Jeremiah 3:9

9 And it hath come to pass, from the vileness of her fornication, that the land is defiled, and she committeth fornication with stone and with wood.

Jeremiah 3:9 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 3:9

And it came to pass, through the lightness of her whoredom,
&c.] Or the "swiftness" ^F2 of it; when it was once set on foot, it ran through the land presently one taking it from and following the example of another; or it became a light thing with her to commit idolatry; it was looked upon as a small thing, a trivial offence at most: so the Targum,

``it came to pass that her idols were light in her eyes;''

not lightly esteemed of, but it was a light thing to commit idolatry with them; interpreting the word as the Masora, which it follows: and to the same sense the Septuagint version, "her fornication was for nothing"; it stood for nothing, it was not reckoned as a sin: the Arabic version is, "her fornication was with nothing"; with an idol, which is nothing in the world, ( 1 Corinthians 8:4 ) , some choose to render it, "because of the voice or fame of her whoredom" ^F3, or idolatry; it sounded forth, and the fame, or rather infamy of it, went out through the whole land: wherefore it follows, that she defiled the land;
polluted it with sin, involved it in guilt, and exposed it to punishment: and committed adultery with stones and with stocks;
that is, with images made of stone and wood, which they served and worshipped as gods; and is the adultery or idolatry they are charged with, and by which the land was defiled. The Targum is,

``she erred or committed idolatry with the worshippers of stone and wood.''

This, by what follows, seems to be understood not of Judah, but of Israel.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (lqm) "a levitate", a (llq) , "velocem esse", Calvin.
F3 Heb. "propter vocem scortationis ejus, [vel] famosam scortationem", Piscator; "a voce scortationis ejus", Schmidt; "propter famam scortationis ejus", Cocceius; "prae famosa scortatione", Junius & Tremellius.

Jeremiah 3:9 In-Context

7 And I say, after her doing all these, Unto Me thou dost turn back, and she hath not turned back, and see [it] doth her treacherous sister Judah.

8 And I see when (for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery) I have sent her away, and I give the bill of her divorce unto her, that treacherous Judah her sister hath not feared, and goeth and committeth fornication -- she also.

9 And it hath come to pass, from the vileness of her fornication, that the land is defiled, and she committeth fornication with stone and with wood.

10 And even in all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned back unto Me with all her heart, but with falsehood, an affirmation of Jehovah.'

11 And Jehovah saith unto me: `Justified herself hath backsliding Israel, More than treacherous Judah.