The Meaning of Jeremiah 5:23 Explained

Jeremiah 5:23

KJV: But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

YLT: And this people hath an apostate and rebellious heart, They have turned aside, and they go on.

Darby: But this people hath a stubborn and a rebellious heart; they have turned aside and are gone.

ASV: But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But this people  hath a revolting  and a rebellious  heart;  they are revolted  and gone. 

What does Jeremiah 5:23 Mean?

Verse Meaning

God"s people had proved stubborn and rebellious at heart. "They were not ignorant, but obstinate." [1] Unlike the sea, they failed to submit to Yahweh"s sovereignty (cf. Jeremiah 1:3). In their actions they had turned aside (Heb. shub), apostatized, and departed from the Lord and His covenant.

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 5

1  The judgments of God upon the people, for their perverseness;
7  for their adultery;
10  for their impiety;
15  for their worship of idols;
19  for their contempt of God;
25  and for their great corruption in the civil state;
30  and ecclesiastical

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 5:23 mean?

But people this has heart a defiant and rebellious they have revolted and departed
וְלָעָ֤ם הַזֶּה֙ הָיָ֔ה לֵ֖ב סוֹרֵ֣ר וּמוֹרֶ֑ה סָ֖רוּ וַיֵּלֵֽכוּ

וְלָעָ֤ם  But  people 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
הַזֶּה֙  this 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, masculine singular
Root: זֶה  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, another, such.
לֵ֖ב  heart 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
סוֹרֵ֣ר  a  defiant 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: סָרַר  
Sense: to rebel, be stubborn, be rebellious, be refractory.
וּמוֹרֶ֑ה  and  rebellious 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: מָרָה  
Sense: to be contentious, be rebellious, be refractory, be disobedient towards, be rebellious against.
סָ֖רוּ  they  have  revolted 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: סוּר 
Sense: to turn aside, depart.
וַיֵּלֵֽכוּ  and  departed 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.