Jeremiah 5:1
in Jeremiah 5“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth justly, that seeketh truth; and I will pardon her.
KJV
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
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This verse in Jeremiah 5
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAfter the address of the Lord in which he commanded, "go throughout Jerusalem," and so on, the prophet addresses the Lord in return: "Lord, your eyes look for faith," which is ʾemûnā in Hebrew, referring not to the works of the Jews, in which they exulted according to ceremonies of the law, but to the faith of Christians, through which we are saved by faith. In this chapter, therefore, we learn that supplications are brought for the correction of our faults.
This site's exposition
Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem
on Jeremiah 5:1-3
The search for one just person in Jerusalem's streets echoes Abraham's bargaining for Sodom. Here the LORD sends the search and sets the bar lower than fifty or ten, at “a single person”. Jeremiah's complaint, “You struck them, but they felt no pain”, names a people discipline cannot soften.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 5 - Verse 1, 2) Go around the streets of Jerusalem and look, observe, and search its squares, whether you find a man who does justice and seeks faithfulness. I will be merciful to him. But even if, by the living Lord, they say and falsely swear this. Great is the love of justice, as God did not deliver the city (Genesis 18) according to the request of Abraham and the response of God for the sake of ten righteous men, but if He finds even one in the now perishing Jerusalem who does justice and seeks faithfulness (or, as Symmachus translated, truth), then God will have mercy on Jerusalem. And because it could happen that some would be found among the people who would feign the worship of God and swear by God, this is prevented so that God is not pleased by empty words but by the truth of faith, and He says: I do not love those who swear by me and swear falsely, but rather those whose hearts and lips are in agreement.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
In the broad places - Even there, where men meet from all quarters. A man - It seems worse than Sodom and Gomorrah, for God condescends to pardon Jerusalem, if there be but one righteous man found in it; there he came no lower than ten.
Truth has fallen in the street ( Isa. lix. 14 ), and is forced to seek for corners. " So pleasing would it be to God to find any such that for their sake he would pardon the city; if there were but ten righteous men in Sodom, if but one of a thousand, of ten thousand, in Jerusalem, it should be spared. See how ready God is to forgive, how swift to show mercy.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Eze 22:30). see . . . know--look . . . ascertain. judgment--justice, righteousness. pardon it--rather, her.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Broad places - Market-places, and those where there was most public resort. If ye can find a man - A certain philosopher went through the streets of Athens with a lighted lamp in his hand; and being asked what he sought, answered, “I am seeking to find a Man.” So in Jerusalem none was found, on the most diligent search, who acted worthy the character of a rational being. I will pardon it - I will spare the city for the sake of one righteous person. So at the intercession of Abraham, God would have spared Sodom if there had been ten righteous persons found in it; Gen 18:26.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The broad places - The open spaces next the gates, and other places of concourse. A man - Or, anyone. That executeth - “That” practiceth. Truth - uprightness, probity (so in Jer 5:3).
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שׁוֹטְט֞וּ | shotu | rove about | H7751 → | |
| בְּחוּצ֣וֹת | bechutzot | in [the] streets of | H2351 → | 164 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִַ֗ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| וּרְאוּ־ | ureu- | and see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| נָ֤א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| וּדְעוּ֙ | udeu | and observe | H3045 → | 945 times |
| וּבַקְשׁ֣וּ | uvakshu | and search | H1245 → | 225 times |
| בִרְחוֹבוֹתֶ֔יהָ | virchooteiha | in open places its | H7339 → | 43 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| תִּמְצְא֣וּ | timtzeu | you will find | H4672 → | 455 times |
| אִ֔ישׁ | ʾish | a person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יֵ֛שׁ | yesh | there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| עֹשֶׂ֥ה | ʾoseh | [is one who] does | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| מִשְׁפָּ֖ט | mishpat | justice | H4941 → | 422 times |
| מְבַקֵּ֣שׁ | mevakesh | [one who] seeks | H1245 → | 225 times |
| אֱמוּנָ֑ה | ʾemunah | faithfulness | H530 → | 49 times |
| וְאֶסְלַ֖ח | veeslach | so I may forgive | H5545 → | 46 times |
| לָֽהּ׃ | lah | <to> <the> it |
שׁוֹטְט֞וּrove about
shotuH7751 →
בְּחוּצ֣וֹתin [the] streets of
bechutzotH2351 →164 times
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֗םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
וּרְאוּ־and see
ureu-H7200 →1300 times
נָ֤אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
וּדְעוּ֙and observe
udeuH3045 →945 times
וּבַקְשׁ֣וּand search
uvakshuH1245 →225 times
בִרְחוֹבוֹתֶ֔יהָin open places its
virchooteihaH7339 →43 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
תִּמְצְא֣וּyou will find
timtzeuH4672 →455 times
אִ֔ישׁa person
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יֵ֛שׁthere
yeshH3426 →140 times
עֹשֶׂ֥ה[is one who] does
ʾosehH6213 →2628 times
מִשְׁפָּ֖טjustice
mishpatH4941 →422 times
מְבַקֵּ֣שׁ[one who] seeks
mevakeshH1245 →225 times
אֱמוּנָ֑הfaithfulness
ʾemunahH530 →49 times
וְאֶסְלַ֖חso I may forgive
veeslachH5545 →46 times
לָֽהּ׃<to> <the> it
lah
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
2 Chronicles 16:9For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in…
it leads to
- 1 Peter 3:12
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
- Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
- Jeremiah 16:17
For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their guilt is not concealed from My eyes.
- Proverbs 5:21
For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.
- Psalms 34:15
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.
- 1 Peter 3:12
Through
Ezekiel 22:30I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no…
it leads to
- Isaiah 59:16
He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him.
- Psalms 106:23
So He said He would destroy them— had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.
- Genesis 18:23–32
Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
- Isaiah 59:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, SIX BOOKS ON JEREMIAH 1:93.1-2; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.