Jeremiah 3:1-5
New English Translation
3 “If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,
he may not take her back again.[a]
Doing that would utterly defile the land.[b]
But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods.[c]
So what makes you think you can return to me?”[d]
says the Lord.
2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this.[e]
Where have you not been ravished?[f]
You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the wilderness.[g]
You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods.[h]
3 That is why the rains have been withheld
and the spring rains have not come.
Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute.[i]
You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.
4 Even now you say to me, ‘You are my father![j]
You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.
5 You will not always be angry with me, will you?
You will not be mad at me forever, will you?’[k]
That is what you say,
but you continually do all the evil that you can.”[l]
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 3:1 tn Heb “May he go back to her again?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.sn For the legal background for the illustration that is used here, see Deut 24:1-4.
- Jeremiah 3:1 tn Heb “Would the land not be utterly defiled?” The stative is here rendered actively to connect better with the preceding. The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
- Jeremiah 3:1 tn Heb “But you have played the prostitute with many lovers.”
- Jeremiah 3:1 tn Heb “Returning to me.” The form is the bare infinitive, which the KJV and ASV have interpreted as an imperative: “Yet, return to me!” However, it is more likely that a question is intended, expressing surprise in the light of the law alluded to and the facts cited. For the use of the infinitive absolute in the place of a finite verb, cf. GKC 346 §113.ee. For the introduction of a question without a question marker, cf. GKC 473 §150.a.
- Jeremiah 3:2 tn Heb “and see.”
- Jeremiah 3:2 sn The rhetorical question expects the answer “nowhere,” which asserts the widespread nature of the nation’s idolatry. The prophets often compare Judah’s religious infidelity, idolatry, to adultery or prostitution. Jeremiah goes a step further in exposing their folly by portraying their willing acts of idolatry as being sexually violated.
- Jeremiah 3:2 tn Heb “You sat for them [the lovers, i.e., the foreign gods] beside the road like an Arab in the desert.”
- Jeremiah 3:2 tn Heb “by your prostitution and your wickedness.” This is probably an example of hendiadys where, when two nouns are joined by “and,” one expresses the main idea and the other qualifies it.
- Jeremiah 3:3 tn Heb “you have the forehead of a prostitute.”
- Jeremiah 3:4 tn Heb “Have you not just now called out to me, ‘[You are] My father!’?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer.
- Jeremiah 3:5 tn Heb “Will he keep angry forever? Will he maintain [it] to the end?” The questions are rhetorical and expect a negative answer. The change to direct address in the English translation is intended to ease the problem of the rapid transition, common in Hebrew style (but not in English), from second person direct address in the preceding lines to third person indirect address in these two lines. See GKC 462 §144.p.
- Jeremiah 3:5 tn Heb “You do the evil and you are able.” This is an example of hendiadys, meaning, “You do all the evil that you are able to do.”
Jeremiah 3:1-5
Common English Bible
Jeremiah’s summons to change
3 If a man divorces his wife,
and after she leaves him marries another,
can he return to her again?
Wouldn’t such an act completely corrupt the land?
Yet you have prostituted yourself with many lovers.
Would you return to me?
declares the Lord.
2 Look to the well-traveled paths[a] and see!
Where haven’t you committed adultery?
On the roadsides you sit in wait for lovers,
like a nomad in the wilderness.
You have corrupted the land
with your cheap and reckless behavior.
3 That’s why the showers have failed
and the spring rains have ceased.
Still you act like a brazen prostitute[b]
who refuses to blush.
4 At the same time you say to me,
“My father, my friend since youth,
5 will you stay angry forever?
Will you continue to be furious?”
This is what you say
while you do as much evil as you possibly can.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 3:2 Or bare heights
- Jeremiah 3:3 Or You have a prostitute’s forehead.
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