Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 3:6

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 3:6. The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king — This is a new discourse, and is supposed to have been delivered after the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah. Here the prophet shows the people of Judah the transgressions, idolatry, obstinacy, and punishment of their brethren, the ten tribes, whom he calls to return to the Lord, with the most gracious promises of restoration to their own country, their reunion with their brethren of Judah, and every degree of prosperity in consequence. He takes occasion also to show the Jews how much more culpable they were than the Israelites, because they practiced the same iniquities while they had the punishment and ruin of the others before their eyes. He therefore exhorts them to return to God with all their hearts, that they might not fall into the same condemnation. See the following verses.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Need for true repentance (3:6-18)

King Josiah had tried to reform Judah, but because people had not changed inwardly, the reformation affected only the external forms of religion. Looking from God’s viewpoint, Jeremiah calls the people’s so-called repentance a pretence (see v. 10). Judah had seen her sister nation Israel divorced from God and sent into captivity because of her spiritual adultery, but Israel’s experience taught her nothing. She is now doing what Israel did. In accepting Josiah’s reforms she pretends to be returning to God, but she is not sincere (6-10).
Judah’s spiritual adultery is more blameworthy than Israel’s, because she ignored the warning God gave her through the divine judgment poured out on Israel (11). Jeremiah promises the northerners that if they acknowledge their unfaithfulness and turn from it, God will bring them from captivity back to their own land (12-14). He will give them new leaders, who will lead the people in his ways (15). There will be no need for the ark of the covenant as symbol of God’s presence, because God himself will dwell among them. He will rule over a united and obedient people (16-18).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Moreover Jehovah said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. And I said after she had done all these things, She will return unto me; but she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly."

We have already noted the nature of the harlotry and whoredom of God's people, and there is no need to elaborate it here. Notice the fourfold reiteration of the appellation `treacherous' as applied to Judah in Jeremiah 3:7-8; Jeremiah 3:10-11.

The aggravated nature of Judah's sin is seen in this: "Israel had openly broken the political and religious connection with Jehovah; but Judah nominally retained both; but her heart was toward the false gods."The Pulpit Commentary, p. 49. The idea here is that, "Judah did not profit by the experience of the Northern Kingdom and is therefore more guilty."Raymond Calkins, Jeremiah the Prophet (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1930), p. 80.

"The lightness of her whoredom" This is a reference to the casual, carefree attitude of Judah with regard to their shameful conduct.

"But feignedly" It seems to us that this could not apply to anything else besides the reforms sponsored and executed by the good king Josiah. The reason why those reforms had little or no effect upon the ultimate fate of Judah is found in these two words right here. They publicly went along with all the reforms; but, at heart, they still adored and worshipped their beloved fertility gods of the Baalim.

Jeremiah 3:6 has the words, "Hast thou seen… backsliding Israel?" Cook tells us that in the Hebrew here, "The original is very strong: Hast thou seen Apostasy?"Canon F. C. Cook, Jeremiah, p. 154. It is the same as if the Holy Spirit said that, "Israel is the very personification of the denial of God and rebellion against him."

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Backsliding Israel - The original is very strong: Hast thou seen Apostasy? i. e., Israel: as though Israel were the very personificatiom of the denial of God.

She is gone up - Rather, she goes; it is her habitual practice.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Here the Prophet enters on a new discourse: he relates what God had committed to him, and mentions the time, even in the reign of Josiah. It is indeed well known, that the land was then cleansed from superstitions; for that pious king labored to restore the true worship of God, and to remove all the filth and defilements, by which the temple and the whole of religion had been corrupted. He strenuously exerted himself, and no doubt there was an improved appearance of religion throughout the land; but we shall see that a great portion of the people were under the influence of hypocrisy and deceit., as it is usually the case when rulers seek to support the pure worship of God, and to free it from all corruptions; for there are many hypocrites, who for a time dissemble, while the same antipathy to God still remains. Such was then the condition of the people.

And this ought to be carefully observed; for Jeremiah might have appeared to have dealt somewhat too sharply and rigorously with his own nation, as reform was in the mouth of all, according to what we find to be the case with many now, who having left the superstitions of the Papacy, seemed at first to embrace the doctrines of the Gospel, but all now wish to be satisfied with any kind of reformation; at the same time, they shake off the yoke of Christ and can bear submission to no discipline: in short, their object, is to subvert all order; and yet they boldly claim to be the advocates of reformation, whenever their impiety is reproved. This was no doubt the contest which Jeremiah had to carry on, the same with that by which the Lord tries his servants at this day. He therefore says, that he received this commission in the days of Josiah, that is, when that king was laboring to establish the pure worship of God, and no one dared to oppose; for we find that God was then worshipped by the whole people without any external corruptions.

But what is contained in this commission? Hast thou seen, he says, what apostate Israel hath done? God here compares the ten tribes with the tribe of Judah, with whom was united, as it is well known, the half tribe of Benjamin: he then compares Israel with the tribe of Judah, “Do you not see what rebellious Israel hath done?” But he introduces the kingdom of Israel, as well as the kingdom of Judah, under the character of women; for God, as it has already appeared, represents himself as the husband of his people. He then says that he had two wives, even Israel and Judah. God had indeed espoused to himself the whole seed of Abraham by one contract; but Jeremiah speaks here in a popular manner. Though the Israelites had departed from God, yet he had not wholly rejected them. The kingdom of Israel had then become adulterous; but God for a time bore with that sin, so that the covenant, in part, remained. For this reason he acknowledges as his wives both Israel and Judah. Hence he says, “Hast thou not seen what estranged Israel hath done?” The word משבה , m esh ibe, is derived from שוב, shub, which signifies, both to return and to depart; and Jerome everywhere renders it aversatrix, one who turns aside, or is estranged. ⁽⁷⁷⁾ But some render it “rebellious;” we might say more correctly in French, debauchee She went, he says, on every high hill, and under every shady tree, and there played the harlot In short, God complains that the ten tribes had violated the sacred bond of marriage, when they prostituted themselves to idols, even on all high hills and under all shady trees: for as I have already said, they chose those places as though there was some holiness both on mountains and under shades of trees.

(77) It is correctly rendered as a noun, for had it been an adjective or a participle, it would have followed the word Israel. Literally it is, “the apostates,” —

Hast thou seen what she did, the apostates Israel?

Or, it may be rendered, “the backslider Israel,” though the word is deficient, having no feminine termination. — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

They say ( Jeremiah 3:1 ),

That is, in quoting the law and in speaking of the law, Deuteronomy.

If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man's wife, shall he return unto her again? shall not the land be greatly polluted? ( Jeremiah 3:1 )

Under the law if you divorce your wife and she married another man, then you could not marry her again. That was under the law of Deuteronomy, chapter 24, I think it is. Yet God said, even so,

you have played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again unto me, saith the LORD ( Jeremiah 3:1 ).

"I'll take you back." Oh, the patience of God. The love of God. It's just so amazing to me. "Though you've become a harlot and you've had many lovers, yet turn back to Me," saith the Lord. "Come on back."

Lift up your eyes unto the high places ( Jeremiah 3:2 ),

Just find a place that you haven't committed spiritual adultery.

In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness ( Jeremiah 3:2 );

That is, the robbers in the wilderness. You've just lurked and waited.

and thou hast polluted the land with your whoredoms and with your wickedness. Therefore [because of this] the showers [the rain] has been withheld, and there hath been no latter rain; and you had a whore's forehead, and you refused to be ashamed. Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth? Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as evil as you could ( Jeremiah 3:2-5 ).

Now, that is the end of the first message that the Lord gave to Jeremiah. Verse Jeremiah 3:6 starts the second message that the Lord gave to Jeremiah concerning the backsliding of Judah.

The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king ( Jeremiah 3:6 ),

He introduces his second message with that phrase.

Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot ( Jeremiah 3:6 ).

As I said, the places of worship were established on the high mountains and then in these groves. And the worship, of course, God speaks of it as playing the harlot. And most of the worship was involved with the goddess of fertility, and thus, they were fertility rites, and the worship of the gods involved sexual intercourse in various fertility rites and all.

And I said after she has done all these things, Turn unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it ( Jeremiah 3:7 ).

Now you've seen what happened to Israel. You saw how that they went into idolatry, how that they worshipped all of these gods. And I called them to return to me but they didn't. And you saw them, treacherous sister Judah, down here. She saw what happened to Israel, her sister Israel.

And I saw, when for all of the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went out and played the harlot also ( Jeremiah 3:8 ).

In other words, they should have learned from what happened to the Northern Kingdom. They should have learned the lesson when the Northern Kingdom was carried away captive by Assyria. And they should have returned to God with a whole heart and completely, but they didn't learn from it. But they themselves persisted in the same kind of actions that brought the judgment of God upon the Northern Kingdom.

And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks ( Jeremiah 3:9 ).

That is, with the little idols made of stone and of wood.

And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but only feignedly, saith the LORD ( Jeremiah 3:10 ).

It was only a surface revival that was going on. It wasn't really down deep affecting the heart of the nation. It was just something that was taking place on the surface. Somewhat like what is happening in the United States as churches are reporting increased attendance and Gallup poll is reporting fifty percent Christians, sixty percent born again in the United States. That's just a surface thing. It hasn't really affected the real life of the individual. There is a lack of real commitment to God and to Jesus Christ. People mouth the words. It's a popular movement. They're using born again for everything now. Shampoos or anything else, you know. It's a term that has been picked up and become popularized in the worldly jargon. But it is without meaning or significance in so many cases.

Let us examine ourselves. Is it meaningful with me? Have I really made a true commitment to God? Is my love divided? Do I love God partially? Am I committed partly? Or is there a total, full commitment of myself unto God and to Jesus Christ and the things of the Spirit? Or am I still desiring and lusting after the things of my flesh? And do I have a divided heart? Now God is calling us for a full commitment of ourselves to Him. God is calling us away from the idolatry, the things of the world, the love of the world and the things that are in the world. "Come ye apart from them and be ye separate, saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing. And I will be a Father unto you and you shall be my sons and daughters" ( 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 ).

So many are being enticed by the things of the world. They're being drawn and attracted by the excitement of the things of the world. But, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. For he that hath the love of the world in his heart hath not the love of the Father" ( 1 John 2:15 ). And many of you are like treacherous Judah. Your love for God is only feigned; it is only a surface thing. It really isn't a full true commitment of your life to Him. You go through the motions. You say the words. But God is looking at your heart and He sees a heart that is divided. He sees a heart that is lusting after the world. And God knows your heart and it is breaking God's heart.

What iniquity, God said, have I done that you should turn from Me? I can remember that day when your commitment was so fervent. When you were singing praises unto Me all day long. When all you could think of was Me and you were in this beautiful harmony and communion with Me. What happened? Why is it that you've turned away and you're drawn after the things of the world? And God said, I'm calling to you. Listen. Wake up. Come back.

And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah ( Jeremiah 3:11 ).

Now Judah is more to blame because she saw the example of Israel and what happened. And yet she did not turn.

Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep my anger for ever. Only acknowledge your iniquity ( Jeremiah 3:12-13 ),

That's all God asks you to do. Acknowledge your iniquity. "If we confess our sins, then He is faithful and just" ( 1 John 1:9 ). But if you cover, "Oh, it's all right. I am not too bad. I still love the Lord. I still do this and that." And you're justifying yourself, then God can't do anything with you. Acknowledge your iniquity and your transgressions against the Lord thy God. Acknowledge the things that you've done.

how that you've turned to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding ( Jeremiah 3:13-15 ).

God gave me this passage of scripture several years ago, and He said, "This is the kind of a pastor I want you to be. This is a pastor after God's heart. The pastor who will feed the people with knowledge and understanding of God. That's the pastor after God's heart." And I said, "Lord, I want to be a pastor after Your heart. To feed the people with the knowledge and the understanding of God." And God is speaking of this day that is coming when He gives them this kind of pastors.

And it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more ( Jeremiah 3:16 ).

Talking about the glorious Kingdom Age. You won't be talking about the ark of the covenant because you'll have the new covenant--Jesus Christ dwelling with us. You'll not be thinking about the laws and the tables of stone and all that were in that ark, the covenant that God made with Israel. Whereas if you keep these laws I will be a God unto thee. That will be taken away, for Jesus said, "This blood is a new covenant in my blood which is shed for the remission of sins."

At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD ( Jeremiah 3:17 );

For Jesus is coming and He will reign over the earth from Jerusalem.

and all of the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imaginations of their evil hearts. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God ( Jeremiah 3:17-22 ).

This is the response of the people in that day.

Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills ( Jeremiah 3:23 ),

That is, those that are worshipping on the tops of the mountains.

and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel ( Jeremiah 3:23 ).

You won't find salvation in any of the cisterns that you may have hewed out. Salvation only lies through Jesus Christ.

For shame hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. We lie down in our shame, and in our confusion we are covered: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God ( Jeremiah 3:24-25 ).

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Yahweh previously had a conversation with Jeremiah along the same lines that took place during the reign of King Josiah (between 627 and 609 B.C.). This section may have been a shorter oracle that the writer used to compose the final written sermon. The Lord asked the prophet if he had observed that the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been guilty of flagrant spiritual prostitution. He described the Northern Kingdom as "faithless Israel," literally "Apostasy (Heb. meshuba) Israel" (cf. Jeremiah 3:8; Jeremiah 3:11-12). Israel was Apostasy personified. She was faithless in respect to the Mosaic Covenant and in respect to her relationship to Yahweh as His "wife." She had deserted her covenant with the Lord and made a covenant with Baal, and she had failed to maintain her responsibilities as Yahweh’s "wife."

When Jeremiah began his ministry, in 627 B.C., the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom had been in exile for 95 years, since 722 B.C. All hope for the restoration of these banished people seemed to have vanished.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The persistent harlotry of Israel and Judah 3:6-10

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

The Lord said also unto me, in the days of Josiah the king,.... 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.''

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      6 The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.   7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.   8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.   9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.   10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.   11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

      The date of this sermon must be observed, in order to the right understanding of it; it was in the days of Josiah, who set on foot a blessed work of reformation, in which he was hearty, but the people were not sincere in their compliance with it; to reprove them for that, and warn them of the consequences of their hypocrisy, is the scope of that which God here said to the prophet, and which he delivered to them. The case of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah is here compared, the ten tribes that revolted from the throne of David and the temple of Jerusalem and the two tribes that adhered to both. The distinct history of those two kingdoms we have in the two books of the Kings, and here we have an abstract of both, as far as relates to this matter.

      I. Here is a short account of Israel, the ten tribes. Perhaps the prophet had been just reading the history of that kingdom when God came to him, and said, Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel has done?Jeremiah 3:6; Jeremiah 3:6. For he could not see it otherwise than in history, they having been carried into captivity long before he was born. But what we read in the histories of scripture should instruct us and affect us, as if we ourselves had been eye-witnesses of it. She is called backsliding Israel because that kingdom was first founded in an apostasy from the divine institutions, both in church and state. Now he had seen concerning them, 1. That they were wretchedly addicted to idolatry. They had played the harlot upon every high mountain and under every green tree (Jeremiah 3:6; Jeremiah 3:6), that is, they had worshipped other gods in their high places and groves; and no marvel, when from the first they had worshipped God by the images of the golden calves at Dan and Bethel. The way of idolatry is down-hill: those that are in love with images, and will have them, soon become in love with other gods, and will have them too; for how should those stick at the breach of the first commandment who make no conscience of the second? 2. That God by his prophets had invited and encouraged them to repent and reform (Jeremiah 3:7; Jeremiah 3:7): "After she had done all these things, for which she might justly have been abandoned, yet I said unto her, Turn thou unto me and I will receive thee." Though they had forsaken both the house of David and the house of Aaron, who both had their authority jure divino--from God, without dispute, yet God sent his prophets among them, to call them to return to him, to the worship of him only, not insisting so much as one would have expected upon their return to the house of David, but pressing their return to the house of Aaron. We read not that Elijah, that great reformer, ever mentioned their return to the house of David, while he was anxious for their return to the faithful service of the true God according as they had it among them. It is serious piety that God stands upon more than even his own rituals. 3. That, notwithstanding this, they had persisted in their idolatries: But she returned not, and God saw it; he took notice of it, and was much displeased with it, Jeremiah 3:7; Jeremiah 3:8. Note, God keeps account, whether we do or no, how often he has called to us to turn to him and we have refused. 4. That he had therefore cast them off, and given them up into the hands of their enemies (Jeremiah 3:8; Jeremiah 3:8): When I saw (so it may be read) that for all the actions wherein she had committed adultery I must dismiss her, I gave her a bill of divorce. God divorced them when he threw them out of his protection and left them an easy prey to any that would lay hands on them, when he scattered all their synagogues and the schools of the prophets and excluded them from laying any further claim to the covenant made with their fathers. Note, Those will justly be divorced from God that join themselves to such as are rivals with him. For proof of this go and see what God did to Israel.

      II. Let us now see what was the case of Judah, the kingdom of the two tribes. She is called treacherous sister Judah, a sister because descended from the same common stock, Abraham and Jacob; but, as Israel had the character of a backslider, So Judah is called treacherous, because, though she professed to keep close to God when Israel had backslidden (she adhered to the kings and priests that were of God's own appointing, and did not withdraw from her allegiance, so that it was expected she should deal faithfully), yet she proved treacherous, and false, and unfaithful to her professions and promises. Note, The treachery of those who pretend to cleave to God will be reckoned for, as well as the apostasy of those who openly revolt from him. Judah saw what Israel did, and what came of it, and should have taken warning. Israel's captivity was intended for Judah's admonition; but it had not the designed effect. Judah feared not, but thought herself safe because she had Levites to be her priests and sons of David to be her kings. Note, It is an evidence of great stupidity and security when we are not awakened to a holy fear by the judgments of God upon others. It is here charged on Judah, 1. That when they had a wicked king that debauched them they heartily concurred with him in his debaucheries. Judah was forward enough to play the harlot, to worship any idol that was introduced among them and to join in any idolatrous usage; so that through the lightness (or, as some read it, the vileness and baseness) of her whoredom, or (as the margin reads it) by the fame and report of her whoredom, her notorious whoredom, for which she had become infamous, she defiled the land, and made it an abomination to God; for she committed adultery with stones and stocks, with the basest idols, those made of wood and stone. In the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, when they were disposed to idolatry, the people were so too, and all the country was corrupted with it, and none feared the ruin which Israel by this means had brought upon themselves. 2. That when they had a good king, that reformed them, they did not heartily concur with him in the reformation. This was the present case. God tried whether they would be good in a good reign, but the evil disposition was still the same: They returned not to me with their whole heart, but feignedly,Jeremiah 3:10; Jeremiah 3:10. Josiah went further in destroying idolatry than the best of his predecessors had done, and for his own part he turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul; so it is said of him, 2 Kings 23:25. The people were forced to an external compliance with him, and joined with him in keeping a very solemn passover and in renewing their covenants with God (2 Chronicles 34:32; 2 Chronicles 35:17); but they were not sincere in it, nor were their hearts right with God. For this reason God at that very time said, I will remove Judah out of my sight, as I removed Israel (2 Kings 23:27), because Judah was not removed from their sin by the sight of Israel's removal from their land. Hypocritical and ineffectual reformations bode ill to a people. We deceive ourselves if we think to deceive God by a feigned return to him. I know no religion without sincerity.

      III. The case of these sister kingdoms is compared, and judgment given upon the comparison, that of the two Judah was the worse (Jeremiah 3:11; Jeremiah 3:11): Israel has justified herself more than Judah, that is, she is not so bad as Judah is. This comparative justification will stand Israel in little stead; what will it avail us to say, We are not so bad as others, when yet we are not really good ourselves? But it will serve as an aggravation of the sin of Judah, which was in two respects worse than that of Israel:-- 1. More was expected from Judah than from Israel; so that Judah dealt treacherously, they vilified a more sacred profession, and falsified a more solemn promise, than Israel did. 2. Judah might have taken warning by the ruin of Israel for their idolatry, and would not. God's judgments upon others, if they be not means of our reformation, will help to aggravate our destruction. The prophet Ezekiel (Jeremiah 23:11; Jeremiah 23:11) makes the same comparison between Jerusalem and Samaria that this prophet here makes between Judah and Israel, nay, and (Ezekiel 16:48) between Jerusalem and Sodom, and Jerusalem is made the worst of the three.