Jeremiah 17:3

3 Sacrificing in the field: I will give thy strength, and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin in all thy borders.

Jeremiah 17:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 17:3

O my mountain in the midst of the field
Meaning either the temple, called the mountain of the house, and of the Lord's house, ( Micah 3:12 ) ( 4:1 ) , or else Jerusalem, which stood on a hill in the midst of a plain, surrounded with fruitful fields and gardens; or in the midst of a land like a field. The Targum is,

``because thou worshippest idols upon the mountains in the field:''

I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil;
all the riches of the city and temple to be the spoil and plunder of the enemy; (See Gill on Jeremiah 15:13). and thy high places for sin,
throughout all thy borders. The sense is, that all their substance and treasure throughout their borders, the riches of the whole land, as well as of the city and temple, ( Jeremiah 15:13 ) and all their high places throughout the land, which were used for sin, for idolatrous practices, on account thereof, should become the spoil of the enemy.

Jeremiah 17:3 In-Context

1 The sin of Juda is written with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond, it is graven upon the table of their heart, upon the horns of their altars.

2 When their children shall remember their altars, and their groves, and their green trees upon the high mountains,

3 Sacrificing in the field: I will give thy strength, and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin in all thy borders.

4 And thou shalt be left stripped of thy inheritance, which I gave thee: and I will make thee serve thy enemies in a land which thou knowest not: because thou hast kindled a fire in my wrath, it shall burn for ever.

5 Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.