Jeremiah 17:2
in Jeremiah 17Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles by the green trees and on the high hills.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
whilst their children remember their altars and their Asherim by the green trees upon the high hills.
KJV
Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 17
Commentary
12 notes on this verseWhilst their children remember their altars,.... Which is a further proof of their long continuance in idolatrous practices, and a fresh witness against them; they trained up their children in them; who, when grown up, could not forget them, but imitated them, and went on in the same evil ways. Some render the words, "as they remember their children, so they remember their altars (i), and their groves, by the green trees upon the high hills"; they had the same love to their idols, and the worship of them, as they had to their children.
This site's exposition
The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus
on Jeremiah 17:1-4
The sin is “written with an iron stylus, engraved with a diamond point”, on their hearts and on the horns of their altars. The two places show idolatry fixed in the very heart that was meant to love the LORD. Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles.
This site's exposition
Even their children remember their altars
The sin has passed down a generation. John Gill reads the children's memory of these altars as proof of long idolatry, trained into the young until they copied it. Albert Barnes takes the Asherah poles as wooden images of the goddess Astarte, set up by the green trees.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 2, 3.) When their sons remember their altars, and the groves of trees and leafy branches on the high mountains, sacrificing in the field, I will give your strength and all your treasures to plunder. Your lofty places will be destroyed because of your sins in all your borders.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
It appears that they were full of them, and acquainted with them betimes, they talked of them so frequently, so familiarly, and with so much delight. They cannot plead that they repent, or are brought to a better mind. No, as the guilt of their sin is undeniable, so their inclination to sin is invincible and incurable.
Their sin is deeply engraven as with a pen of iron in the tables of their hearts. They have a rooted affection to it; it is woven into their very nature; their sin is dear to them, as that is dear to us of which we say, It is engraven on our hearts.
may be read fully to this sense: As they remember their children, so remember they their altars and their groves; they are as fond of them and take as much pleasure in them as men do in their own children, and are as loth to part with them; they will live and die with their idols, and can no more forget them than a woman can forget her sucking child.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
He shows them the folly of all their carnal confidences, which should stand them in no stead when God's time came to contend with them, and that this was one of the sins upon which his controversy with them was grounded,
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
They are written there with a pen of iron and with the point of a diamond; what is so written will not be worn out by time, but is, as Job speaks, graven in the rock for ever. Note, The sin of sinners is never forgotten till it is forgiven.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
"Image of the grove." The Hebrew for "grove" is Asherah, that is, Assarak, Astarte, or Ashtaroth. by the green trees--that is, near them: the sacred trees (idol symbols) of Astarte being placed in the midst of natural trees: "green trees" is thus distinguished from "groves," artificial trees.
Whilst their children remember - Even the rising generation have their imagination stocked with idol images, and their memories with the frantic rites and ceremonies which they saw their parents observe in this abominable worship.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
While their children remember their altars - Perhaps an allusion to their sacrifices of children to Moloch. Present perhaps at some such blood-stained rite, its horrors would be engraven forever upon the memory. Groves - “Asherahs,” i. e., wooden images of Astarte (see Exo 34:13 note).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
with a pen of iron This is an allegory. That is to say that it is deeply engraved, and cannot be erased.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּזְכֹּ֤ר | kizkor | when remember | H2142 → | 230 times |
| בְּנֵיהֶם֙ | beneihem | children their | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| מִזְבְּחוֹתָ֔ם | mizbechotam | altars their | H4196 → | 401 times |
| וַאֲשֵׁרֵיהֶ֖ם | vaashereihem | and Asherah poles their | H842 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | at | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עֵ֣ץ | ʾetz | tree[s] | H6086 → | 328 times |
| רַֽעֲנָ֑ן | raanan | luxuriant | H7488 → | 20 times |
| עַ֖ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| גְּבָע֥וֹת | gevaot | hills | H1389 → | 68 times |
| הַגְּבֹהֽוֹת׃ | hagevohot | <the> high | H1364 → | 41 times |
כִּזְכֹּ֤רwhen remember
kizkorH2142 →230 times
בְּנֵיהֶם֙children their
beneihemH1121 →4930 times
מִזְבְּחוֹתָ֔םaltars their
mizbechotamH4196 →401 times
וַאֲשֵׁרֵיהֶ֖םand Asherah poles their
vaashereihemH842 →
עַל־at
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
עֵ֣ץtree[s]
ʾetzH6086 →328 times
רַֽעֲנָ֑ןluxuriant
raananH7488 →20 times
עַ֖לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
גְּבָע֥וֹתhills
gevaotH1389 →68 times
הַגְּבֹהֽוֹת׃<the> high
hagevohotH1364 →41 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 2:20“For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:2
Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
- Leviticus 26:13
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and…
- Deuteronomy 12:2
Through
2 Chronicles 33:3For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he raised up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. And he worshiped and served all the host of…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 16:21
Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,
- Deuteronomy 17:3
and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—
- 2 Chronicles 31:1
When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and…
- Deuteronomy 16:21
Through
Isaiah 17:8They will not look to the altars they have fashioned with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers.
it leads to
- Isaiah 30:22
So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”
- Isaiah 30:22
Through
2 Chronicles 24:18They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.
it leads to
- Joshua 22:20
Was not Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath upon the whole congregation of Israel? Yet it was not only Achan who perished because of his sin!’”
- Joshua 22:20
Through
Judges 3:7So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
it leads to
- Exodus 34:13
Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
- Exodus 34:13
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.