Jeremiah 3:2
in Jeremiah 3“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been violated? You sat beside the highways waiting for your lovers, like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Lift up thine eyes unto the bare heights, and see; where hast thou not been lain with? By the ways hast thou sat for them, as an Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
KJV
Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
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This verse in Jeremiah 3
Commentary
4 notes on this verse(Version 2.) Lift up your eyes and see where you have not fallen. On the roads you were sitting, waiting for them like a robber in the wilderness (or like a deserted raven). For it is written in Hebrew, Arabic, and can also mean Arabs, that this people, devoted to robbery, still raids the borders of Palestine today, and they besiege the roads for those descending from Jerusalem to Jericho: of which the Lord also mentions in the Gospel (Luke 10).
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 Century2 voices
As the Arabian in the wilderness - They were as fully intent on the practice of their idolatry as the Arab in the desert is in lying in wait to plunder the caravans. Where they have not cover to lie in ambush, they scatter themselves about, and run hither and thither, raising themselves up on their saddles to see if they can discover, by smoke, dust, or other token, the approach of any travelers.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
In . . . ways . . . sat for them--watching for lovers like a prostitute (Ge 38:14, 21; Eze 16:24, 25), and like an Arab who lies in wait for travellers. The Arabs of the desert, east and south of Palestine, are still notorious as robbers.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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.
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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׂאִֽי־ | sei- | lift up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| עֵינַ֨יִךְ | ʾeinayikh | eyes your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שְׁפָיִ֜ם | shefayim | bare heights | H8205 → | 9 times |
| וּרְאִ֗י | urei | and see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֵיפֹה֙ | ʾeifoh | where? | H375 → | |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שֻׁכַּ֔בְתְּ | shukabte | have you been lain with | H7901 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | at | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| דְּרָכִים֙ | derakhim | roads | H1870 → | 707 times |
| יָשַׁ֣בְתְּ | yashavt | you sat | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| לָהֶ֔ם | lahem | for <the> them | ||
| כַּעֲרָבִ֖י | kaaravi | like an Arab | H6163 → | |
| בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר | bamidbar | in the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| וַתַּחֲנִ֣יפִי | vatachanifi | and you have polluted | H2610 → | 11 times |
| אֶ֔רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בִּזְנוּתַ֖יִךְ | biznutayikh | by prostitution your | H2184 → | 9 times |
| וּבְרָעָתֵֽךְ׃ | uveraatekh | and by wickedness your | H7451 → | 662 times |
שְׂאִֽי־lift up
sei-H5375 →656 times
עֵינַ֨יִךְeyes your
ʾeinayikhH5869 →887 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שְׁפָיִ֜םbare heights
shefayimH8205 →9 times
וּרְאִ֗יand see
ureiH7200 →1300 times
אֵיפֹה֙where?
ʾeifohH375 →
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
שֻׁכַּ֔בְתְּhave you been lain with
shukabteH7901 →
עַל־at
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
דְּרָכִים֙roads
derakhimH1870 →707 times
יָשַׁ֣בְתְּyou sat
yashavtH3427 →1079 times
לָהֶ֔םfor <the> them
lahem
כַּעֲרָבִ֖יlike an Arab
kaaraviH6163 →
בַּמִּדְבָּ֑רin the wilderness
bamidbarH4057 →270 times
וַתַּחֲנִ֣יפִיand you have polluted
vatachanifiH2610 →11 times
אֶ֔רֶץ[the] land
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
בִּזְנוּתַ֖יִךְby prostitution your
biznutayikhH2184 →9 times
וּבְרָעָתֵֽךְ׃and by wickedness your
uveraatekhH7451 →662 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 2:7I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but you came and defiled My land, and made My inheritance detestable.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:7–9
For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks and fountains and springs that flow through the valleys and hills;
- Jeremiah 16:18
And I will first repay them double their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and they have filled My inheritance with their abominations.”
- Numbers 13:27
And they gave this account to Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit!
- Ezekiel 36:17
“Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds. Their behavior before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman’s impurity.
- Deuteronomy 8:7–9
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…
- Jeremiah 17:2
Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles by the green trees and on the high hills.
- Deuteronomy 12:2
Through
Genesis 38:14she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah…
it leads to
- Genesis 38:26
Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.
- Genesis 38:26
Where this verse is studied
No study on the site is anchored to this verse yet.
Also on Jeremiah 3: 1 study that walk through this chapter ▾
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.