Jeremiah 5:5

5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and 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 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved ; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return .

4 Therefore I said , Surely these are poor; they are foolish : for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces : because their transgressions are many , and their backslidings are increased .

7 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full , they then committed adultery , and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots ' houses.