The Prophets · Old Testament
Jeremiah 3
Jeremiah 3: backsliding Israel, treacherous Judah and the call to return
General context
The chapter opens with the case of a man who puts away his wife: if she becomes another man's he does not return to her, yet the Lord tells the one who has played the harlot with many lovers to return to him. She has lain on the high places, the showers have been withheld, and she has refused to be ashamed. In the days of Josiah the Lord asks Jeremiah whether he has seen what backsliding Israel has done under every green tree. He called her to turn and she did not; he gave her a bill of divorce, and her treacherous sister Judah watched, did not fear, and played the harlot also, turning to the Lord only feignedly. The Lord declares that backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah. Jeremiah is sent to proclaim toward the north: Return, thou backsliding Israel, for the Lord is merciful and will not keep anger for ever, if she acknowledges her iniquity. The Lord promises to take one of a city and two of a family to Zion, to give pastors after his own heart, that the ark of the covenant will no longer be spoken of, that Jerusalem will be called the throne of the Lord, and that Judah will walk with Israel out of the land of the north. He meant to be called My father, but the house of Israel dealt treacherously as a wife leaving her husband. Weeping is heard on the high places. The Lord calls, Return, ye backsliding children, and a reply comes: Behold, we come unto thee. The chapter closes with a confession that salvation from the hills is vain and that they lie down in their shame because they and their fathers have sinned.
Cited passages: Jeremiah 3:1, Jeremiah 3:2, Jeremiah 3:3, Jeremiah 3:6, Jeremiah 3:7, Jeremiah 3:8, Jeremiah 3:10, Jeremiah 3:11, Jeremiah 3:12, Jeremiah 3:13, Jeremiah 3:14, Jeremiah 3:15, Jeremiah 3:16, Jeremiah 3:17, Jeremiah 3:18, Jeremiah 3:19, Jeremiah 3:20, Jeremiah 3:21, Jeremiah 3:22, Jeremiah 3:23, Jeremiah 3:24, Jeremiah 3:25
Jeremiah 3 (KJV)
1They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord.
2Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
3Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
4Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
5Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.
6The 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.
7And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8And 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.
9And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
10And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord.
11And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
12Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever.
13Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord.
14Turn, 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:
15And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16And 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.
17At 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.
18In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.
19But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.
20Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.
21A 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.
22Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.
23Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.
24For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.
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Historical context
Verse 6 places the Lord's word about Israel and Judah "in the days of Josiah the king," the only time marker in the chapter. The text treats backsliding Israel and treacherous Judah as two sisters, and the Lord says he has already put Israel away with a bill of divorce; Judah is charged with seeing this and not fearing. The proclamation of verse 12 is sent "toward the north," the direction from which verse 18 says the two houses will come together to the land given to their fathers. The chapter does not say where Israel is or how she came to be there. The promise about the ark of the covenant is that it will no longer be said, remembered, visited or made; the text does not say what has become of the ark. Verse 1 opens with "They say," quoting a rule about a put-away wife without naming who says it. The speech in verses 22 through 25 is a first-person plural confession, "Behold, we come unto thee," set after the Lord's call; the text does not label the speakers beyond presenting them as the children of Israel whose weeping was heard in verse 21. The chapter gives no narrative of any actual return.
Cited passages: Jeremiah 3:1, Jeremiah 3:6, Jeremiah 3:7, Jeremiah 3:8, Jeremiah 3:12, Jeremiah 3:16, Jeremiah 3:18, Jeremiah 3:21, Jeremiah 3:22, Jeremiah 3:25
Literary context
The chapter turns on the word return. It is impossible under the rule of verse 1, yet the Lord commands it in the same verse, and the command recurs in verses 12, 14 and 22 until the people answer with it. The marriage image runs throughout: the put-away wife, the whore's forehead, the two sisters, the bill of divorce, the Lord saying "I am married unto you," and the departing wife of verse 20. The comparison of the sisters is built as a reversal: the sister already put away is said to be more justified than the one who watched and did the same. The phrase "under every green tree" and the high places tie the accusation to a setting, and the weeping heard "upon the high places" in verse 21 turns the place of harlotry into the place of repentance. The promises in verses 14 through 18 shift from the sisters to a gathered people, from the ark to the throne of the Lord, and from Judah and Israel divided to the two houses walking together. The closing confession picks up the word youth from the Lord's question in verse 4, "My father, thou art the guide of my youth," and turns it into "we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth."
Cited passages: Jeremiah 3:1, Jeremiah 3:3, Jeremiah 3:4, Jeremiah 3:8, Jeremiah 3:11, Jeremiah 3:12, Jeremiah 3:14, Jeremiah 3:17, Jeremiah 3:18, Jeremiah 3:20, Jeremiah 3:21, Jeremiah 3:22, Jeremiah 3:25
Key moments
- Yet return again to me (Jeremiah 3:1). Against the rule for a put-away wife, the Lord calls the harlot to return.
- Rain withheld (Jeremiah 3:3). The showers and latter rain have been withheld, and she has refused to be ashamed.
- Two sisters (Jeremiah 3:8). Israel is put away with a bill of divorce, and Judah sees it and plays the harlot also.
- Israel more justified than Judah (Jeremiah 3:11). The Lord says backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
- I am merciful (Jeremiah 3:12). Jeremiah is sent to proclaim toward the north that the Lord will not keep anger for ever.
- The ark no more remembered (Jeremiah 3:16). In the days to come the ark of the covenant will not come to mind or be visited.
- Behold, we come unto thee (Jeremiah 3:22). The Lord calls the backsliding children to return and a voice answers that they come.
For reflection
The Lord says the sister who was put away has justified herself more than the sister who watched and did the same. What does the chapter suggest about the difference between doing wrong and doing wrong after seeing what it costs?
