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

1Judah’s sin is written with an iron pen and with a point of a diamond, engraved on the tablet of their heart and on the horns of your altars. So their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles by leafy trees on the high hills. 3My mountain in the country, your wealth and all your treasures I will give away as plunder, along with your high places for sin within all your borders. 4So you, on your own, let go of your heritage that I gave you. So I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know. For you have kindled a fire in My nose that 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 7:18The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire and the women knead the dough to make sacrificial cakes to the queen of heaven. Moreover, they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to provoke Me to anger.
• Hosea 4:13They sacrifice on the mountaintops and on the high places they burn incense under oak poplar, and terebinth— for its shade is good. Therefore your daughters are prostitutes and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
• Jeremiah 2:20“Indeed, long ago I broke your yoke and tore off your bonds. You said, ‘I will not serve!’ Instead, on every high hill and under every green tree you sprawled out as a prostitute.
• Judges 3:7Bnei-Yisrael did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, forgot Adonai their God and worshipped the Baalim and the Asherahs.
• 2 Chronicles 24:18They forsook the House of Adonai, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and the idols. Wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for their guilt.
• 2 Chronicles 33:3For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had demolished, he reerected altars for the Baalim, made Asherah poles, and bowed down to all the host of heaven and worshipped them.
• Psalms 78:58For they provoked Him with their high places, so they aroused His jealousy with their graven images.
• Isaiah 1:29For they will be ashamed of the sacred oaks that you desired, and embarrassed because of the gardens that you have chosen.
• Isaiah 17:8He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, nor will he look to what his fingers have made—neither the Asherah poles nor the sun-images.
• Ezekiel 20:28When I brought them into the land, which I lifted up My hand to give to them, they saw every high hill and every leafy tree. There they slaughtered their sacrifices and presented their offensive offering. There they made their soothing aroma and poured out their drink 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