Jeremiah 3

1. They say, etc. This verse may be connected with the preceding, thus: “Jehovah hath rejected thy supports,” etc., “saying, Lo (or suppose), a man shall put away his wife, . . . And hast thou played the harlot with many lovers, and [yet thinkest] to return unto Me! saith Jehovah.” The passage so read is an exposure of the fallacy of the people’s hopes. On the laws of divorce here alluded to, see Deut. xxiv. 1-4.

2. In the ways hast thou sat. See Gen. xxxviii. 14, 21.

the (“an,” R.V.) Arabian. The Arabs of the deserts around Palestine are notorious for lying in wait for travellers.

4. Wilt thou not from this time cry unto Me? Some render vers. 4, 5 as follows: “Dost thou not already cry unto Me, ‘Thou art my Father, the husband of my youth: will He keep [His anger] for ever, will He retain it perpetually?’ Behold thou sayest this, and yet thou doest evil.” Jehovah thus accuses the people of claiming the privileges of their covenant with Him whilst continuing to speak and do evil: see ii. 27.

5 as thou couldest. “Persistently” (Payne-Smith).

9 lightness. Rather, “infamy.” This of course refers to Israel and her idolatries.

11. The backsliding Israel hath justified herself. “Hath shown herself more righteous” (R.V.). Great as were the sins of Israel, she might be almost called “righteous” when compared with Judah; because Judah had possessed the Temple of God, with His Divinely-appointed worship and priests (see 2 Chron. xi. 13-17, and note), with many zealous prophets, and had been solemnly warned by the defection and the punishment of Israel. If, in spite of all these advantages, she persisted in her idolatry, she was even more culpable than Israel, and deserved to be treated more severely.

12 toward the north. Towards the countries in which the exiles of the Ten Tribes were dispersed—Mesopotamia, Assyria, and Media (2 Kings xvii. 6).

I will not cause Mine anger (countenance) to fall upon you. “I will not look in anger upon you” (R.V.).

13 hast scattered thy ways. Hast gone in all directions.

14 a family. Or, “a tribe.” Though in a whole city or nation there should be only one or two of My people, I will not forget even these, but will bring them back with the rest: see Deut. xxx. 1-5.

I will bring you to Zion. This prophecy was fulfilled, in part, when many from the Ten Tribes joined themselves to the people of Judah on their return from Babylon, and at many subsequent periods. But it cannot be regarded as completely fulfilled till “all Israel shall be saved”: cp. Acts xxvi. 7; Rom. xi. 26.

15 pastors. “Shepherds,” as R.V. See note on ii. 8.

16. The ark of the covenant of the Lord. The ark was the most sacred of all the religious symbols, and the second Temple was regarded as having far less glory than the first, because it had not this. But the prophet declares that the ark shall not be needed or even desired; for Jerusalem—the Church—into which all nations shall be gathered shall be Jehovah’s throne: cp. Rev. xxi. 22.

17 imagination. Or, “stubbornness,” as R.V.

18 the land of the north. A general expression for the great Mesopotamian region—the land of the captivities.

19. How shall I, etc.? Rather, “And I shall.”

21 upon the high places. As the customary places of lament (cp. Isa. xv. 2). Upon those high places also idolatry had been practised: where the sin had been committed there the cry of penitence is heard.

23 the multitude. Or, “the tumult,” as R.V. Read “[In vain is] the tumult on the mountains.” Moffatt translates, “orgies on the mountains.”

24 shame. Heb., “the shame”: probably meaning the shameful idols. Bosheth, the Heb. word, is often used, as in Ishbosheth, as an equivalent for Baal.

25. We lie down. Rather, as R.V., “Let us lie down,” in the attitude of contrition. So in the following clause: “let our confusion cover us.”