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 Lord says,⌟ “Judah’s sin is written with an iron pen. It is engraved with a diamond point on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars. Even their children remember their altars and their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah beside large trees on high hills 3and on mountains in the open country. I will turn your wealth and all your treasures into loot. I will do this because of your worship sites and your sin throughout all your territory. 4You will lose the inheritance that I gave you. I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you haven’t heard of. I will do this because you have stirred up the fire of my anger. It will burn forever.

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 7:18Children gather wood, fathers light fires, and women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. They pour out wine offerings to other gods in order to make me furious.
• Hosea 4:13They offer sacrifices on mountaintops, and they burn incense on the hills under oaks, poplars, and other trees. They think that these trees provide good shade. “That is why your daughters become prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
• Jeremiah 2:20“Long ago you broke off your yoke, tore off your chains, and said that you wouldn’t be a slave. You lay down and acted like a prostitute on every high hill and under every large tree.
• Judges 3:7The people of Israel did what the Lord considered evil. They forgot the Lord their God and served other gods and goddesses—the Baals and the Asherahs.
• 2 Chronicles 24:18They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors and worshiped idols and the poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah. This offense of theirs brought God’s anger upon Judah and Jerusalem.
• 2 Chronicles 33:3He rebuilt the illegal places of worship that his father Hezekiah had torn down. He set up altars dedicated to other gods—the Baals—and made a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh, like Ahab, worshiped and served the entire army of heaven.
• Psalms 78:58They made him angry because of their illegal worship sites. They made him furious because they worshiped idols.
• Isaiah 1:29You will be ashamed of the oaks that you wanted to worship and embarrassed by the garden that you have chosen for your gods.
• Isaiah 17:8They won’t look to the altars made by their hands or to the Asherah poles or incense altars which their fingers molded.
• Ezekiel 20:28I brought them to the land that I promised to give them. When they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, they made sacrifices and brought offerings there to make me angry. There they offered their sacrifices and poured out their wine offerings.

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