Bible Strands
Jeremiah 3:7
I thought that after she had done all these things, she would return to Me. But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord addresses the prophet Jeremiah during King Josiah’s reign, confronting the idolatry of the northern kingdom.
The words — The phrase וָ/אֹמַר (va./'o.Mar) translates literally as “and I thought,” expressing divine expectation. The verb תָּשׁ֖וּב (ta.Shuv) means “she will return,” indicating the anticipated repentance.
The thread — The text records God’s expectation of return and Israel’s refusal, a pattern repeated in Ezekiel 16:46 through the allegory of unfaithful sisters and in 2 Kings 17:13 where prophets repeatedly warn Israel and Judah to turn from wickedness.
Why it lands — The verse states that observed judgment failed to produce repentance and instead invited imitation. It requires the reader to acknowledge that mere exposure to divine discipline does not guarantee spiritual change.
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
And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 16:46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to your north; and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to your south.
- 2 Kings 17:13 Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”
- 2 Chronicles 30:6 At the command of the king, the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, which read: “Children of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.
- Jeremiah 3:8 She saw that because faithless Israel had committed adultery, I gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Yet that unfaithful sister Judah had no fear and prostituted herself as well.
- Ezekiel 23:2 “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother,
- Hosea 6:1 Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- Hosea 14:1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.