Jeremiah 3:9

Jeremiah 3:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
• New International Version (NIV)Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.

Context of Jeremiah 3:9

7I thought, ‘After she has done all this, she will return to me.’ But she did not return, and her faithless sister Judah saw this. 8She saw that I divorced faithless Israel because of her adultery. But that treacherous sister Judah had no fear, and now she, too, has left me and given herself to prostitution. Israel treated it all so lightly—she thought nothing of committing adultery by worshiping idols made of wood and stone. So now the land has been polluted. 10But despite all this, her faithless sister Judah has never sincerely returned to me. She has only pretended to be sorry. I, the Lord, have spoken!” 11Then the Lord said to me, “Even faithless Israel is less guilty than treacherous Judah!

Jeremiah 3:9 word by word

וְהָיָה֙ מִקֹּ֣ל זְנוּתָ֔הּ וַתֶּחֱנַ֖ף אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַתִּנְאַ֥ף אֶת־הָאֶ֖בֶן וְאֶת־הָעֵֽץ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And it came to pass through the lightnessקֹלqôl qôl · frivolityH6963
• of her whoredomזְנוּתzenûth · fornicationH2184
• that she defiledחָנֵףchânêph · to polluteH2610
• the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• and committed adulteryנָאַףnâ'aph · to commit adulteryH5003
• with stonesאֶ֫בֶן'eben · stoneH68
• and with stocksעֵץ‛êts · treeH6086

Cross-references for Jeremiah 3:9

• Ezekiel 23:10They stripped her, took away her children as their slaves, and then killed her. After she received her punishment, her reputation was known to every woman in the land.
• Jeremiah 3:2“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.
• Jeremiah 2:7“And when I brought you into a fruitful land to enjoy its bounty and goodness, you defiled my land and corrupted the possession I had promised you.
• Jeremiah 2:27To an image carved from a piece of wood they say, ‘You are my father.’ To an idol chiseled from a block of stone they say, ‘You are my mother.’ They turn their backs on me, but in times of trouble they cry out to me, ‘Come and save us!’
• Jeremiah 10:8People who worship idols are stupid and foolish. The things they worship are made of wood!
• Isaiah 57:6Your gods are the smooth stones in the valleys. You worship them with liquid offerings and grain offerings. They, not I, are your inheritance. Do you think all this makes me happy?
• Ezekiel 16:17You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them. This is adultery against me!
• Hosea 4:12They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God.
• Habakkuk 2:19What sorrow awaits you who say to wooden idols, ‘Wake up and save us!’ To speechless stone images you say, ‘Rise up and teach us!’ Can an idol tell you what to do? They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 3:9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9The lightness of her whoredom - The grossness of her idolatry: worshipping objects the most degrading, with rites the most impure.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Lightness - Others render as in the margin. Defiled - Rather, profaned. The land especially consecrated to Yahweh‘s service was treated by Judah as a common land.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-11Verses 6-11 If we mark the crimes of those who break off from a religious profession, and the consequences, we see abundant reason to shun evil ways. It is dreadful to be proved more criminal than those who have actually perished in their sins; yet it will be small comfort in everlasting punishment, for them to know that others were viler than they.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9defiled the land: Because Israel turned away from their faith, fertile fields stopped producing crops, and sheep did not graze on green grass (Isaiah 57:6).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. it--Some take this verse of Judah, to whom the end of Jr 3:8 refers. But Jr 3:10 puts Judah in contrast to Israel in this verse. "Yet for all this," referring to the sad example of Israel; if Jr 3:9 referred to Judah, "she" would have been written in Jr 3:10, not "Judah." Translate, "It (the putting away of Israel) had come to pass through ... whoredom; and (that is, for) she (Israel) had defiled the land" &c. [Maurer]. English Version, however, may be…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 3:9

• Backsliders
• Church
• Condescension of God
• Idolatry
• Impenitence

In the dictionaries

• Adultery
• Confusion
• Fornication
• Marriage
• Marry
• Reserve
• Defile; Defilement
• Forehead
• Godless
• Habaziniah

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