New International Version
Jeremiah 3:2
2“Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
Jeremiah 3:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been ravished? By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers like an Arab in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your vile whoredom.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see: Where have you not lain with men? By the road you have sat for them Like an Arabian in the wilderness; And you have polluted the land With your harlotries and your wickedness.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Look at the shrines on every hilltop. Is there any place you have not been defiled by your adultery with other gods? You sit like a prostitute beside the road waiting for a customer. You sit alone like a nomad in the desert. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and your wickedness.
Context of Jeremiah 3:2
1“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers— would you now return to me?” declares the Lord. “Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness. 3Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame. 4Have you not just called to me: ‘My Father, my friend from my youth,
Read all of Jeremiah 3Jeremiah 3:2 word by word
שְׂאִֽי־עֵינַ֨יִךְ עַל־שְׁפָיִ֜ם וּרְאִ֗י אֵיפֹה֙ לֹ֣א שֻׁכַּ֔בְתְּ עַל־דְּרָכִים֙ יָשַׁ֣בְתְּ לָהֶ֔ם כַּעֲרָבִ֖י בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר וַתַּחֲנִ֣יפִי אֶ֔רֶץ בִּזְנוּתַ֖יִךְ וּבְרָעָתֵֽךְ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Lift upנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: lookH5375
- thine eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
- unto the high placesשְׁפִיshephîy · barenessH8205
- and seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- whereאֵיפֹה'êyphôh · where?H375
- thou hast not been lienשָׁכַבshâkab · to lie down: have sexH7901
- thou hast not been lienשָׁגֵלshâgal · to ravishH7693
- with. In the waysדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: roadH1870
- hast thou satיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- for them, as the Arabianעֲרָבִי‛ărâbîy ‛arbîy · ArabH6163
- in the wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057
- and thou hast pollutedחָנֵףchânêph · to polluteH2610
- the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- with thy whoredomsזְנוּתzenûth · fornicationH2184
- and with thy wickednessרָעָהra‛ râ‛âh · distress: harmH7451
Cross-references for Jeremiah 3:2
- Jeremiah 2:23“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there,
- Ezekiel 8:4And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.
- Luke 16:23In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
- Jeremiah 2:20“Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, ‘I will not serve you!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute.
- Deuteronomy 12:2Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods.
- 1 Kings 11:3He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.
- 2 Kings 23:13The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon.
- Ezekiel 16:16You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. You went to him, and he possessed your beauty.
- Ezekiel 20:28When I brought them into the land I had sworn to give them and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, made offerings that aroused my anger, presented their fragrant incense and poured out their drink offerings.
- Genesis 38:14she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.
- Proverbs 7:11(She is unruly and defiant, her feet never stay at home;
- Proverbs 23:28Like a bandit she lies in wait and multiplies the unfaithful among men.
- Ezekiel 16:24you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square.
- Jeremiah 3:1“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers— would you now return to me?” declares the Lord.
- Jeremiah 2:7I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 3:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2As the Arabian in the wilderness - They were as fully intent on the practice of their idolatry as the Arab in the desert is in lying in wait to plunder the caravans. Where they have not cover to lie in ambush, they scatter themselves about, and run hither and thither, raising themselves up on their saddles to see if they can discover, by smoke, dust, or other token, the approach of any travelers.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2These words are not the language of consolation to the conscience-stricken, but of vehement expostulation with hardened sinners. They prove, therefore, the truth of the interpretation put upon the preceding verse. As the Arabian - The freebooting propensities of the Bedouin had passed in ancient times into a proverb. As eager as the desert-tribes were for plunder, so was Israel for idolatry.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2As the Lord's bride (see Jeremiah 2:2), Israel was not supposed to worship other gods.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. high places--the scene of idolatries which were spiritual adulteries. In ... ways ... sat for them--watching for lovers like a prostitute (Ge 38:14, 21; Pr 7:12; 23:28; Eze 16:24, 25), and like an Arab who lies in wait for travellers. The Arabs of the desert, east and south of Palestine, are still notorious as robbers.Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 3:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 3
- 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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries