Jeremiah 3:23

23 Truly, the hills, and the noise of an army on the mountains, are a false hope: truly, in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.

Jeremiah 3:23 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 3:23

Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from
the multitude of mountains
From any natural defence, by hills and mountains encompassing; or from idols worshipped on hills and mountains. So the Targum,

``truly in vain we worship upon the hills, and for no profit are we gathered upon the mountains;''

and to this purpose Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; or from the multitude of the people, the kingdoms of the world, and the nations of the earth, from whom the Jews have in vain expected salvation and deliverance: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel;
or, "in the Word of the Lord our God", as the Targum; in Christ, the essential Word of God, is the salvation of all the chosen people, both Jews and Gentiles; it was put into his hands by his Father, and it is wrought out by him; and it resides in him, and it is to be had in him, and in him only, ( Acts 4:12 ) , who is God the Lord, and therefore was able to effect it, and to give it; and hence these repenting ones, discarding all other saviours, apply to him for it.

Jeremiah 3:23 In-Context

21 A voice is sounding on the open hilltops, the weeping and the prayers of the children of Israel; because their way is twisted, they have not kept the Lord their God in mind.

22 Come back, you children who have been turned away, and I will take away your desire for wandering. See, we have come to you, for you are the Lord our God.

23 Truly, the hills, and the noise of an army on the mountains, are a false hope: truly, in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.

24 But the Baal has taken all the work of our fathers from our earliest days; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

25 Let us be stretched on the earth in our downfall, covering ourselves with our shame: for we have been sinners against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our earliest years even till this day: and we have not given ear to the voice of the Lord our God.