Isa 57:5 – under Isa 65:3 – that sacrificeth Jer 3:13 – and hast scattered Jer 3:23 – in vain Jer 5:11 – the house Jer 11:10 – the house of Israel Jer 13:27 – abominations Jer 14:7 – for our Jer 31:22 – backsliding Jer 50:6 – on the Eze 6:3 – to the mountains Eze 6:9 – I am Eze 6:13 – upon Eze 8:6 – seest Eze 16:35 – O harlot Hos 2:2 – she Hos 4:13 – sacrifice Hos 4:15 – play Hos 4:16 – slideth Hos 6:10 – there Hos 11:7 – are bent
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 3:6. The hooks of the Bible were not written at any continuous period, but different parts of them were composed whenever the Lord was desiring something to be put 1u Writing. 1 wish the student would now read again my verse comments on Jer 1:3. Tho present verse starts one of the passages referred to above, jlfe refers to Jeremiah since he is the writer of this hook, and he is telling us some things the Lord said to him in the days of Josiah. It was in the reign of this king that Jeremiah began his great, book, but the verse of this paragraph and several that follow contain a severe complaint against Judah. The significant thought in these verses is the condemnation of this kingdom based on the contrast between it and the 10-tribe kingdom of Israel. But the contrast will not be appreciated unless we know how bad was the kingdom with which Judah is to he compared. Israel (the 10-tribe kingdom) had been in exile over a hundred years as a punishment for her idolatry. But the Lord recounts to the prophet the great and many instances of the sins of that nation. Every mountain and every green tree had been used by that backsliding people as a place for the practice of idolatry, here called harlotry, For this sin Israel had been given over to the Assyrians, and Judah as well as the world knew about that fact of hiBtory.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
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 prophets 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.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 3:6-18. Israels Sin less than Judahs.This passage interrupts the continuity of Jer 3:19 with Jer 3:5 (note also the interruptive introductory formula, Jer 3:6), and seems to be a separate prophecy, though it employs the predominant figure of this section, i.e. the marriage of Yahweh and His people, and is probably by Jeremiah (to Jer 3:16). The northern kingdom was faithless to this marriage, through the Baal-cult; Yahweh waited for her return in vain (Jer 3:7 mg.), and at length divorced her (Jer 3:8; see on Jer 3:1-5). Judah saw the consequences of that divorce, in the devastation of Israel (a century earlier), without learning the lesson, and repeated the offence. Such repentance as Judah did show (in the Deuteronomic Reformation?) was unreal, and her sin was worse than Israels, because the fate of Israel was before her eyes as a warning. The prophet now (Jer 3:12 ff.) invites Israel, or at least its righteous remnant (Jer 3:14; cf. Isa 1:25 f.), to return to Him, that they may be restored to their land under worthy kings (shepherds); the Ark, as the external sign of His presence, will no longer be needed (Jer 3:16, both mgg.). This prophecy has been expanded by a Messianic promise that Jerusalem shall be the religious centre of the changed world (Jer 3:17) and that Judah shall share in the return of Israel (Jer 3:18).
Jer 3:9. The Hebrew reads She was polluted with the land, which RV silently emends, as often; read she polluted the land with Vulg. and Targ.
Jer 3:10. Omit her and sister, with LXX.
Jer 3:17. Omit, with LXX, to the name of the Lord to Jerusalem. Note that backsliding (Jer 3:6; Jer 3:11; Jer 3:14, etc.) should be back-turning, with play in return (Jer 3:7, etc) on the double sense of turn back, i.e. from and to Yahweh.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
3:6 The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen [that] which backsliding {i} Israel hath done? she hath gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
(i) Meaning the ten tribes.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The persistent harlotry of Israel and Judah 3:6-10
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Yahweh previously had a conversation with Jeremiah along the same lines that took place during the reign of King Josiah (between 627 and 609 B.C.). This section may have been a shorter oracle that the writer used to compose the final written sermon. The Lord asked the prophet if he had observed that the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been guilty of flagrant spiritual prostitution. He described the Northern Kingdom as "faithless Israel," literally "Apostasy (Heb. meshuba) Israel" (cf. Jer 3:8; Jer 3:11-12). Israel was Apostasy personified. She was faithless in respect to the Mosaic Covenant and in respect to her relationship to Yahweh as His "wife." She had deserted her covenant with the Lord and made a covenant with Baal, and she had failed to maintain her responsibilities as Yahweh’s "wife."
When Jeremiah began his ministry, in 627 B.C., the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom had been in exile for 95 years, since 722 B.C. All hope for the restoration of these banished people seemed to have vanished.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER III
ISRAEL AND JUDAH: A CONTRAST
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 me thought 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. {Rev 7:1-17}
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. Rom 1:1-32}
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 me thought, 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. {Jer 4:3 – Jer 6:30}