New King James Version
Jeremiah 3:2
2“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.
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.
- New International Version (NIV)“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.
- 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 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“They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him And becomes another man’s, May he return to her again?’ Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me,” says the Lord. “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. 3Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no latter rain. You have had a harlot’s forehead; You refuse to be ashamed. 4Will you not from this time cry to Me, ‘My Father, You are the guide of 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 polluted, I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley; Know what you have done: You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways,
- Ezekiel 8:4And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.
- Luke 16:23And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
- Jeremiah 2:20“For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; And you said, ‘I will not transgress,’ When on every high hill and under every green tree You lay down, playing the harlot.
- Deuteronomy 12:2You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.
- 1 Kings 11:3And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
- 2 Kings 23:13Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon.
- Ezekiel 16:16You took some of your garments and adorned multicolored high places for yourself, and played the harlot on them. Such things should not happen, nor be.
- Ezekiel 20:28When I brought them into the land concerning which I had raised My hand in an oath to give them, and they saw all the high hills and all the thick trees, there they offered their sacrifices and provoked Me with their offerings. There they also sent up their sweet aroma and poured out their drink offerings.
- Genesis 38:14So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.
- Proverbs 7:11She was loud and rebellious, Her feet would not stay at home.
- Proverbs 23:28She also lies in wait as for a victim, And increases the unfaithful among men.
- Ezekiel 16:24that you also built for yourself a shrine, and made a high place for yourself in every street.
- Jeremiah 3:1“They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him And becomes another man’s, May he return to her again?’ Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me,” says the Lord.
- Jeremiah 2:7I brought you into a bountiful country, To eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land And made My heritage an abomination.
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 King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries