Jeremiah 3 is the third

chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

of the

Book of Jeremiah The Book of Jeremiah () is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1#Superscription, Jeremiah 1:1–3 identifies the book as "th ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. This book contains prophecies attributed to the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

Jeremiah Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...

, and is one of the

Books of the Prophets The (; ) is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the ''Tanakh''), lying between the () and (). The Nevi'im are divided into two groups. The Former Prophets ( ) consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings ...

. Chapters 2 to 6 contain the earliest preaching of Jeremiah on the apostasy of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Verses 2:1-3:5 dramatize the ending of a "marriage" between Yahweh and Israel, whereas verses 3:6-4:2 describe "the aftermath of recrimination" and partial restoration.

Text

The original text of this chapter, as with the rest of the

, was written in

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language unti ...

. Since the division of the Bible into chapters and verses in the late medieval period, this chapter is divided into 25 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

tradition, which includes the

Codex Cairensis The Codex Cairensis (also: ''Codex Prophetarum Cairensis'', ''Cairo Codex of the Prophets'') is a Hebrew manuscript containing the complete text of the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im (Prophets). It has traditionally been described as "the oldest dated He ...

(895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916),

Aleppo Codex The Aleppo Codex () is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate, and was endorsed for its accuracy by Maimonides. ...

(10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008). There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

known as the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the

version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(S; BHK:

\mathfrak

^S; 4th century),

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century) and

Codex Marchalianus Codex Marchalianus, designated by siglum Q, is a 6th-century Greek language, Greek manuscript copy of the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament) known as the Septuagint. It is now in the Vatican Library. The text was writte ...

(Q;

\mathfrak

^Q; 6th century).

Parashot

The ''

parashah The term ''parashah'', ''parasha'' or ''parashat'' ( ''Pārāšâ'', "portion", Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian , Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardi , plural: ''parashot'' or ''parashiyot'', also called ''parsha'') formally means a section of a biblical book ...

'' sections listed here are based on the

. Jeremiah 3:1-5 is a part of the ''Second prophecy (

Jeremiah 2 Jeremiah 2 is the second chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophecies attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 2 to 6 c ...

:1-3:5)'', whereas Jeremiah 3:6-25 is a part of the ''Third prophecy (Jeremiah 3:6- 6:30)''; both are in the section of ''Prophecies of Destruction (

Jeremiah 1 Jeremiah 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book, one of the Nevi'im or Books of the Prophets, contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Jeremiah. This ch ...

- 25)''. : open ''parashah''; : closed ''parashah''. : 2:29-373:1-5 3:6-10 3:11-17 3:18-25

Structure

Verses 1–5 continue Jeremiah's first prophecy, commenced in

chapter 2 Chapter Two refers to the second chapter in a book. Chapter Two, Chapter 2, or Chapter II may also refer to: Film * ''Chapter Two'' (film), a 1979 adaptation of Neil Simon's play * '' KGF: Chapter 2'', 2022 Indian period action film * '' Khuda H ...

. Verses 6–18 may be considered as a separate prophecy, the first prophecy then resuming with verse 19.

Wages of apostasy (3:1–5)

Verse 1

: ''They say,'' :: ''If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's,'' :: ''shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted?'' : ''but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers;'' : ''yet return again to me,'' :: ''saith the Lord.'' The part following "They say" refers to which forbids a man who divorced his wife to remarry her if she had married another man, even when she becomes a widow or is divorced by the second husband.

Verse 3

:''Therefore the showers have been withheld,'' :''And there has been no latter rain.'' :''You have had a harlot’s forehead;'' :''You refuse to be ashamed.'' Jeremiah's thoughts are strongly connected with : :''And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain.'' The Septuagint text is completely different: :''And thou didst retain many shepherds for a stumbling-block to thyself: thou hadst a whore's face, thou didst become shameless toward all.''

A call to repentance (3:6–25)

Verse 12

:'' Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say:'' :: '''Return, backsliding Israel,' says the Lord;'' :: '''I will not cause My anger to fall on you.'' :: ''For I am merciful,' says the Lord;'' :: '''I will not remain angry forever.''' The phrase "Return, backsliding" (, ''shubah meshubah'') is a play of two words from the same root ''shub'' ("to turn"), that the "backslider" ("turn away") is invited to "return" ("turn back") without getting the anger of

Yahweh Yahweh was an Ancient Semitic religion, ancient Semitic deity of Weather god, weather and List of war deities, war in the History of the ancient Levant, ancient Levant, the national god of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Judah, Judah and Kingdom ...

, because He is merciful.

Verse 23

:''Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,'' ::''and from the multitude of mountains:'' : ''truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.'' KJV The Masoretic text reads: : אכן לשקר מגבעות המון הרים : אכן ביהוה אלהינו תשועת ישראל׃ Transliteration: : la- mi- ; : , . The repentance should start with the confession that the "hills" and "mountains" give false hope, but the salvation of Israel can only be found in Yahweh, as Israel's only God.

Notes and references

Sources

* * *

External links

Jewish

Jeremiah 3 Original Hebrew with Parallel English

Christian

Jeremiah 3 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
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