The Meaning of Jeremiah 3:1 Explained

Jeremiah 3:1

KJV: They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.

YLT: Saying, 'Lo, one sendeth away his wife, And she hath gone from him, And she hath been to another man, Doth he turn back unto her again? Greatly defiled is not that land? And thou hast committed whoredom with many lovers, And turn again to Me, an affirmation of Jehovah.

Darby: They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? Would not that land be utterly polluted? But thou hast committed fornication with many lovers; yet return to me, saith Jehovah.

ASV: They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, will he return unto her again? will not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith Jehovah.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They say,  If a man  put away  his wife,  and she go  from him, and become another  man's,  shall he return unto her again?  shall not that land  be greatly  polluted?  but thou hast played the harlot  with many  lovers;  yet return again  to me, saith  the LORD. 

What does Jeremiah 3:1 Mean?

Verse Meaning

God posed the question to His people of what happens in a divorce. The answer to His rhetorical question is: "No, if a husband divorces his wife, and she goes to live with (or remarries) another Prayer of Manasseh , he will not return to (or remarry) her." [1] The Mosaic Law prohibited such a thing (cf. Deuteronomy 24:1-4). If Judah was a wife and Yahweh was her husband, He would not normally "return" to her. The Israelites believed that sin and evil in the people had repercussions on the land and polluted it (cf. Jeremiah 3:2; Jeremiah 3:9; Leviticus 18:25; Leviticus 18:28; Leviticus 19:29; Deuteronomy 24:4; Hosea 4:2-3; Amos 4:6-10). "Return" is a key word in this sermon, as it is in the whole book. There are three specific commands to "Return" in this section ( Jeremiah 3:12; Jeremiah 3:14; Jeremiah 3:22), as well as numerous other occurrences of the word and its relatives. "Return," for example, appears nine times in the NASB ( Jeremiah 3:1; Jeremiah 3:7 [2], 10 , 12 , 14 , 22 , Jeremiah 4:1 [2]) and "turn" twice ( Jeremiah 3:1; Jeremiah 3:19).
A second figure compares Israel to a harlot with many lovers. She was worse than a divorced wife. Would such a woman expect her husband to receive her back if she returned to him? No. The people of Judah had no reasonable expectation that Yahweh would receive her back-even if she repented (cf. Hosea 2:14 to Hosea 3:3). [4]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 3

1  God's great mercy to Judah the polluted land
6  Judah is worse than Israel
12  The promises of the gospel to the penitent
20  Israel reproved, and called by God, makes a solemn confession of their sins

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 3:1 mean?

They say if divorces a man - his wife and she goes from him and becomes of man another May he return to her again would not greatly be polluted land that but you have played the harlot with lovers many and yet return to Me says Yahweh
לֵאמֹ֡ר הֵ֣ן יְשַׁלַּ֣ח אִ֣ישׁ אֶת־ אִשְׁתּוֹ֩ וְהָלְכָ֨ה מֵאִתּ֜וֹ וְהָיְתָ֣ה לְאִישׁ־ אַחֵ֗ר הֲיָשׁ֤וּב אֵלֶ֙יהָ֙ ؟ ע֔וֹד הֲל֛וֹא חָנ֥וֹף ؟ תֶּחֱנַ֖ף הָאָ֣רֶץ הַהִ֑יא וְאַ֗תְּ זָנִית֙ רֵעִ֣ים רַבִּ֔ים וְשׁ֥וֹב אֵלַ֖י נְאֻם־ יְהֹוָֽה

לֵאמֹ֡ר  They  say 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
יְשַׁלַּ֣ח  divorces 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁלַח  
Sense: to send, send away, let go, stretch out.
אִ֣ישׁ  a  man 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
אִשְׁתּוֹ֩  his  wife 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.
וְהָלְכָ֨ה  and  she  goes 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
מֵאִתּ֜וֹ  from  him 
Parse: Preposition-m, Direct object marker, third person masculine singular
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
וְהָיְתָ֣ה  and  becomes 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
לְאִישׁ־  of  man 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
אַחֵ֗ר  another 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: אַחֵר  
Sense: another, other, following.
הֲיָשׁ֤וּב  May  he  return 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
אֵלֶ֙יהָ֙  to  her 
Parse: Preposition, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
؟ ע֔וֹד  again 
Parse: Adverb
Root: עֹוד  
Sense: a going round, continuance adv.
הֲל֛וֹא  would  not 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
חָנ֥וֹף  greatly 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive absolute
Root: חָנֵף  
Sense: to be profaned, be defiled, be polluted, be corrupt.
؟ תֶּחֱנַ֖ף  be  polluted 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: חָנֵף  
Sense: to be profaned, be defiled, be polluted, be corrupt.
הָאָ֣רֶץ  land 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
הַהִ֑יא  that 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, third person feminine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
וְאַ֗תְּ  but  you 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, second person feminine singular
Root: אַתְּ 
Sense: you (second pers.
זָנִית֙  have  played  the  harlot 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person feminine singular
Root: זָנָה 
Sense: to commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot.
רֵעִ֣ים  with  lovers 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: רֵעַ  
Sense: friend, companion, fellow, another person.
רַבִּ֔ים  many 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: רַב 
Sense: much, many, great.
וְשׁ֥וֹב  and  yet  return 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Infinitive absolute
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
אֵלַ֖י  to  Me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
נְאֻם־  says 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: נְאֻם  
Sense: (Qal) utterance, declaration (of prophet).
יְהֹוָֽה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.