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Jeremiah 3:1

in Jeremiah 3

“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Would not such a land be completely defiled? But you have played the harlot with many lovers—and you would return to Me?” declares the LORD.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, will he return unto her again? will not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith Jehovah.

KJV

They 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.

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This verse in Jeremiah 3

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Jeremiah · Written before 420.

(Chapter III - Verse 1) It is commonly said (for which the Seventy have translated 'only said'). If a man divorces his wife and she goes and becomes another man's wife, will he return to her again? Will not that woman be considered defiled and polluted? (or that land?) And you have committed adultery with many lovers (or shepherds.) For the word 'Reim' (), which is written with four letters Res, Ain, Yod, Mem, signifies both lovers and shepherds. And if we read Reim, it means lovers; if Roim, it means shepherds.

This site's exposition

If a man put away his wife

on Jeremiah 3:1-5

The chapter opens on a point of law, if a man put away his wife, and she become another man's, the husband may not return to her again without the land itself being polluted, the rule of Deuteronomy 24 the bench identifies behind the question. Israel's case runs past the letter of that law, thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return again to me, saith the Lord, grace exceeding the statute it invokes. The people's own words close the unit, thou art the guide of my youth, spoken while still doing evil things as they could, a father addressed by children who have not stopped sinning against him.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

They say--rather, as Hebrew, "saying," in agreement with "the LORD"; Jer 2:37 of last chapter [MAURER]. Or, it is equivalent to, "Suppose this case." Some copyist may have omitted, "The word of the Lord came to me," saying. shall he return unto her--will he take her back?

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

to say I have to say that you are no longer fit for me, for so is the way of one who sends away his wife and she goes away, etc.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Jeremiah 3:1:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

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. 3 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

27 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • לֵאמֹ֡ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • הֵ֣ןthere!

    henH2005 →316 times

  • יְשַׁלַּ֣חhe will send away

    yeshalachH7971 →845 times

  • אִ֣ישׁa husband

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אִשְׁתּוֹ֩wife his

    ʾishtoH802 →781 times

  • וְהָלְכָ֨הand she will go

    vehalekhahH1980 →1546 times

  • מֵאִתּ֜וֹfrom with <the> him

    meitoH854 →929 times

  • וְהָיְתָ֣הand she will belong

    vehayetahH1961 →3559 times

  • לְאִישׁ־to a man

    leish-H376 →1663 times

  • אַחֵ֗רanother

    ʾacherH312 →166 times

  • הֲיָשׁ֤וּב¿ will he return

    hayashuvH7725 →1056 times

  • אֵלֶ֙יהָ֙to her

    ʾeleihaH413 →5510 times

  • ע֔וֹדagain

    odH5750 →490 times

  • הֲל֛וֹא¿ not

    halo'H3808 →5168 times

  • חָנ֥וֹףcertainly <to be polluted>

    chanofH2610 →11 times

  • תֶּחֱנַ֖ףwill it be polluted

    techenafH2610 →11 times

  • הָאָ֣רֶץthe land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • הַהִ֑יא<the> that

    hahi'H1931 →1879 times

  • וְאַ֗תְּand you

    veatH859 →1094 times

  • זָנִית֙you have acted as a prostitute

    zanitH2181 →94 times

  • רֵעִ֣יםcompanions

    reimH7453 →188 times

  • רַבִּ֔יםmany

    rabimH7227 →454 times

  • וְשׁ֥וֹבand will you return?

    veshovH7725 →1056 times

  • אֵלַ֖יto me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

  • נְאֻם־[the] utterance of

    neum-H5002 →376 times

  • יְהֹוָֽה׃Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Matthew 5:31It has also been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’28 worksDeuteronomy 24:1–4If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he may write her a certificate of divorce, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.11 worksDeuteronomy 24:4then the husband who divorced her first may not remarry her after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination to the LORD. You must not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.8 worksJeremiah 8:4So you are to tell them this is what the LORD says: “Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not return?6 worksEzekiel 16:26You prostituted yourself with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, and increased your promiscuity to provoke Me to anger.5 worksJeremiah 4:1“If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver,5 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Mark 10:4They answered, “Moses permitted a man to write his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away.”5 worksMatthew 19:9Now I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman, commits adultery.”5 worksHosea 2:5–7For their mother has played the harlot and has conceived them in disgrace. For she thought, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me bread and water, wool and linen, oil and drink.’4 worksEzekiel 16:28–29Then you prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, because you were not yet satisfied. Even after that, you were still not satisfied.4 worksDeuteronomy 4:29–31But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.4 worksJeremiah 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.4 worksEzekiel 23:4–49The older was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah. They became Mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their identities, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.4 worksHosea 14:1–4Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.4 works1 Corinthians 7:11But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.4 worksHosea 2:2Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.4 worksJeremiah 3:14“Return, O faithless children,” declares the LORD, “for I am your master, and I will take you—one from a city and two from a family—and bring you to Zion.4 worksEzekiel 33:11Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’3 works

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    Ezekiel 16:26

    You prostituted yourself with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, and increased your promiscuity to provoke Me to anger.

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 23:19–21

      Yet she multiplied her promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth, when she had prostituted herself in the land of Egypt

    • Ezekiel 20:7–8

      And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’

    • Isaiah 30:21

      And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”

    • Joshua 24:14

      Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

    • Ezekiel 8:14

      Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, weeping for Tammuz.

Where this verse is studied

1 study on this verse

About Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Prophet Jeremiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Jeremiah: the study guide →Read Jeremiah 3 →

This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Jeremiah 3 →