Bible Strands
Jeremiah 17:2
Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles by the green trees and on the high hills.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah addresses Judah, extending his declaration that the nation’s idolatry is permanently engraved on their hearts and altars. This verse notes how the next generation inherits and recalls these pagan worship sites.
The words — The Hebrew z.Kor (remember) and ra.'a.Nan (luxuriant) anchor the description of children recalling altars and Asherah poles situated at 'etz (trees) and on high hills.
The thread — This pattern of inherited pagan worship appears in 2 Chronicles 24:18, where ancestors abandon the house of the LORD to serve Asherah poles and idols, and in Jeremiah 2:20, which describes Israel worshipping on high hills and under green trees. Judges 3:7 similarly records Israel forgetting the LORD to serve Baals and Asherahs.
Why it lands — The text documents how idolatrous practices become embedded cultural memory, requiring a reader to confront inherited spiritual patterns before any call to covenant faithfulness.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 24:18 They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.
- Jeremiah 2:20 “For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute.
- Judges 3:7 So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
- 2 Chronicles 33:3 For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he raised up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. And he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.
- Isaiah 1:29 Surely you will be ashamed of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be embarrassed by the gardens that you have chosen.
- Isaiah 17:8 They will not look to the altars they have fashioned with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers.
- 2 Chronicles 33:19 His prayer and how God received his plea, as well as all his sin and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself, they are indeed written in the Records of the Seers.
- Psalms 78:58 They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.
- Jeremiah 7:18 The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger.
- Ezekiel 20:28 When I brought them into the land that I swore to give them and they saw any high hill or leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, presented offerings that provoked Me, sent up their fragrant incense, and poured out their drink offerings.