Jeremiah 11:10
in Jeremiah 11They have returned to the sins of their forefathers who refused to obey My words. They have followed other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their fathers.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words; and they are gone after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.
KJV
They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.
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This verse in Jeremiah 11
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Vers. 9, 10) And the Lord said to me: A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have turned back to the iniquities of their former fathers, who refused to listen to my words. And so they went after foreign gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant, which I made with their fathers. As for the conspiracy, which we have interpreted according to Symmachus, Aquila, and the Septuagint, Theodotion has translated it as 'connection,' which we can also call 'binding.'
This site's exposition
There is a conspiracy among the men of Judah
on Jeremiah 11:9-10
The word “conspiracy” names the covenant breach as a deliberate plot. Verse 10 states its breadth, “The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant”, north and south joined in one indictment. The fathers here are the wilderness generation “who refused to obey My words”.
This site's exposition
They have returned to the sins
Adam Clarke sets the verse after Josiah's reform. Under his sons the public idols came back, and Judah returned to the sins of the fathers. John Gill notes that Kimchi dates this word to the days of Jehoiakim.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"A conspiracy," then, "has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the injustices of their fathers of former times." "They have turned back to the injustices"—of whom? He does not say simply "of the fathers." What is the addition? "They have turned back to the injustices of their fathers of former times." We were saying that these things are spoken to us and to those among us who sin.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers,.... According to Kimchi, this prophecy was delivered out in the times of Jehoiakim.
Jeremiah himself saw that many lived in open disobedience to God, but the Lord told him that the matter was worse than he thought of: A conspiracy is found among them, by him whose eye is upon the hidden works of darkness.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers - A great reformation had taken place under the reign of Josiah, and the public worship of idols had been abolished, and most of the high places destroyed; but under the reign of his son and his successors, they had turned back again to idolatry, and were become worse than ever. It required a captivity to cure them of this propensity: and God sent one: after that, there was no idolatry among the Jews.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Their forefathers - literally, “their fathers, the first ones:” in allusion to the idolatries committed in the wilderness, and by the generations whose history is given in the Book of Judges. And they went after - Rather, yea! they have walked “after other gods to serve them.” The “they” refers to the men of Jeremiah’s day.
The words behind it
27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁ֩בוּ֩ | shavu | they have returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עֲוֹנֹ֨ת | ʾavonot | [the] iniquities of | H5771 → | 233 times |
| אֲבוֹתָ֜ם | ʾavotam | ancestors their | H1 → | 1212 times |
| הָרִֽאשֹׁנִ֗ים | harishonim | <the> former | H7223 → | 182 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| מֵֽאֲנוּ֙ | meanu | they refused | H3985 → | 41 times |
| לִשְׁמ֣וֹעַ | lishmoa' | to hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דְּבָרַ֔י | devarai | words my | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| וְהֵ֣מָּה | vehemah | and they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| הָלְכ֗וּ | halekhu | they have walked | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֛י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֥ים | ʾelohim | gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲחֵרִ֖ים | ʾacherim | other | H312 → | 166 times |
| לְעָבְדָ֑ם | leavedam | to serve them | H5647 → | 288 times |
| הֵפֵ֤רוּ | heferu | they have broken | H6565 → | 50 times |
| בֵֽית־ | veit- | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וּבֵ֣ית | uveit | and [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְהוּדָ֔ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּרִיתִ֕י | beriti | covenant my | H1285 → | 284 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| כָּרַ֖תִּי | karati | I made | H3772 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| אֲבוֹתָֽם׃ ס | ʾavotam | ancestors their | H1 → | 1212 times |
שָׁ֩בוּ֩they have returned
shavuH7725 →1056 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
עֲוֹנֹ֨ת[the] iniquities of
ʾavonotH5771 →233 times
אֲבוֹתָ֜םancestors their
ʾavotamH1 →1212 times
הָרִֽאשֹׁנִ֗ים<the> former
harishonimH7223 →182 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
מֵֽאֲנוּ֙they refused
meanuH3985 →41 times
לִשְׁמ֣וֹעַto hear
lishmoa'H8085 →1159 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דְּבָרַ֔יwords my
devaraiH1697 →1440 times
וְהֵ֣מָּהand they
vehemahH1992 →553 times
הָלְכ֗וּthey have walked
halekhuH1980 →1546 times
אַחֲרֵ֛יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
אֱלֹהִ֥יםgods
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אֲחֵרִ֖יםother
ʾacherimH312 →166 times
לְעָבְדָ֑םto serve them
leavedamH5647 →288 times
הֵפֵ֤רוּthey have broken
heferuH6565 →50 times
בֵֽית־[the] house of
veit-H1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וּבֵ֣יתand [the] house of
uveitH1004 →2046 times
יְהוּדָ֔הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּרִיתִ֕יcovenant my
beritiH1285 →284 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
כָּרַ֖תִּיI made
karatiH3772 →288 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
אֲבוֹתָֽם׃ סancestors their
ʾavotamH1 →1212 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
Deuteronomy 31:16And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will…
it leads to
- Judges 10:6
And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus…
- Judges 10:13
But you have forsaken Me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you.
- Judges 2:12
Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down…
- Exodus 34:15
Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.
- Revelation 19:2
For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her…
- Judges 10:6
Through
Judges 2:19But when the judge died, the Israelites became even more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They would not give up their evil practices…
it leads to
- Judges 8:33
And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.
- Judges 4:1
After Ehud died, the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the LORD.
- 2 Chronicles 24:17–18
After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.
- Judges 8:33
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 9.
