The Meaning of Jeremiah 5:7 Explained

Jeremiah 5:7

KJV: How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.

YLT: For this I am not propitious to thee, Thy sons have forsaken Me, And are satisfied by that which is not god, I satisfy them, and they commit adultery, And at the house of a harlot They gather themselves together.

Darby: Wherefore should I pardon thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and swear by them that are not God. I have satiated them, and they have committed adultery, and they troop to the harlots' house.

ASV: How can I pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots houses.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

How  shall I pardon  thee for this?  thy children  have forsaken  me, and sworn  by [them that are] no  gods:  when I had fed them to the full,  they then committed adultery,  and assembled themselves by troops  in the harlots'  houses. 

What does Jeremiah 5:7 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Yahweh asked the people why He should pardon them. Their sons, for whom the older generation was responsible, had forsaken Him and trusted in idols. As payment for the blessings He had sent them, they continued to commit adultery with the Canaanite gods and their human representatives.

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 5:7 mean?

How for this - shall I pardon you Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by not [those that are] gods And when I had fed to the full them and they committed adultery and in the houses harlots' assembled themselves by troops
אֵ֤י ؟ לָזֹאת֙ [אסלוח־] (אֶֽסְלַֽח־) לָ֔ךְ‪‬ בָּנַ֣יִךְ עֲזָב֔וּנִי וַיִּשָּׁבְע֖וּ בְּלֹ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים וָאַשְׂבִּ֤עַ אוֹתָם֙ וַיִּנְאָ֔פוּ וּבֵ֥ית זוֹנָ֖ה יִתְגֹּדָֽדוּ

אֵ֤י  How 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: אֵי  
Sense: where?, whence?.
؟ לָזֹאת֙  for  this 
Parse: Preposition-l, Pronoun, feminine singular
Root: זׄאת  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, such.
[אסלוח־]  - 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
(אֶֽסְלַֽח־)  shall  I  pardon 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: סָלַח  
Sense: to forgive, pardon.
בָּנַ֣יִךְ  Your  children 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person feminine singular
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
עֲזָב֔וּנִי  have  forsaken  Me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural, first person common singular
Root: עָזַב 
Sense: to leave, loose, forsake.
וַיִּשָּׁבְע֖וּ  and  sworn 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Nifal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שָׁבַע  
Sense: to swear, adjure.
בְּלֹ֣א  by  not 
Parse: Preposition-b, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
אֱלֹהִ֑ים  [those  that  are]  gods 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
וָאַשְׂבִּ֤עַ  And  when  I  had  fed  to  the  full 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, first person common singular
Root: שָׁבַע  
Sense: to swear, adjure.
וַיִּנְאָ֔פוּ  and  they  committed  adultery 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: נָאַף  
Sense: to commit adultery.
וּבֵ֥ית  and  in  the  houses 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
זוֹנָ֖ה  harlots' 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: זָנָה 
Sense: to commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot.
יִתְגֹּדָֽדוּ  assembled  themselves  by  troops 
Parse: Verb, Hitpael, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: גָּדַד 
Sense: to penetrate, cut, attack, invade.