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Jeremiah 3:12

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou 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 [anger] for ever.

Jeremiah 3:12 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Jeremiah 3:12

Theological / Devotional

North. Here, the northern provinces of the Assyrian Empire to which the ten tribes had been exiled (see 2 Kings 15:29; 17:6; 18:11; Jer. 16:15 ; 23:8; 31:8). The exiles were invited to repent and return.

Return, thou backsliding. There is a play on words in the Hebrew, the word for “return” being shubah, and the word for backsliding, meshubah. The command is literally, “turn back, O backturning Israel” (see on v. 6). The appeal to Israel was doubtless to excite Judah to godly jealousy and repentance (see Rom. 11:14).

Cause mine anger to fall. Literally, “cause my face to fall.” The idiom is illustrated in Gen. 4:5, 6 (see Job 29:24). God would remove the frown of His displeasure from them (see Lev. 17:10; Ps. 34:16).

I am merciful. The mercy of God is the ground of this conditional promise and the hope of all who will avail themselves of it (see Jer. 3:5; cf. Ps. 86:15 ; 103:8, 9).

By SdaBc