Jeremiah 3:10
in Jeremiah 3Yet in spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith Jehovah.
KJV
And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord.
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This verse in Jeremiah 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verse"And the faithless Judah did not fear, and she went and played the harlot herself also." Israel having played the harlot first, Judah too played the harlot afterward. "And her fornication became as nothing, and she committed adultery with wood and stone." Whenever we sin, we do nothing else than, becoming stony-hearted, commit adultery with "the stone." Whenever we sin and play the harlot "beneath every leafy tree," we too commit adultery with "the wood." "And the faithless Judah did not turn to me with her whole heart, but in falsehood."
This site's exposition
Indifferent to her own infidelity
on Jeremiah 3:9-11
Israel's adultery “with stones and trees” names again the tree and stone of chapter 2 as partners in the affair. Judah did not return “with all her heart, but only in pretense”. The verdict follows: “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than unfaithful Judah”.
This site's exposition
but only in pretense
Her unfaithful sister Judah is said three times, at verses 7, 8 and 10, before the verdict of verse 11. The return in view came under Josiah's reform of 2 Kings 23, and the people followed it on the surface. In pretense is literally in falsehood.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
The very wording of the passage that has been read has something obscure in it, which must first be understood; and after this, if God grants it, we shall come to know his mystical intent. Now he wants us to know this: that, as is written in the books of Kingdoms, the people were divided in the times of Rehoboam into the kingdom of the ten tribes under Jeroboam and into that of the two tribes under Rehoboam; and those under Jeroboam were called Israel, but those under Rehoboam Judah. And this division of the people has remained, so far as concerns the historical record, down to the present; for we know of no historical account that has gathered Israel and Judah together into one. Now Israel sinned first and more grievously — the people under Jeroboam and his successors — and sinned so much beyond Judah that they were condemned by Providence to become captives "into Assyria," as the Scripture says, "unto this day." After this the sons of Judah also sinned and were condemned to captivity into Babylon, not "unto this day" as Israel, but for "seventy years," concerning which Jeremiah prophesied, and which Daniel also mentioned. If we understand these things as spoken with reference to that people of that time, look at the words of the prophet, whether they do not indicate something of this sort. For he accuses, as it were, the sins of Israel, and says that, when so many sins had been committed by Israel, the congregation of Judah, having heard of their transgressions and in what manner I made them come to be in captivity, was not instructed but added to its sins, so that, because of this addition of sins when compared with the sins of Israel, righteousness was found in Israel over against Judah. Then, upon these things, the prophet is commanded to prophesy, since Judah had become worse than Israel, in order that after its sins it might turn back. […]
(Verse 6 and following) And the Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what the adulteress Israel has done? She went upon every high hill and under every leafy tree and committed adultery there. And I said, after she had done all these things: Return to me, but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw that I had dismissed the adulteress Israel and had given her a bill of divorce. But her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and committed adultery.
"And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not returned to me with her whole heart, but feignedly." It is a smaller sin to follow evil that you think is good than not to venture to defend what you know for certain is good. If we cannot endure threats, injustice and poverty, how shall we overcome the flames of Babylon? Let us not lose by hollow peace what we have preserved by war. I should be sorry to allow my fears to teach me faithlessness when Christ has put the true faith in the power of my choice.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
We deceive ourselves if we think to deceive God by a feigned return to him. I know no religion without sincerity. The case of these sister kingdoms is compared, and judgment given upon the comparison, that of the two Judah was the worse (
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And yet for all this,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Great encouragements are given to these backsliders to return and repent, and promises made of great mercy which God had in store for them, and which he would prepare them for by bringing them home to himself,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Her treacherous sister Judith - These words are a sort of refrain, thrice Jer 3:7-8, Jer 3:10 repeated before God finally pronounces Judah more culpable than Israel.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
yet--notwithstanding the lesson given in Israel's case of the fatal results of apostasy. not . . . whole heart--The reformation in the eighteenth year of Josiah was not thorough on the part of the people, for at his death they relapsed into idolatry (2Ch 34:33;
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How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And yet for all this that they saw the misfortune of the retribution of their companions.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
has proved herself more righteous She has been cleared and she has freed herself from an unfavorable verdict, for she had no one to learn from.
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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | for all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זֹ֗את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁ֨בָה | shavah | she returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֵלַ֜י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בָּגוֹדָ֧ה | bagodah | treacherous | H901 → | |
| אֲחוֹתָ֛הּ | ʾachotah | sister her | H269 → | 114 times |
| יְהוּדָ֖ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | with all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| לִבָּ֑הּ | libah | heart her | H3820 → | 595 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| בְּשֶׁ֖קֶר | besheker | with deception | H8267 → | 113 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ פ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
בְּכָל־for all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
זֹ֗אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁ֨בָהshe returned
shavahH7725 →1056 times
אֵלַ֜יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
בָּגוֹדָ֧הtreacherous
bagodahH901 →
אֲחוֹתָ֛הּsister her
ʾachotahH269 →114 times
יְהוּדָ֖הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
בְּכָל־with all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
לִבָּ֑הּheart her
libahH3820 →595 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
בְּשֶׁ֖קֶרwith deception
beshekerH8267 →113 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָֽה׃ פYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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 12:2You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts.
it leads to
- Isaiah 29:13
Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught…
- Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Isaiah 29:13
Through
Psalms 66:3Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cower before You.
it leads to
- Psalms 18:44
When they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cower before me.
- Psalms 65:5
With awesome deeds of righteousness You answer us, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.
- Psalms 81:15
Those who hate the LORD would feign obedience, and their doom would last forever.
- Psalms 47:2
How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!
- Psalms 18:44
Through
Hosea 7:14They do not cry out to Me from their hearts when they wail upon their beds. They slash themselves for grain and new wine, but turn away from Me.
it leads to
- Job 35:9–10
Men cry out under great oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the mighty.
- James 4:3
And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
- Job 35:9–10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 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; Jerome, Against the Pelagians 1. PROLOGUE. 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 4.