Jeremiah 5:5

5 I will go unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God; but these have altogether broken the yoke, have burst the bonds.

Jeremiah 5:5 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 5:5

I will get me unto the great men, and speak unto them
The princes, nobles, and judges, the elders of the people, the scribes and doctors of the law: for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God;
it might be reasonably expected that they had, having had a good education, and being at leisure from worldly business to attend to the law, and the knowledge of it, and whatsoever God had revealed in his word, both in a way of doctrine and duty: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds;
the yoke of the law, and the bonds of his precepts, with which they were bound; these they broke off from them, and would not be obliged and restrained by them, but transgressed and rejected them.

Jeremiah 5:5 In-Context

3 Jehovah, are not thine eyes upon fidelity? Thou hast smitten them, but they are not sore; thou hast consumed them, they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

4 And I said, Surely these are the wretched ones, they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God.

5 I will go unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God; but these have altogether broken the yoke, have burst the bonds.

6 Therefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall waste them; the leopard lurketh against their cities, every one that goeth out thence is torn in pieces: for their transgressions are multiplied, their backslidings are increased.

7 Wherefore should I pardon thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and swear by them that are not God. I have satiated them, and they have committed adultery, and they troop to the harlots' house.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 'with one consent.'