Bible Strands
Jeremiah 2:35
you say, ‘I am innocent. Surely His anger will turn from me.’ Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through Jeremiah to Israel, responding to their claim of innocence after detailing their history of idolatry and injustice. This occurs within a covenant lawsuit where God confronts Israel's denial of guilt despite clear evidence of blood on their skirts.
The words — The Hebrew נִקֵּיתִי (niqqēṯî) literally means "I am innocent," while שָׁב (shav) denotes "it has turned back." These terms capture Israel's assertion that divine wrath has already been averted by their own perceived purity.
The thread — This denial of guilt echoes the self-justifying posture recorded in Job 33:9 and condemned in 1 John 1:8 and Proverbs 28:13 as a barrier to mercy. The theme of unconfessed sin leading to divine judgment recurs across both testaments.
Why it lands — The verse demands honest acknowledgment of guilt rather than self-justification, as divine judgment follows the refusal to admit sin. It requires the reader to confront the danger of claiming moral innocence before God.
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
Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
- 1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Job 33:9 ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, with no iniquity in me.
- Isaiah 58:3 “Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers.
- Jeremiah 2:9 Therefore, I will contend with you again, declares the LORD, and I will bring a case against your children’s children.
- Jeremiah 2:23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping here and there,
- Jeremiah 2:29 Why do you bring a case against Me? You have all rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 25:31 The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth because the LORD brings a charge against the nations. He brings judgment on all mankind and puts the wicked to the sword,’” declares the LORD.
- Romans 7:9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.