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1–5. The Difficulty of Converting Israel to the True Path. 6–10. Two renegade sisters. 11–18. A call to repentance. 19–25. Israel's conversion to God. Jeremiah 3:1–5. Although, according to the law, a wife who leaves her husband to marry another cannot return to her former husband, yet Jehovah, in His ineffable mercy, calls to Himself His spouse - Israel - who committed fornication with many. Still, this mercy requires Israel to turn to God not only in words, but in reality. Jer.3:1. They say: “If a husband lets his wife go, and she leaves him and becomes the wife of another husband, can she return to him? Wouldn’t that country be defiled by this?” But you have committed fornication with many lovers, and yet return to Me, says the Lord. Jeremiah is obviously referring here to the law on divorce contained in the book. Deuteronomy 24.1–4. – Instead of the expression: “that country,” some translators, according to LXX, read: this woman. - Instead of: “however, return to Me,” the newest translators translate: and can you return to Me? Jer.3:2. Raise your eyes to the heights and see where they have not committed fornication with you? You sat by the roadside for them, like an Arabian in the desert, and you desecrated the land with your fornication and your wickedness. “Heights” – more precisely from Hebrew: “bare, treeless hills”, on which idols were usually served (1 Kings 11.1). - “Like an Arabian.” Like an Arab rushing swiftly at an unwary traveler, Israel pounced on everyone passing by, offering him her love (cf. Jeremiah 2.24). Jer.3:3. Therefore the rains were withheld, and there was no latter rain; but you had the forehead of a harlot, you threw away shame. Even God’s punishments did not turn this shameless harlot, the people of Israel, to the true path! – The “latter rain”, necessary for the ripening of the grain, falls in Palestine during March and April. Jer.3:4. Will you not cry to Me from now on: “My Father! You were the guide of my youth! Jer.3:5. Will He always be angry? and will he really keep it in Himself forever?” This is what you say, but you do evil and succeed in it. “Will you not from now on” is more correct: didn’t you just cry out to Me: “My Father,” etc. The Prophet is referring to those pious impulses that Israel showed at the beginning of the religious reforms of King Josiah (2 Kings 23.3), but which were soon replaced by complete indifference to this holy cause. That is why the prophet says that Israel, like a real harlot, only promises to be faithful to her husband, but in reality acts completely contrary to her promises. Jeremiah 3:6–10. In order for the conversion of the people to become possible, for this the people must realize the severity of their guilt before Jehovah, and the prophet says that the sin of the people of Judah, that is, the southern kingdom of Judah, its “treachery” is much heavier than the sin of the northern kingdom - “apostasy.” The kingdom of Judah was not afraid even of the fate that befell the kingdom of Israel, and repeated the crimes of the latter. Jer.3:6. The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what the apostate daughter of Israel did? She went to every high mountain and under every green tree and there she committed adultery. On fornication or serving the subjects of the northern kingdom of Israel to idols, see 1 Kings 16.33; 2 Kings 17.10. - “Renegade”. The northern kingdom is called this because a special, illegal service to Jehovah was established there in Bethel, which was then quickly replaced by idolatry. Jer.3:7. And after she did all this, I said: “return to Me”; but she did not return; and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. Jer.3:8. And I saw that when, for all the adulterous acts of the apostate daughter of Israel, I released her and gave her a letter of divorce, her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid, but went and committed fornication herself. Jer.3:9. And by open fornication she desecrated the earth, and committed adultery with stone and wood. However, even after this, the Lord repeatedly called - through the prophets - the northern kingdom to turn to the true path, but His calls were not heard. Therefore, the Lord formally dissolved His union with the “apostate” (Deut. 24.1–4). The consequence of this dissolution was the withdrawal of the subjects of the kingdom of Israel into Assyrian captivity. Such a fate, however, did not frighten the southern kingdom, which in turn also indulged in idolatry. The Jews thus desecrated their land, setting up idols everywhere cf. Jer 2.7. Jer.3:10. But despite all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not turn to Me with all her heart, but only pretendingly, says the Lord. “With all this,” that is, despite the terrible fate that befell the kingdom of Israel. - “With all my heart.” Visible, outward repentance was brought by the Jews under Josiah (2 Kings 23.3), but this was not repentance from the bottom of the heart. Jer.3:11–18 In order to more clearly demonstrate the special guilt before God of the subjects of the kingdom of Judah, the Lord commands the prophet to call again the kingdom of Israel, scattered throughout foreign countries, to communion with God. If only Israel repents, then, despite the dissolution of the union with it, Jehovah will bring it again, but even then Zion will become a common religious center for Judah and Israel. At the same time, the Prophet depicts a new life in Zion in such features that only go to the image of the Church of Christ in its glorified state. Jer.3:11. And the Lord said to me: The apostate daughter of Israel has proven herself more righteous than the treacherous Judah. The Kingdom of Israel is less guilty than the Kingdom of Judah, of course, firstly, because it was the first to experience the burden of responsibility for apostasy from God, and secondly, because the subjects of the Kingdom of Judah had more means to maintain a pious mood in themselves than the subjects of the Kingdom of Israel. In the kingdom of Judah, lawful worship was always performed, there were lawfully appointed priests and quite a few pious kings and prophets. Although the prophets also spoke in the kingdom of Israel, it was deprived of everything else from the above. Jer.3:12. Go and proclaim these words to the north, and say: Return, O apostate daughter of Israel, says the Lord. I will not pour out My wrath on you; For I am merciful, says the Lord, and I will not be angry forever. Jer.3:13. Only admit your guilt: for you have departed from the Lord your God and have played around with strangers under every branching tree, and you have not listened to My voice, says the Lord. Although a hundred years have already passed since the inhabitants of the kingdom of Israel were taken to Assyria, so that it seemed that Jehovah had already completely forgotten about them, however, in fact, He is ready to bring them back to Himself again, if only, of course, they bring sincere repentance for their sins. Jer.3:14. Return, you apostate children, says the Lord, for I have joined myself with you, and I will take you one from a city, two from a tribe, and bring you to Zion. Since the Lord united with Israel as a wife, He is always ready to accept her to Himself again. - “One at a time..., two at a time.” Here the prophet wants to say that even if not all Israel is converted, the Lord will still bring at least some Israelis to His holy city, Zion. Jer.3:15. And I will give you shepherds after My heart, who will shepherd you with knowledge and prudence. Shepherds are kings and rulers of the people, as well as priests and prophets. These will be all people who fully meet their high purpose. Jer.3:16. And it will come to pass, when you have multiplied and become abundant in the earth, in those days, says the Lord, they will no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord”; he will not even come to mind, and they will not remember him, and they will not come to him, and he will no longer exist. Jer.3:17. At that time Jerusalem will be called the throne of the Lord; and all nations for the sake of the name of the Lord will gather to Jerusalem and will no longer act according to the stubbornness of their evil heart. From a small number of Jews returning to Jerusalem, a large nation will arise again. The new future generation will be much closer to God than even the present inhabitants of Zion. Now the Lord has as His mysterious residence the Irk of the Covenant, to which one high priest has access, and only once a year. But then all of Jerusalem will become the throne of the Lord and, thanks to this, the closest communication of the entire population of Zion will be established - with Jehovah. And seeing this, other nations will gather to Jerusalem and forever renounce their vices and passions (cf. Isa 66.1–3, 19–20), It should be noted that the tone in which Jeremiah speaks about the Icon of the Covenant gives the idea that the Icon was hidden somewhere at that time. It was probably hidden during the persecution of true worship under King Manasseh (cf. 2 Chronicles 35.3). Jer.3:18. In those days the house of Judah will come to the house of Israel, and they will go together from the land of the north to the land that I gave to your fathers as an inheritance. The prophet supplements his prophecy about the new life of Israel by saying that not only the kingdom of Israel will send its representatives to Zion, but along with the Israelis, the Jews will also come here. These latter themselves will invite the Israelis to go to Palestine from the land of captivity, in which, according to the prophet, they will find themselves just like the Israelis. Jer.3:19–25. Then the original purpose that the Lord gave to Israel will be fulfilled: Israel will not only receive the best inheritance on earth, but will be worthy of Sonship of God. This great promise already arouses in the “apostate” repentance for her departure from Jehovah. Israel is already yearning to return to its God. Jer.3:19. And I said: How can I make you one of the children and give you the desired land, the most beautiful inheritance of many nations? And he said: You will call Me your father and will not depart from Me. This verse is more clearly translated as follows: “And I said (before, always): How I would like to put you in the place of a son and give you the coveted land, the best inheritance among the inheritances of the nations! And I said: You will begin to call Me “My Father” and not depart from Me! Jehovah thus declares here that on His part He was always ready to give the northern kingdom of Israel - the "apostate" wife - all the rights of His son. According to ancient Israeli private law, daughters did not have the same rights to inheritance that sons had, and the Lord, in order to show His special disposition towards Israel, wants to equalize the rights of the daughter of Israel with His sons. Jer.3:20. But truly, just as a woman betrays her friend treacherously, so you, O house of Israel, have dealt treacherously with Me, says the Lord. Unfortunately, Israel, for its part, turned out to be unworthy of this great distinction. Jer.3:21. A voice is heard on the heights, the plaintive cry of the children of Israel that they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the Lord their God. Now, in the very places where Israel previously committed lawless service to idols, its plaintive cry about its retreat is heard. But still, these are still only powerless tears, and not a definite and formal confession of one’s sins. Only when Jehovah speaks His merciful word, when He removes the excommunication that weighs on their hearts, will they clearly and openly express their decision to turn to their God the Benefactor. Jer.3:22. Return, rebellious children: I will heal your rebellion. - Behold, we come to You, for You are the Lord our God. This call of Jehovah is now being heard. God wants to heal them from whatever disobedience or stubbornness they have hitherto been in. Then, having received from God this gracious help, this inner strength, Israel will exclaim: we are coming to You! Jer.3:23. Truly, we hoped in vain for hills and many mountains; Truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel! Israel then openly confesses that all its hopes of finding satisfaction for its religious quest in foreign cults were completely in vain. – More precisely, the first half of this verse should be translated as follows: yes, the hills are nothing but deception and lies, on the mountains there is only empty noise! Israel, with these words, wants to say that those loud prayers that he sent to various gods on the mountains were in vain. Jer.3:24. From our youth this abomination has devoured the labors of our fathers, their sheep and their oxen, their sons and their daughters. From our youth, that is, from the very beginning of the existence of the separate ten-tribe kingdom of Israel. - “This abomination” - that is, idols, in particular, the god Baal, who is so called because the rituals performed in his honor were extremely vile (cf. Hos 9.10). - “The works of the fathers” - more correctly: the estate of the fathers. If children are also included in this estate, then this is not surprising: according to ancient Israeli customary law, the father had the right to dispose of his children on an equal basis with the estate belonging to him. Israel will only understand over time how many victims this passion for idols has cost them! Jer.3:25. We lie in our shame, and our shame covers us, because we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth until this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God. "We lie in shame." Those who repent usually dressed in sackcloth and lay down in ashes (Job 42.6). Israel will obviously sincerely repent before Jehovah of all their past sins. Special notes. Some critics of Jeremiah 3.6–16 verses, although they recognize them as belonging to Jeremiah, believe that they were placed by the editor of the book in the wrong place where they should have been placed, while verses 16 and 17 are considered a later addition (Stade, Kuhnen, Cornille). But for the impartial reader, section 19–25 and Jer 4.1 et seq. do not at all seem to be a necessary continuation of the 5th verse of the third chapter. If Corneille points out the inappropriateness of a special inscription in the middle of the chapter, in verse 6, then this circumstance must be explained by the fact that the prophet obviously wanted to make his readers understand here that what follows is something especially worthy of their attention. And in fact, here we have a completely new revelation about the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel, the fate of which, it seemed, had already been decided once and for all. As for the question, to what extent the thoughts contained in vv. 6–18. can be recognized as belonging to Jeremiah, then this question must be resolved in no other way than in the affirmative. No one more than Jeremiah, who came from the family of Elijah, which served in the ancient central sanctuary of the ten tribes, and Shiloh, who himself was an Ephraimite by place of residence, had such sympathy for the ten-tribe kingdom as is expressed in the section under consideration. Moreover, in the book of Jeremiah there is a place parallel to this section in Jeremiah 31.2–22, where Ephraim, who also humbly acknowledges his guilt before Jehovah, is promised a return to his native country. They say (precisely Cornille) that in the XXXI chapter. restoration is promised to the whole of Israel, and here (v. 14) only to the chosen members of the Israeli state. But also in Chapter XXXI. (Jer 31.7) it is also said that the remnant of Israel will be saved. Other criticisms expressed regarding the authenticity of Chapter III are too subjective to dwell on. You might be interested in: