Jeremiah 17:2
Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
Jeremiah 17:2 in other translations
| BSB | Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles by the green trees and on the high hills. |
|---|---|
| WEB | Even their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles by the green trees on the high hills. |
| ASV | whilst their children remember their altars and their Asherim by the green trees upon the high hills. |
| YLT | As their sons remember their altars and their shrines, By the green tree, by the high hills. |
| DARBY | whilst their children remember their altars and their Asherahs, by the green trees, upon the high hills. |
| BBE | Their altars and their wood pillars under every branching tree, on the high hills and the mountains in the field. |
| Webster | Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills. |
What does Jeremiah 17:2 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Jr 17:1-27. The Jews' Inveterate Love of Idolatry.
The 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 of the altars" (Ac 17:23). As the clause "on their hearts" refers to their inward propensity, so "on ... altars," the outward exhibition of it. Others refer "on the horns of ... altars" to their staining them with the blood of victims, in imitation of the Levitical precept (Ex 29:12; Le 4:7, 18), but "written ... graven," would thus be inappropriate. table of ... heart--which God intended to be inscribed very differently, namely, with His truths (Pr 3:3; 2Co 3:3). your--Though "their" preceded, He directly addresses them to charge the guilt home to them in particular. 2. children remember--Instead of forsaking the idolatries of their fathers, they keep them up (Jr 7:18). This is given as proof that their sin is "graven upon ... altars" (Jr 17:1), that is, is not merely temporary. They corrupt their posterity after them. Castalio less probably translates, "They remember their altars as (fondly as) they do their children." groves--rather, "images of Astarte," the goddess of the heavenly hosts, represented as a sacred tree, such as is seen in the Assyrian sculptures (2Ki 21:7; 2Ch 24:18). "Image of the grove." The Hebrew for "grove" is Asherah, that is, Assarak, Astarte, or Ashtaroth. by the green trees--that is, near them: the sacred trees (idol symbols) of Astarte being placed in the midst of natural trees: "green trees" is thus distinguished from "groves," artificial trees. Henderson, to avoid taking the same Hebrew particle in the same sentence differently, "by ... upon" translates "images of Astarte on the green trees." But it is not probable that images, in the form of a sacred tree, should be hung on trees, rather than near them.Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Jeremiah 17:1-4
The fatal consequences of the idolatry of the Jews. (Jr 17:1-4) The happiness of the man that trusts in God; the end of the opposite character. (Jr 17:5-11) The malice of the prophet's enemies. (Jr 17:12-18) The observance of the sabbath. (Jr 17:19-27) Verses 1-4 The sins which men commit make little impression on their minds, yet every sin is marked in the book of God; they are all so graven upon the table of the…
Jeremiah 17:2 in the original Hebrew
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Cross references for Jeremiah 17:2
- 2 Chronicles 24:18
And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.
- Jeremiah 2:20
For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
- Judges 3:7
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
- 2 Chronicles 33:3
For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
- Isaiah 17:8
And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.
- Isaiah 1:29
For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
- Psalms 78:58
For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
- Hosea 4:13-14
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.
- 2 Chronicles 33:19
His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.
- Ezekiel 20:28
For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.
- Jeremiah 7:18
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- Jeremiah 17:1
The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
- Jeremiah 17:2
Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
- Jeremiah 17:3
O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.
Jeremiah 17:2 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Cuando sus hijos se acuerdan de sus altares y de sus bosques, junto á los árboles verdes y en los collados altos. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | comme leurs fils se souviennent de leurs autels et de leurs ashères auprès des arbres verts, sur les hautes collines. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Wie ihrer Kinder, so gedenken sie ihrer Altäre und ihrer Ascherim bei den grünen Bäumen, auf den hohen Hügeln. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Cum recordati fuerint filii eorum ararum suarum, et lucorum suorum, lignorumque frondentium, in montibus excelsis, |