The Meaning of Jeremiah 3:14 Explained

Jeremiah 3:14

KJV: 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:

YLT: Turn back, O backsliding sons, An affirmation of Jehovah. For I have ruled over you, And taken you one of a city, and two of a family, And have brought you to Zion,

Darby: Return, backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you, and I will take you, one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

ASV: Return, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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: 

What does Jeremiah 3:14 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Changing the figure, the Lord invited the prodigal Israelites to return to their Father ( Jeremiah 3:4). He would take them back and be their master (Heb. Ba"al) again. [1] Hebrews , the sovereign Lord of the covenant, was their master, not Baal (lit. "master").
". . . "I am your ba"al (husband)" implies that no longer would Judah be bound to the Baals of the fertility faith to which she had so easily fallen away from the true covenant faith." [2]
The Israelites did not have to come en mass. The Lord would receive any individual Israelites who really repented, even though they were part of a larger group that did not repent. The Lord would even bring them back to Himself in Zion, the place where He had promised to meet with His people. Thus the way was open for a remnant of spiritually sensitive Israelites to respond.

Context Summary

Jeremiah 3:11-25 - Pleading With Faithless Children
The people of the northern kingdom, to whom this appeal is especially addressed, were more excusable than Judah, because their privileges had been less. God judges us according to our opportunities. How precious the invitation and promise of Jeremiah 3:12! Confession is an essential condition that must be fulfilled by us. See 1 John 1:7. Zion shall yet be the center of a restored Israel, Jeremiah 3:14; Jeremiah 3:18. In Jeremiah 3:21-25 the voices of the people in confession and prayer mingle with Jehovah's encouraging their return. When we lie down in broken-hearted shame and penitence, we are very near to being lifted to the bosom of God. Compare Jeremiah 3:25 with Jeremiah 4:1. The return of the Chosen People to the God of their fathers will be the cause of revival and quickening throughout the earth. Compare Jeremiah 4:2 with Romans 11:12. [source]

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 3:14 mean?

Return children backsliding says Yahweh for I am married to you and I will take you one from a city and two from a family and I will bring to Zion
שׁ֣וּבוּ בָנִ֤ים שׁוֹבָבִים֙ נְאֻם־ יְהוָ֔ה כִּ֥י אָנֹכִ֖י בָּעַ֣לְתִּי בָכֶ֑ם וְלָקַחְתִּ֨י אֶתְכֶ֜ם אֶחָ֣ד מֵעִ֗יר וּשְׁנַ֙יִם֙ מִמִּשְׁפָּחָ֔ה וְהֵבֵאתִ֥י צִיּֽוֹן

שׁ֣וּבוּ  Return 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
בָנִ֤ים  children 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
שׁוֹבָבִים֙  backsliding 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: שֹׁובָב  
Sense: backsliding, backturning, apostate, recusant.
נְאֻם־  says 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: נְאֻם  
Sense: (Qal) utterance, declaration (of prophet).
יְהוָ֔ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
בָּעַ֣לְתִּי  am  married 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: בְּעוּלָה 
Sense: to marry, rule over, possess, own.
בָכֶ֑ם  to  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
וְלָקַחְתִּ֨י  and  I  will  take 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.
אֶחָ֣ד  one 
Parse: Number, masculine singular
Root: אֶחָד  
Sense: one (number).
מֵעִ֗יר  from  a  city 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular
Root: עִיר 
Sense: excitement, anguish.
וּשְׁנַ֙יִם֙  and  two 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, md
Root: שְׁנַיִם  
Sense: two.
מִמִּשְׁפָּחָ֔ה  from  a  family 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִשְׁפָּחָה  
Sense: clan, family.
וְהֵבֵאתִ֥י  and  I  will  bring 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
צִיּֽוֹן  to  Zion 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: צִיּׄון  
Sense: another name for Jerusalem especially in the prophetic books.