Jeremiah 3 · Verse 6

Jeremiah 3:6

The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
Jeremiah 3:6, King James Version

Jeremiah 3:6 in other translations

BSBNow in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there.
WEBMoreover, the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has played the prostitute there.
ASVMoreover Jehovah said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
YLTAnd Jehovah saith unto me, in the days of Josiah the king, ‘Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? She is going on every high mountain, and unto the place of every green tree, and committeth fornication there.
DARBYAnd Jehovah said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel hath done? She hath gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath committed fornication.
BBEAnd the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen what Israel, turning away from me, has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every branching tree, acting like a loose woman there.
WebsterThe LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she hath gone up upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

What does Jeremiah 3:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
6. Jr 3:6-6:30, is a new discourse, delivered in Josiah's reign. It consists of two parts, the former extending to Jr 4:3, in which he warns Judah from the example of Israel's doom, and yet promises Israel final restoration; the latter a threat of Babylonian invasion; as Nabopolassar founded the Babylonian empire, 625 B.C., the seventeenth of Josiah, this prophecy is perhaps not earlier than that date (Jr 4:5, &c.; Jr 5:14, &c.; Jr 6:1, &c.; Jr 22:1-30); and probably not later than the second thorough reformation in the eighteenth year of the same reign. backsliding--literally, "apostasy"; not merely apostate, but apostasy itself, the essence of it (Jr 3:14, 22).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 6 The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king - This is a new discourse, and is supposed to have been delivered after the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah. Here the prophet shows the people of Judah the transgressions, idolatry, obstinacy, and punishment of their brethren, the ten tribes, whom he calls to return to the Lord, with the most gracious promises of restoration to their own country, their reunion with their brethren of Judah, and every degree of prosperity in consequence. He takes occasion also to show the Jews how much more culpable they were than the Israelites, because they practiced the same iniquities while they had the punishment and ruin of the others before their eyes. He therefore exhorts them to return to God with all their hearts, that they might not fall into the same condemnation. See the following verses.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Jeremiah 3:6-11
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.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Jeremiah 3:6 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֹּ֨אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
יְהוָ֜הYah.wehYahwehH3068
אֵלַ֗י'e.Laito meH413
בִּימֵי֙bi.Meiin [the] days ofH3117
יֹאשִׁיָּ֣הוּyo.shi.Ya.huJosiahH2977
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְha.Me.lekhthe kingH4428
הֲֽרָאִ֔יתָhara.'I.ta¿ have you seenH7200
אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.Sher[that] whichH834
עָשְׂתָ֖ה'a.se.Tahshe has doneH6213
מְשֻׁבָ֣הme.shu.Vah[the] apostate oneH4878
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
הֹלְכָ֨הho.le.Khah[has been] goingH1980
הִ֜יאhi'sheH1931
עַל\־'al-onH5921
כָּל\־kol-everyH3605
הַ֣רharhillH2022
גָּבֹ֗הַּga.Vo.ahhighH1364
וְאֶל\־ve.'el-and toH413
תַּ֛חַתTa.chatunderH8478
כָּל\־kol-everyH3605
עֵ֥ץ'etztreeH6086
רַעֲנָ֖ןra.'a.NanluxuriantH7488
וַתִּזְנִי\־va.tiz.ni-and she has acted as a prostituteH2181
שָֽׁם\׃ShamthereH8033

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Jeremiah 3:6

  • Ezekiel 16:31

    In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;

  • 2 Kings 17:7-17

    For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: …

  • 1 Kings 14:23

    For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.

  • Jeremiah 3:8

    And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

  • Jeremiah 3:11-14

    And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

  • Jeremiah 2:19-20

    Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts. 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.

  • Ezekiel 23:11

    And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.

  • Jeremiah 17:2

    Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.

  • 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.

  • Ezekiel 16:24-25

    That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street. Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.

  • Isaiah 57:7

    Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.

  • Jeremiah 7:24

    But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A.M. 3292. B.C. 612. backsliding.
8,11-14; 2:19; 7:24; 2Ki 17:7-17; Eze 23:11
she is.
2:20; Isa 57:7; Eze 16:24,25,31; 20:28; 1Ki 14:23
played.
1

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Jeremiah 3:5

    Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

  • Jeremiah 3:6

    The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

  • Jeremiah 3:7

    And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

Read all of Jeremiah 3

Jeremiah 3:6 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y díjome Jehová en días del rey Josías: ¿Has visto lo que ha hecho la rebelde Israel? Vase ella sobre todo monte alto y debajo de todo árbol umbroso, y allí fornica.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et l’ Éternel me dit dans les jours du roi Josias: As-tu vu ce qu’a fait Israël, l’infidèle? Elle s’en est allée sur toute haute montagne et sous tout arbre vert, et elle s’y est prostituée.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und Jehova sprach zu mir in den Tagen des Königs Josia: Hast du gesehen, was die abtrünnige Israel getan hat? Sie ging auf jeden hohen Berg und unter jeden grünen Baum und hurte daselbst.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Et dixit Dominus ad me in diebus Josiæ regis: Numquid vidisti quæ fecerit aversatrix Israël? Abiit sibimet super omnem montem excelsum, et sub omni ligno frondoso, et fornicata est ibi.