Jeremiah 3:19

Then I said, ‘How I long to make you My sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations!’ I thought you would call Me ‘Father’ and never turn away from following Me.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — God addresses the house of Israel, contrasting His intended paternal relationship with their covenant betrayal. This declaration immediately follows the promise of Judah and Israel's united return to the land given to their ancestors.

The words — The Hebrew אֵיךְ ('eikh) conveys intense longing, while חֶמְדָּה (chemdah) specifies a coveted land. God's use of אָמַרְתִּי ('amarti), "I thought," records His direct expectation that Israel would call Him Father and remain faithful.

The thread — The paternal address echoes Jeremiah 3:4, and the inheritance promise parallels the restoration imagery of Jeremiah 31:9. The relational dynamic anticipates the adoption theme later articulated in Romans 8:15.

Why it lands — The text records God's stated desire for familial trust and covenant loyalty before noting Israel's failure to meet it. It requires the reader to acknowledge broken relationship as the necessary starting point for any restoration.

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

וְאָנֹכִ֣יve./'a.no.Khiand/ I אָמַ֗רְתִּי'a.Mar.tiI thought אֵ֚יךְ'eikhhow!אֲשִׁיתֵ֣ךְ'a.shi.Te/khI will set/ you בַּבָּנִ֔יםba./ba.Nimamong the/ sons וְאֶתֶּן־ve./'e.ten-so/ I may giveלָךְ֙lo/Khto <the>/ youאֶ֣רֶץ'E.retza land of חֶמְדָּ֔הchem.Dahdesire נַחֲלַ֥תna.cha.Latan inheritance of צְבִ֖יtze.Vibeauty of צִבְא֣וֹתtziv.'otbeauties of גּוֹיִ֑םgo.Yimnations וָאֹמַ֗רva./'o.Marand/ I thought אָבִי֙'a.V/ifather/ my תִּקְרְאִיtik.re.'u-you will callלִ֔יL/i<to> <the>/ meוּמֵאַחֲרַ֖יu./me./'a.cha.Ra/iand/ from/ after/ me לֹ֥אlo'not תָשֽׁוּבִי׃ta.shu.vuyou will turn away

King James Version

But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 3:4 Have you not just called to Me, ‘My Father, You are my friend from youth.
Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption to sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Jeremiah 31:9 They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”
Isaiah 63:16 Yet You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.
Jeremiah 32:39 I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them.
Matthew 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
Psalms 106:24 They despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise.
Proverbs 3:35 The wise will inherit honor, but fools are held up to shame.
Isaiah 64:8 But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.