Israel, therefore, shall be recalled from exile. Her sins are less than those of Judah, and how long and bitterly has she suffered for them! Toward the north . For Israel had been carried captive into the regions to the north of the Assyrian empire ( 2 Kings 17:6 ; 2 Kings 18:11 ). Comp. the pro-raise in Jeremiah 31:8 . I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you ; rather, my face to fall towards you (i.e. upon your return). read more
God inviting the return of his sinful children. This invitation is offered to "backsliding Israel" in preference to "false Judah" ( Jeremiah 3:11 ). There seemed to be more hope of the former. Openly wicked men are more easily led to repentance than hypocritical pretenders to goodness. Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners ( Matthew 9:12 , Matthew 9:13 ), and his invitations were more readily accepted by publicans and reprobates than by Pharisees. I. THE ... read more
Confession of sin the indispensable prerequisite for its pardon. That this is so is shown by the evident fact that if it could have been dispensed with it would have been. For the desire of God to pardon his guilty people is, as this section shows, intense. He will not cease to seek after them even when the punishment of their sin has actually come upon them. Hence ( Jeremiah 3:12 ) he addresses them in the lands of their exile, Mesopotamia, Assyria, and Media ( 2 Kings 17:6 ), and... read more
Hath justified herself - Judah had had the benefit of the warning given by Israel’s example. Both abandon Yahweh’s service for idolatry, but Israel is simply “apostate,” Judah is also false.The verse is important,(1) as accounting for the destruction of Jerusalem so soon after the pious reign of Josiah. Manasseh’s crimes had defiled the land, but it was by rejecting the reforms of Josiah that the people finally profaned it, and sealed their doom:(2) As showing that it is not by the acts of its... read more
The north - The ten tribes, settled by Salmanezer in the north of Assyria.I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you - literally, I will not cause my face “to fall upon you:” i. e., “I will not receive you with averted looks.” The “and” before this clause should be omitted, as also before the next clause, “I will not keep ...”I will not keep - All God’s promises and threats are conditional upon man’s conduct. read more
Jeremiah 3:11. And the Lord said unto me, &c. The case of these sister kingdoms is here compared, and judgment given upon the comparison. Israel hath justified herself more than Judah Hebrew, צדקה נפשׁה , hath justified her soul: so the LXX. εδικαιωσε την ψυχην , and the Vulgate. The meaning is, that of the two, Judah was the more guilty, because, though Israel’s sins were more numerous, and their idolatry had continued longer, yet in Judah that and other sins were more heinous,... read more
Jeremiah 3:12-13. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north “The sin of the ten tribes being attended with more favourable circumstances than that of Judah, the prophet is commanded to call them to repentance with promises of pardon. In order to this he is bid to direct his speech northward, that is, toward Assyria and Media, whither the ten tribes had been carried away captive, which countries lay north of Judea.” And say: Return, thou backsliding Israel Repent of thy backslidings,... read more
Need for true repentance (3:6-18)King Josiah had tried to reform Judah, but because people had not changed inwardly, the reformation affected only the external forms of religion. Looking from God’s viewpoint, Jeremiah calls the people’s so-called repentance a pretence (see v. 10). Judah had seen her sister nation Israel divorced from God and sent into captivity because of her spiritual adultery, but Israel’s experience taught her nothing. She is now doing what Israel did. In accepting Josiah’s... read more
justified herself. Compare Ezekiel 16:51 , Ezekiel 16:52 . read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 3:11
The comparative advantages of Judah and Israel; professors and non-professors. I. LET JUDAH AND ISRAEL BE TAKEN AS REPRESENTING RESPECTIVELY PROFESSORS OF RELIGION AND THOSE WHO MAKE NO SUCH PROFESSION . Judah did make such profession, but Israel stood aloof, neither worshipping at the temple nor joining in the appointed feasts. II. OBSERVE THAT ISRAEL IS SAID TO HAVE " JUSTIFIED HERSELF MORE ," ETC . ( Jeremiah 3:11 .) ... read more