The Meaning of Jeremiah 5:3 Explained

Jeremiah 5:3

KJV: O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

YLT: Jehovah, Thine eyes, are they not on stedfastness? Thou hast smitten them, and they have not grieved, Thou hast consumed them, They have refused to receive instruction, They made their faces harder than a rock, They have refused to turn back.

Darby: Jehovah, are not thine eyes upon fidelity? Thou hast smitten them, but they are not sore; thou hast consumed them, they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

ASV: O Jehovah, do not thine eyes look upon truth? thou hast stricken them, but they were not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

O LORD,  [are] not thine eyes  upon the truth?  thou hast stricken  them, but they have not grieved;  thou hast consumed  them, [but] they have refused  to receive  correction:  they have made their faces  harder  than a rock;  they have refused  to return. 

What does Jeremiah 5:3 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jeremiah acknowledged that even though the people of Jerusalem did not seek truth ( Jeremiah 5:1), the Lord did. The prophet knew that Yahweh"s discipline of the people had not yielded repentance. They had hardened themselves against Him and had refused to repent (Heb. shub).
"Jerusalem was to fall at the hands of the political enemy from without because of the spiritual enemies of God working from within." [1]

Context Summary

Jeremiah 5:1-6 - Widespread Corruption
Diogenes, the cynic, was discovered one day in Athens in broad daylight, lantern in hand, looking for something. When someone remonstrated with him, he said that he needed all the light possible to enable him to find an honest man. Something like that is in the prophet's thought. God was prepared to spare Jerusalem on lower terms than even Sodom, and yet He was driven to destroy her. Both poor and rich had alike "broken the yoke and burst the bonds." The description of the onset of the Chaldeans is very graphic. They settle down upon the land as a flock of locusts, but still the Chosen People refuse to connect their punishment with their sin. It never occurred to the Chosen People that the failure of the rain, the withering of their crops, and the assault of their foes, were all connected with their sin. There is nothing unusual in this obtuseness for as we read the history of our own times, men are equally inapt at connecting national disaster with national sin.
How good it would be if the national cry of today were that of Jeremiah 5:24 : Let us now fear before the Lord our God! Notice the delightful metaphor of Jeremiah 5:22. When God would stay the wild ocean wave a barrier of sand will suffice. The martyrs were as sand grains but wild persecutions were quenched by their heroic patience. [source]

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 5:3 mean?

Yahweh Your eyes [are] not on the truth You have stricken them but not they have grieved You have consumed them but they have refused to receive correction They have made harder their faces than rock they have refused to return
יְהֹוָ֗ה עֵינֶיךָ֮ הֲל֣וֹא ؟ לֶאֱמוּנָה֒ הִכִּ֤יתָה אֹתָם֙ וְֽלֹא־ חָ֔לוּ כִּלִּיתָ֕ם מֵאֲנ֖וּ קַ֣חַת מוּסָ֑ר חִזְּק֤וּ פְנֵיהֶם֙ מִסֶּ֔לַע מֵאֲנ֖וּ לָשֽׁוּב

יְהֹוָ֗ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
עֵינֶיךָ֮  Your  eyes 
Parse: Noun, cdc, second person masculine singular
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
הֲל֣וֹא  [are]  not 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
؟ לֶאֱמוּנָה֒  on  the  truth 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֱמוּנָה  
Sense: firmness, fidelity, steadfastness, steadiness.
הִכִּ֤יתָה  You  have  stricken 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: נָכָה  
Sense: to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill.
וְֽלֹא־  but  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
חָ֔לוּ  they  have  grieved 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: חוּל 
Sense: to twist, whirl, dance, writhe, fear, tremble, travail, be in anguish, be pained.
כִּלִּיתָ֕ם  You  have  consumed  them 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, second person masculine singular, third person masculine plural
Root: כָּלָה  
Sense: to accomplish, cease, consume, determine, end, fail, finish, be complete, be accomplished, be ended, be at an end, be finished, be spent.
מֵאֲנ֖וּ  but  they  have  refused 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: מָאַן  
Sense: (Piel) to refuse.
קַ֣חַת  to  receive 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.
מוּסָ֑ר  correction 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מוּסָר  
Sense: discipline, chastening, correction.
חִזְּק֤וּ  They  have  made  harder 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: חָזַק  
Sense: to strengthen, prevail, harden, be strong, become strong, be courageous, be firm, grow firm, be resolute, be sore.
פְנֵיהֶם֙  their  faces 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
מִסֶּ֔לַע  than  rock 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: סֶלַע  
Sense: crag, cliff, rock.
מֵאֲנ֖וּ  they  have  refused 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: מָאַן  
Sense: (Piel) to refuse.
לָשֽׁוּב  to  return 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.