Jeremiah 3 Study Notes

3:1 The phrase Wouldn’t such a land become totally defiled? alludes to the divorce law in Dt 24:1-4, where a man is not allowed to remarry his ex-wife if she has married and been divorced by another man. In a similar way, God asks Judah, can you return to me after defiling the land by your infidelities with false gods?

3:2 Like a nomad compares lustful Judah to a Bedouin waiting in ambush to rob a caravan. Such acts defiled the land.

3:3 Sin in the moral order can have a devastating effect on the ecological order, just as the ground was cursed because of Adam and Eve’s sin (Lv 26:18-19; Dt 11:13-17; Am 4:7-8). Ironically, the false god Baal whom Judah worshiped was thought to be the god of rain, dew, thunder, and fertility. The true God withheld these things, demonstrating the futility of false religion. God’s bride showed no shame for her sins. Jeremiah used shame language more than any other prophet (vv. 24-25; 2:26,36; 6:15; 8:12; 9:19; 10:14).

3:4-5 Wives in the ancient Near East sometimes called their husbands Father as a recognition of their authority. The word for friend (aluf ) is not the usual word but could mean “teacher.”

3:6-7 Jeremiah 2-20 is often assigned to the time of King Josiah, and therefore to Jeremiah’s earliest writings. But if this is the case, it is strange that the prophet did not mention the discovery of the book of the law in 621 BC or the reforms that followed. Apostate northern Israel ascended every high hill to practice the fertility cult. On “backsliding and unfaithful Israel,” see vv. 6,8,11,12,22; 2:19; 5:6; 8:5; 14:7. Both sisters, Israel and Judah, became so calloused that they did not repent and return (Hb shuv) to the Lord.

3:8 The certificate of divorce is referred to in Dt 24:1.

3:9 The phrase indifferent to her prostitution is literally “through the lightness of adultery.” Judah regarded her sins lightly, in spite of what had happened in 722 BC to the ten tribes of northern Israel when the capital city, Samaria, fell to the Assyrians.

3:10 Judah pretended to return to the Lord, but with pretense rather than all her heart.

3:11 Israel was more righteous (that is, less sinful) in that they had no exemplary warning like Judah had.

3:12 I am unfailing in my love refers to God’s loyalty, mercy, and grace. On the Hebrew word chesed, or “unfailing love,” see note at 2:2.

3:13 The phrase under every green tree is also found in Dt 12:2 (cp. 1Kg 14:23; 2Kg 16:4; 17:10; 2Ch 28:4; Is 57:5; Jr 2:20; 3:6; Ezk 6:13).

3:14 God offered his faithless children the chance to return to Zion despite their stubborn refusal to follow the Lord.

3:15 The shepherds mentioned here do not refer to political rulers but to the spiritual leaders or pastors (Jeremiah himself was counted as such in 17:16).

3:16 The future messianic era is signaled by the introductory phrase in those days (see also “in time to come,” 30:24; “the days are coming,” 31:27,31,38; and “after those days,” 31:33). Israel and Judah would multiply and increase in the land in this messianic era. The ark of the covenant, the most central and precious symbol at the heart of Israel’s worship, will not even be remembered then because something more significant will take its place.

3:17 At that time Jerusalem will be called the Lord’s Throne, replacing the ark of the covenant as the symbol of his presence (Lv 16:2,13; Ps 80:1). The result will be that all the nations will be gathered to Jerusalem, and they will cease to follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.

3:18 The return to Zion is predicted again. But it does not seem to be return from exile. This will be a time when Israel and Judah are reunited as one in the land God had promised to his people.

3:19 The land of promise is called a desirable land, or literally “pleasant land” (Ps 106:24; Zch 7:14). The divine pathos of I thought, “You will call me ‘My Father’ and never turn away from me” is heartbreaking. Having been rejected as Israel’s husband, God was now rejected by the people of Judah as their Father.

3:20 The verb for betray (bagad) can also mean “deal treacherously with.” See Jr 5:11.

3:21-22 The entire nation will be moved to repentance. In response to such genuine confession of their sin, the Lord will heal their apostasy and rebellion.

3:23 The falsehood and commotion of orgiastic religious practices that were carried out on bare hilltops could earn no one salvation, for the salvation of Israel is only in the Lord.

3:24-25 Baal is designated by the derisive term often used for him: the shameful one (Hb bosheth, as found in names like Ish-bosheth, also known as Esh-baal; 2Sm 2:8; 1Ch 8:33).