Jeremiah 3:6

6 During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what fickle Israel has done? Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel has worshiped other gods on every hill and under every green tree.

Jeremiah 3:6 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 3:6

The Lord said also unto me, in the days of Josiah the king,
&c.] For in his time Jeremiah began to prophesy, even in the thirteenth year of his reign, ( Jeremiah 1:2 ) : hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done?
the ten tribes; that is, hast thou not heard? or dost thou not know the idolatry of the ten tribes, which was the cause of their captivity? as Kimchi explains it; for the facts, or the idolatrous actions of the ten tribes, were not done in Josiah's and Jeremiah's time; for they were carried captive in the sixth year of Hezekiah, ninety years or more before Jeremiah began to prophesy, and their idolatry was before their captivity, and therefore could not be properly seen by him; only it had been heard of by him, it was known by him, it was notorious enough, being well attested: she is gone upon every high mountain, and under every green tree;
that is, she did so, when in her own land, before she was carried captive, as Jarchi observes; for this respects not what she did in Josiah's and Jeremiah's time, or when in captivity, but before, which was the reason of it: and there hath played the harlot:
or committed idolatry, which was usually done in such places; so the Targum,

``and worshipped idols of wood.''

Jeremiah 3:6 In-Context

4 Yet you say to me, ‘Father, you have been my guide since my youth.

5 Surely you won’t be angry forever! Surely you can forget about it!’ So you talk, but you keep on doing all the evil you can.”

6 During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what fickle Israel has done? Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel has worshiped other gods on every hill and under every green tree.

7 I thought, ‘After she has done all this, she will return to me.’ But she did not return, and her faithless sister Judah saw this.

8 She saw that I divorced faithless Israel because of her adultery. But that treacherous sister Judah had no fear, and now she, too, has left me and given herself to prostitution.