Jeremiah 17:2

Jeremiah 17:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
• New International Version (NIV)Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles beside the spreading trees and on the high hills.
• English Standard Version (ESV)while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills,
• New King James Version (NKJV)While their children remember Their altars and their wooden images By the green trees on the high hills.

Context of Jeremiah 17:2

1‘The people of Judah love to do bad things. Their sins are deep inside them. It is like they are written on their hearts and on the horns of their altars. They are written with an iron pen. Nobody can remove the list of their sins. Even their children always think about their altars where they worship false gods. They have put up their Asherah poles under the big trees and on the high hills. 3They also worship their false gods on the mountains and in the fields. So I will cause enemies to take all your valuable things. They will take your riches for themselves. That will be the price that you pay for your sins. You have done evil things everywhere in the land. 4I gave you this land to be your home for ever. But it will no longer belong to you. Your enemies will take you to a land that you do not know. You will be their slaves. You have made me very angry, like a fire that nobody can stop.’

Jeremiah 17:2 word by word

כִּזְכֹּ֤ר בְּנֵיהֶם֙ מִזְבְּחוֹתָ֔ם וַאֲשֵׁרֵיהֶ֖ם עַל־עֵ֣ץ רַֽעֲנָ֑ן עַ֖ל גְּבָע֥וֹת הַגְּבֹהֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Whilst their childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• rememberזָכַרzâkar · to rememberH2142
• their altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
• and their grovesאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
• by the greenרַעֲנָןra‛ănân · luxuriantH7488
• treesעֵץ‛êts · treeH6086
• upon the highגָּבֹהַּgâbôhha gâbôhha · highH1364
• hillsגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · hillH1389

Cross-references for Jeremiah 17:2

• Jeremiah 7:18The children fetch wood and their fathers use it to light a fire. The women prepare flour to cook cakes. Then they offer them to the “Queen of Heaven”. And they offer gifts of drink to other false gods. They do that to make me angry.
• Hosea 4:13They offer sacrifices on the tops of the mountains. They burn offerings on the hills. They do this under the oak trees, the poplar trees and the other big trees. They enjoy the shade under those trees. As a result, your daughters serve the false gods as prostitutes. Your sons' wives are also guilty of adultery.
• Jeremiah 2:20‘A long time ago, you stopped obeying me. You refused to accept my authority. You said, “I will not serve you!” Instead, you go up on the hills to worship other gods. You lie down under the green trees, and you live like prostitutes.
• Judges 3:7The Israelites forgot to serve the Lord their God. They did things that he saw were evil. They worshipped idols of Baal and Asherah.
• 2 Chronicles 24:18They stopped worshipping the Lord, the God of their ancestors, in his temple. Instead, they worshipped Asherah poles and idols. So God became very angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem, because they were guilty of these sins.
• 2 Chronicles 33:3Manasseh built again the altars on the hills that his father Hezekiah had knocked down. He built altars for people to worship idols of Baal. He also made Asherah poles. He bent down low to worship all the stars in the sky.
• Psalms 78:58The places where they worshipped their idols made God very angry.
• Isaiah 1:29You will become ashamed because you trusted special oak trees to help you. You worshipped idols in your special gardens, and you will be ashamed because of that.
• Isaiah 17:8They will no longer trust their idols to help them. They made altars for themselves, where they worshipped their gods. They worshipped Asherah at special poles. They made altars where they burned incense. But they will not do those things any more.
• Ezekiel 20:28I took them to the land which I had promised to give to them. But when they were there, they continued to offer sacrifices to idols. They did this on every high hill or under every green tree that they saw! They burned sweet incense and they poured out wine as offerings in all those places. That made me very angry.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 17:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Whilst their children remember - Even the rising generation have their imagination stocked with idol images, and their memories with the frantic rites and ceremonies which they saw their parents observe in this abominable worship.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2While their children remember their altars - Perhaps an allusion to their sacrifices of children to Moloch. Present perhaps at some such blood-stained rite, its horrors would be engraven forever upon the memory. Groves - “Asherahs,” i. e., wooden images of Astarte (see Exodus 34:13 note).Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2People cut Asherah poles from trees and placed them near altars for Baal, the Canaanite storm god. Asherah was the Canaanite goddess of fertility, representing the moist ground that helped crops grow. People performed ritual sex near these altars to encourage rain, seed sprouting, and plant growth. A tree near an altar could also symbolize this fertility goddess. The people of Judah were so morally corrupt that parents encouraged their children to join…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-27The the Septuagint omits the first four verses, but other Greek versions have them. 1. The first of the four clauses relates to the third, the second to the fourth, by alternate parallelism. The sense is: They are as keen after idols as if their propensity was "graven with an iron pen (Job 19:24) on their hearts," or as if it were sanctioned by a law "inscribed with a diamond point" on their altars. The names of their gods used to be written on "the horns…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 17:2

• Example
• Groves
• Idolatry
• Influence
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning

In the dictionaries

• Discontinue
• Hallow
• Hatch
• Salt
• Sit
• Asherah
• Color; Colors

Commentaries on Jeremiah 17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings