'Return, backsliding Israel' — mercy beyond the law of the divorced wife; treacherous Judah saw her sister's bill of divorcement and feared not; 'return, backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings.'
Tap any Hebrew word to reveal its root, value, and meanings.
. . . saying: If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, may he return to her again? Will not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; and would you yet return to Me? Says Hashem.
verse value 6990
Insights
Verse structure: 24 words, 101 letters. The shortest word is "they" (הֵ֣ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "man·another" (לְאִישׁ־אַחֵ֗ר, 7 letters). 9 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "burnt-offering" (אֶת־אִשְׁתּוֹ֩), "and·she·goes" (וְהָלְכָ֨ה), "from·him" (מֵאִתּ֜וֹ). The root איש appears 2 times in this verse. 19 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "says·Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "saying" (root אמר, 476x in Jeremiah); "will·not" (root לא, 307x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root אשה ("burnt-offering") in Jeremiah. First appearance of the root חנף ("greatly") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'that', dividing the verse into phrases of 17 and 7 words.
Rashi
"To say, 'Behold, if he sends...' I ought to say that you are no longer worthy of me, for such is the way of one who sends away his wife: she goes her way..."
"And you, you played the harlot with many lovers. With many lovers, and nevertheless, return to Me:"
"And return to Me." Like [the form of] "to do" [an infinitive]; and as for [your] returning to Me, I am engaged with you.
Radak
"To say": Its meaning is, "Because the Lord has rejected you, He has rejected you on account of your trusts." And He says to you, "If a man sends away his wife..."
“Chanof tachnof ha’aretz ha’hi” – “That land will be defiled.” This means that this person will commit this act in it, as the Torah stated: “For it is an abomination before the Lord; you shall not cause the land to sin.” Thus, it says here: “Chanof tachnof ha’aretz” – meaning, it will sin.
“And you have played the harlot with many lovers, and would you return to Me?” In many places, Scripture compares the Congregation of Israel to a woman and the Holy One, blessed be He, to her husband; that is to say, He took them as a people for His inheritance, and she is to Him as a wife, and He to her as a husband. Just as a woman who commits adultery under her husband is liable, so too Israel, who went after many nations and clung to their error—Scripture calls this adultery. This matter is found in the Prophets, who spoke in this parable and called this matter “adultery,” employing throughout all the language of adultery. This is frequent in the Book of Ezekiel, who said: “And after you have gone to your lovers, how can you return to Me?” Moreover, even if you return in repentance, you will not be able to return to Me until you are exiled from your land and dwell there for many days, until you forget your first sin, and idolatry no longer comes to mind. Only thereafter will you return to Me, and I will return to you.
Metzudat David
To say. This means: What is appropriate to say to Israel regarding this matter? Behold, if a man divorces his wife, and she departs from him in accordance with the law, and she becomes another man's wife—even if he did not have sexual relations with her.
The resolution: And could the first husband return again to her to take her, after the second one died or divorced her? Is it not that, because of such a sin, that land—in which such a thing was done—would become liable, and would receive its full recompense?
“And you.” But you, Israel, are a people who, while you were under Me, played the harlot illicitly with many lovers — meaning that even though you served various forms of idolatry, nevertheless, return to Me and I will accept you in repentance.
Metzudat Zion
He shall send. The matter is an expulsion and a divorce, and similarly, "and he shall send her out of his house" (Deuteronomy 24:1):
"Chanof tachnof." The matter concerns the obligation and guilt, as it is written: "You shall not defile the land" (Numbers 35:33).
Malbim
To explain the meaning of the verse: “Indeed, that land will flatter, saying, ‘If a man sends away his wife...’” This is structured as an argument and a response. That land flatters, arguing and claiming that it is impossible for the Holy Name to accept Israel in repentance after they abandoned Him and served foreign gods. They bring a parable from the laws of the Torah: when a man divorces his wife, and she departs from him and becomes another man’s wife, can he return to her? Likewise, after the Lord divorced Israel due to their sin, and they too separated from Him and chose another husband, namely foreign gods, how is it possible for Him to return to her again? This is the argument: “Indeed, that land will flatter, saying and claiming thus.” But the response of the Lord is: “Yet you played the harlot with many lovers; return to Me.” The Lord answers the land that argues thus, and He solemnly proclaims: not as you say. For that rule applies only if, after she left him, she became another man’s wife, in which case it is forbidden to take back a divorced wife. But not if she merely committed adultery. And you did not become another man’s wife through marriage canopy and betrothal, but rather, “you played the harlot.” Moreover, you did not commit adultery with one specific man, but rather “with many lovers.” Therefore, “return to Me,” for I am able to take you back. The intention is that if they had apostatized to a specific foreign god, like all the nations of the land, and clung to it, it would not have been possible to bring them back. But you did not cling to foreign gods with an intrinsic bond, but only with temporary adultery. And not with one foreign god, but you went from nation to nation and tried to resemble the nations of the lands. It was not that you attached yourself to an idol, but only in order to resemble the nations; therefore, repentance is possible for you.
Lift up your eyes to the high hills, and see: Where have you not been lain with? By the ways have you sat for them, as an Arabian in the wilderness; and you have polluted the land with your harlotries and with your wickedness.
verse value 6559
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 79 letters. The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֣א, 2 letters) and the longest is "lift·your·eyes" (שְׂאִי־עֵינַ֨יִךְ, 8 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "lift·your·eyes" (שְׂאִי־עֵינַ֨יִךְ), "you·were·lain·with" (שֻׁכַּ֔בְתְּ), "as·Arabian" (כַּעֲרָבִ֖י). 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "not" (root לא, 307x in Jeremiah); "land" (root ארץ, 245x in Jeremiah); "you·dwelt" (root ישב, 147x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root נשא ("lift·your·eyes") in Jeremiah. First appearance of the root שפי ("upon·bareness") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·the·wilderness', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 4 words.
Rashi
"Shefayim" [bare heights] – Channels of water.
"Lo shugalt" [not ravished] – the term is akin to "pilegesh" (concubine).
"You waited for them" – to be ready to receive them.
"Like an Arab." One who dwells in tents, for he is always to be found outside, in the wilderness; and for this reason he is called "Arab" [aravi], because he dwells in the plain [arava].
Radak
Se'i, shafim: high places, such as lofty mountains and elevated hills, for such was the custom of idolaters at that time, as it is written:
"Shugalt" [the Ketiv] — "shukhavt" is the Kri, like [the Ketiv] "yishgalenah" / [Kri] "yishkavenah" [elsewhere] — a euphemistic term. And we have already explained that the language of harlotry and lying-down refers to the matter of idolatry.
“On the ways you sat for them.” This means: for the worshippers of foreign gods. In other words, “you sat” implies that you waited for travelers passing by, who came from various places. This is to say that each nation worshipped its own god, and you desired to serve all of them, as it is stated: “For the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah.”
As the Arabs in the wilderness. For such is the way of the Arabs, who dwell as neighbors in the wilderness: they sit along the roads, awaiting the caravans that pass by, in order to sell to them and buy from them. And the Targum renders [שפים] as "nagrin" (an Aramaic term), similar to [the phrase] "nagrei baraita" in the Talmud. And [as for] the Targum's [rendering of] "you did not lie down": "you were not joined to worship [idols]," etc., as in the column.
“Through your harlotries.” Regarding the sign of plurality consisting of a single letter, and those similar to it, we have written in the book Mikhlol, in the section on grammar.
Metzudat David
“Lift up your eyes.” Lift up your eyes to gaze upon the lofty mountains, and see where is the place where you did not lie with lovers, meaning, where you did not serve idolatry there.
Concerning “on the ways,” etc.: Because the verse employs a simile to a harlot, it uses language associated with a harlot who sits by the waysides, as if ready for adulterers; and it means that you made yourself available to every kind of idolater.
"Like the Arab in the wilderness." Like this Arab, who is accustomed to dwell in the wilderness, in concealment, in a place where there are no people—so too, you concealed yourself on the roads, to hide there with the adulterers. And it means: you were exceedingly pursuing idolatry.
"And you defiled the land," etc. Through your harlotry with idolatry, and through the rest of your wickedness, you have rendered the land liable to be destroyed and desolate.
Metzudat Zion
Shafim. So are high places called, as in "I will open rivers upon the shafim [high places]" (Isaiah 41:18):
Where. "Where" means "not here." And similarly: "Where are they grazing?" (Genesis 37:16).
שגלת. The matter of the bed of cohabitation; and similarly, "and another man shall lie with her" (Deuteronomy 28:30):
For them. For their needs:
"Ka'aravi" [like an Arab]. It is the name of a nation:
Malbim
"Se'i" ["Lift up your eyes"] – brings proof for this, that you were not to a specific husband, but rather you were a harlot to many lovers; for behold, "lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see where you have not been lain with" – that is to say: I do not wish to show you the places where you committed harlotry, for they are too numerous to count; but show me the place where you did not commit harlotry. And moreover, you did not commit harlotry in secret, but rather "on the roads you sat for them" (for the many lovers mentioned in the preceding verse) — on the well-known roads you sat, to be ready for the lovers, like an Arab sitting in the desert, where no one sees him. So too, you sat in a place where people see you. And yet, this was not a complete abandonment, like a woman divorced from her husband and clinging to another; rather, "you defiled the land with your harlotry and your wickedness." You were only a hypocrite, like a flatterer whose mouth and heart are not equal, for you appeared in your own eyes like a harlot sitting under her husband, such that whenever she lacked something, she would return to ask it from her husband, and would bare her face to say to him, "Are you not the companion of my youth?" For so it is: "And the rains were withheld" — if only the showers were withheld from falling, or if there was no latter rain, and you were in need of rain — then "you had the face of a harlot," and you were not ashamed to come to Me.
Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; yet you hadst a harlot’s forehead, you refusedst to be ashamed.
verse value 2149
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 47 letters. The shortest word is "to·you" (לָ֔ךְ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·they·were·withholded" (וַיִּמָּנְע֣וּ, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 20: was, was. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "and·they·were·withholded" (וַיִּמָּנְע֣וּ), "and·forehead·of" (וּמֵ֨צַח), "you·refused" (מֵאַ֖נְתְּ). The root היה appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Lamed" (root לא, 307x in Jeremiah); "was" (root היה, 250x in Jeremiah); "to·you" (root לך, 42x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root מאן ("you·refused") in Jeremiah. First appearance of the root כלם ("to·be·ashamed") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'was', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 7 words. Full calculation: וַיִּמָּנְע֣וּ [and·they·were·withholded] (182) + רְבִבִ֔ים [showers] (254) + וּמַלְק֖וֹשׁ [latter·rain] (482) + ל֣וֹא [Lamed] (37) + הָיָ֑ה [was] (20) + וּמֵ֨צַח [and·forehead·of] (144) + אִשָּׁ֤ה [wife] (306) + זוֹנָה֙ [harlot] (68) + הָ֣יָה [was] (20) + לָ֔ךְ [to·you] (50) + מֵאַ֖נְתְּ [you·refused] (491) + הִכָּלֵֽם [to·be·ashamed] (95) = 2149.
Rashi
And "malkosh." Like the rain that falls in the month of Nisan upon the ears of grain and upon the stalks. "Malkosh" is "terdium" in the vernacular.
Radak
"And the showers were withheld." This is the rain, which falls in the month of Marcheshvan, and it is called the yoreh and the moreh. And so too in the words of our Sages of blessed memory: "The yoreh in Marcheshvan and the malqosh in Nisan," for these two times are the seasons of rain necessary for the crops. And in most seasons, the majority of the rain falls in Marcheshvan. Therefore, the month is called bul, from the matter of the flood (mabul). And that rain is called revivim in a place where it is called yoreh in another place. The meaning of the verse is saying that the rains were withheld because of their evil deeds, as it said in the Torah: "And you turn aside and serve other gods... and the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain." And despite this, that I withheld the revivim because of your iniquity, and there was no malqosh, you were not shamed by your deeds, and your face was like that of a harlot, who is not ashamed of her adultery, but lifts her face and brazenly sets her countenance. Even though the prophets reprove you and say to you, "Be ashamed of your deeds; see the punishment that overtakes you because of them," despite all this, you refused shame. This is what it says: "You refused," meaning that you were refusing the reproof of the prophets and were not ashamed before them. And our Sages of blessed memory expounded the verse and said: "The rains are not withheld except because of brazen-facedness, as it is said, 'And the showers were withheld,' etc." And the Targum [reads]: "And you had the impudence of a woman who goes out into the street." And "brazen-faced" is called "shameless" in the language of our Sages of blessed memory.
Metzudat David
"And they were withheld." Is it not so that, because of your sin, the showers were withheld, and there was no latter rain? If so, you ought to have been ashamed of your deeds.
And the forehead. But you have a bare forehead, like that of a harlot, who does not cover her forehead because of shame — unlike the modest women, who cover their foreheads if something shameful happens to them.
"You refused to be ashamed." You are refusing to be ashamed and to feel shame for your deeds.
Metzudat Zion
"Rabbiyim." This is the strong rain. And similarly, "and like rabbiyim upon the grass" (ibid, Deuteronomy 32):
"And the malkosh." So is called the late rain that falls upon the stalks and upon the ears of grain; and so [it is written], "Yoreh and malkosh" (Deuteronomy 11:14):
"And the forehead" – this is the brow:
Me'ant. From the language of refusal:
"Hikkalem" [to be ashamed]. From the language of shame:
Did you not just now cry to Me: ‘My father, You are the friend of my youth.
verse value 2875
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 33 letters. Notable word values: "my·father" (אָבִ֑י) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "to·me" (לִ֖י, 2 letters) and the longest is "you·called" ((קראתי), 5 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "from·now" (מֵעַ֔תָּה), "you·called" ((קראתי)), "my·youth" (נְעֻרַ֖י). The root קרא appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "is·it·not" (root לא, 307x in Jeremiah); "you·called" (root קרא, 66x in Jeremiah); "you" (root אתה, 61x in Jeremiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'my·father', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 3 words. Full calculation: הֲל֣וֹא [is·it·not] (42) + מֵעַ֔תָּה [from·now] (515) + (קראתי) [you·called] (711) + קָרָ֥את [you·called] (701) + לִ֖י [to·me] (40) + אָבִ֑י [my·father] (13) + אַלּ֥וּף [the·friend·of] (117) + נְעֻרַ֖י [my·youth] (330) + אָֽתָּה [you] (406) = 2875.
Rashi
"Is it not from now?" Would that you ceased from your evil and called Me "Father"; and if you do so, will your Master bear a grudge against you forever for that which you sinned against Him? Though He might keep it forever, He will not keep it.
Radak
"Is it not from now that I have called?" It is written with a yod, as if it speaks in the first person, [as one who calls] on his own behalf, and it is read without a yod, as [addressed] to the second person, the one present. And the meaning of the ketiv is: it says, "Is it not from now"—meaning, it was for you, from now on, to call Me "Father," since I called you, [My] children, through My prophets; it was for you to answer and say to Me, "My Father, You are the Companion of my youth." But you did not do so. And the meaning of the Qere is: it says, "Is it not from now"—since you saw that I withheld the rains, it was for you to return to Me and call Me, "Father, Companion of my youth"—meaning, my ally and my great one from the days of my youth. And that is the time of the Exodus from Egypt, for then Israel entered under the wings of the Divine Presence and were trained in His commandments and in the knowledge of His divinity, like a youth who enters to study and is trained in the knowledge of Torah and wisdom. And Targum Yonatan translated "Companion of my youth" as "the stages of old."
Metzudat David
“Is it not so? Was it not at the time that I withheld rain as a punishment for your sin that you called out to Me, saying, ‘My Father’? And you said of Me, ‘My Master,’ etc., meaning: You are my Master from the time of my youth, from the day that You chose me.”
Metzudat Zion
Aluf: A commander and a lord. And similarly, "Do not trust in the aluf" (Micah 6).
Malbim
And behold, from now on, since you have need of rain, you called me “my father” and said to me, “Are you not the chief of my youth?”
Will He bear grudge for ever? Will He keep it to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken, but have done evil things, and have had your way.
verse value 3814
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 42 letters. The shortest word is "they" (הִנֵּ֥ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "if·He·will·keep" (אִם־יִשְׁמֹ֖ר, 6 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "will·keep" (הֲיִנְטֹ֣ר), "if·He·will·keep" (אִם־יִשְׁמֹ֖ר), "and·you·did" (וַתַּעֲשִׂ֥י). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "you·spoke" (root דבר, 270x in Jeremiah); "and·you·did" (root עשה, 147x in Jeremiah); "they" (root הן, 130x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root שמר ("if·He·will·keep") in Jeremiah. First appearance of the root נצח ("to·ever") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·ever', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 5 words. Full calculation: הֲיִנְטֹ֣ר [will·keep] (274) + לְעוֹלָ֔ם [to·ever] (176) + אִם־יִשְׁמֹ֖ר [if·He·will·keep] (591) + לָנֶ֑צַח [to·ever] (178) + הִנֵּ֥ה [they] (60) + דִבַּ֛רְתְּ [you·spoke] (606) + וַתַּעֲשִׂ֥י [and·you·did] (786) + הָרָע֖וֹת [the·evil·things] (681) + וַתּוּכָֽל [and·prevailed] (462) = 3814.
Rashi
"Behold, you have spoken." With your own mouth [you vowed], "We will not approach You again"; yet you did that evil, and did not set your heart to return.
And you were able. And you triumphed to rebel:
Radak
"Will He bear a grudge?" The prophet said: if you did this [i.e., repented], will God bear a grudge against you forever for your iniquity? Will He keep your sin forever? He will not do this; rather, when you return to Him, He will return to you and do good to you. But you did not do so; rather, you spoke [of returning] and yet did evil, and prevailed. "I have spoken" is written with a yod: the prophet said, behold, I spoke to you to return, but you did not do so, only [chose] to do evil deeds, and did evil. And the Qere is "you (fem.) have spoken," with a shva under the tav, [which is] the pronoun of the one addressed [second person feminine]: the prophet said, behold, you spoke of doing evil deeds, and you did as you spoke.
"and you were able." Jonathan [ben Uzziel] translated it as "and you increased," meaning that you multiplied in doing evil to the full extent of your ability. This explanation is correct: it means that you did the evil as much as you were able to do, or its meaning is "when you were able to do," and the vav [conjunction] is used in place of "when," just as in [the verse] "if they do not eat their fill, and they shall lodge," and "lips of rejoicing, my mouth shall praise." And when it says "and you did" in the feminine form, and "and you were able" in the masculine form, this is the custom of the Bible in many places: when it speaks against the Congregation of Israel, it speaks in the feminine form against the Congregation, and in the masculine form against the people, and both refer to one entity. My master and father, of blessed memory, explained these two verses as follows: "Behold, from now on you called me 'My Father'"—meaning recently, when King Josiah returned in repentance and the men of Judah returned with him—they were compelled to do so, as is explicitly stated: 'Despite all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but only in falsehood.' 'Will He punish forever?'—thus they used to say. And the Prophet says to them: 'Behold, you have spoken and done the evil, and you were able.'"
Metzudat David
"Guard." And you said in prayer: "Will the Lord keep hatred forever? Will He keep enmity for all time?" This is a repetition of the same matter in different words.
"Behold, you have spoken." Behold, you have spoken these very words with your mouth alone, but in deed you have committed evil, and all the evil that you could do, you did. This connects back to what was said above, to say: How can you not be ashamed? If your heart is not whole with Me, how can you speak in prayer such words as these?
Metzudat Zion
"Will He bear a grudge." The matter of guarding, as in "she guarded the vineyards" (Song of Songs 1:6):
For ever. Like: for ever.
"And you had your way." From the language of "ability."
Malbim
“Hinator la’olam” – as long as you say that this applies only when the rains were withheld, then you claim that I am the husband of your youth, and that it is impossible for Me to hate you forever. “Hineh dibrata” – meaning, you have indeed spoken with your mouth that the Lord does not punish. And yet, despite all this, you did not abandon your evil deeds, for “vata’asi ha-ra’ot” – you did evil and did not cease from them. “Vatukol ken” – you were able, you could do the deed of a harlot; you ruled over shamelessness and despised disgrace.
And Hashem said to me in the days of Josiah the king: ‘Have you seen that which backsliding Israel did? she went up upon every high mountain and under every leafy tree, and there played the harlot.
verse value 6272
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 84 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֜ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "to·me" (אֵלַ֗י, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·played·the·harlot·there" (וַתִּזְנִי־שָֽׁם, 7 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "you·saw" (הֲֽרָאִ֔יתָ), "going" (הֹלְכָ֨ה), "upon·all·hill" (עַל־כׇּל־הַ֣ר). 18 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "and·said" (root אמר, 476x in Jeremiah); "that" (root אשר, 459x in Jeremiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Israel', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 8 words.
Rashi
"Meshuvah" [backsliding] – manifest and proven, [this occurred] in the days of King Josiah: when He commanded me to restore the Ten Tribes, [He asked,] "Have you seen what wayward, backsliding Israel has done?" "Anbozeya" is the term in the vernacular.
Israel. The ten tribes:
"She was walking" – while she was still on her land, before she was exiled, in the days of Hezekiah, along with Hoshea son of Elah.
"Halkah. She was going upon every high mountain:"
"And she played the harlot there" – with idols. And "vatizni" is like "vatizen," with a superfluous yod.
Radak
And it said, “In the days of King Josiah.” Why did it say this, when it is well known that Jeremiah prophesied in the days of Josiah? Rather, because he also prophesied in the days of Jehoiakim and in the days of Zedekiah, it specified that his prophecy was in the days of Josiah, before Josiah and Judah did repentance. For Josiah eradicated idolatry from the land, yet here it says, “And she committed adultery with stones and trees.” Therefore, the prophecy was uttered before the repentance. And what it says, “Yet they did not return to Me, but in falsehood,” means that it appears as though they did repentance, but they did so in falsehood. It is possible that through the reproofs of the prophet Jeremiah, who prophesied against them, some of them returned outwardly and openly, but not secretly. This is what it means by “in falsehood.” And there is also another explanation: that this prophecy was uttered after the repentance. And even though it says, “Josiah, who returned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul,” Josiah himself returned with all his heart, but the people of his generation returned only compelled by the king’s fear. This is what it means by “they did not return to Me, but in falsehood.”
"Have you seen what she has done." This did not occur in the days of Josiah, for Israel had already gone into exile in the sixth year of Hezekiah. How, then, could Jeremiah have seen what Israel had done prior to their exile? Moreover, at the beginning of Jeremiah's prophecy, there were still twenty-three years remaining until the exile of Israel, and he himself said, "I do not know how to speak, for I am a youth." Therefore, we may interpret "Have you seen" to mean "Have you heard" or "Have you known," similar to the verse "And Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt" and other like instances. Alternatively, we may interpret "what she has done" as referring to the remnant of Israel that was found scattered—[some] in the land of Egypt, and [some] among Manasseh, Simeon, and Naphtali—who were there in the days of Josiah. As it is stated in Chronicles: "In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali," and it says: "The Levites who were gatekeepers gathered them from Manasseh, Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel."
"Meshuvah" [backsliding]. This is a descriptive noun [an adjective], and its meaning is "rebellious," related to [the verse] "Return, O wayward children."
"Holchah hi" means "she goes" [she is walking]. According to the first explanation, it is interpreted that she was going; and according to the second explanation, it means that now she goes, not having taken the lesson to heart when [the rest of] Israel went into exile.
"V'tizne sham." The yod stands in place of the heh — the third radical (lamed ha-po'al) of the root — and it is equivalent to "v'tizna." Similarly, "the Rock who bore you, you neglected" (Deut. 32:18), and "let not their sin be blotted out from before You" (Neh. 3:37).
Metzudat David
"Have you seen." If you have paid attention to see what the rebellious congregation of Israel did, they were the sons of the Ten Tribes.
"And you whored there." You served idols there.
Metzudat Zion
"Have you seen." With a questionative he:
Meshuvah. The matter concerns rebellion and walking in the ways of the heart, as it is written: "And he walked as a rebel" (Isaiah 57:17).
Re’anan. Moist and wet:
Malbim
And it says: After this introduction, the number of differences between the Ten Tribes and the Tribe of Judah is stated, for the Tribe of Judah in the days of King Josiah served idolatry in secret, and flattered in public, claiming they were God-fearing, and this was evil in the eyes of the Lord. And it clarifies that the Ten Tribes, who sinned in public, will justify themselves more than the Tribe of Judah. From this aspect — [in the words] "Have you seen what Rebel [Mishuvah] Israel did" — he calls Israel, meaning the Ten Tribes, by the name "Mishuvah" (the apostate), for they were like an apostate woman who went out from under her husband's authority to prostitute herself in public. And the Tribe of Judah is called "Bogedeh" (the treacherous one), who is like an adulteress who betrays her husband in secret, without his knowledge; she eats and wipes her mouth and says, "I have done no wrong." And three differences between them are stated: 1. "She goes up upon every high mountain, etc., and there she commits harlotry," meaning they committed harlotry in public on every high mountain, before the eyes of all.
And I said: After she has done all these things, she will return to me; but she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
verse value 4516
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 57 letters. The shortest word is "to·me" (אֵלַ֥י, 3 letters) and the longest is "all·these" (אֶת־כׇּל־אֵ֛לֶּה, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "but·not·returned" (וְלֹא־שָׁ֑בָה), "and·saw" ((ותראה)), "and·saw" (וַתֵּ֛רֶא). The root ראה appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·I·said" (root אמר, 476x in Jeremiah); "to·me" (root אל, 204x in Jeremiah); "she·did" (root עשה, 147x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root אחות ("her·sister") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'but·not·returned', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 5 words. Full calculation: וָאֹמַ֗ר [and·I·said] (247) + אַחֲרֵ֨י [after] (219) + עֲשׂוֹתָ֧הּ [she·did] (781) + אֶת־כׇּל־אֵ֛לֶּה [all·these] (487) + אֵלַ֥י [to·me] (41) + תָּשׁ֖וּב [shall·return] (708) + וְלֹא־שָׁ֑בָה [but·not·returned] (344) + (ותראה) [and·saw] (612) + וַתֵּ֛רֶא [and·saw] (607) + בָּגוֹדָ֥ה [treacherous] (20) + אֲחוֹתָ֖הּ [her·sister] (420) + יְהוּדָֽה [Judah] (30) = 4516.
Rashi
And I said: Through My prophets Amos and Hosea son of Beeri, and the rest of the prophets, "Return to Me."
"And her faithless sister Judah saw" — all this: "faithless" (bogedah) is a harsher term than "backsliding" (meshuvah). Israel, who were the first to sin and did not witness the punishment in order to learn from it and repent, are called "backsliding." Judah, who saw that these [Israel] had been exiled and did not take the lesson to heart, are called "faithless."
Radak
And it says: "I said, 'Since she has done all these evil deeds, and many troubles and evils have befallen her, she will surely repent of her evil deeds and return to Me.' But behold, she has not returned, despite all this."
"And her sister Judah, the treacherous one, saw." That is to say, she saw that Rebel Israel had done all this, yet she did not take it to heart. And the verse leaves the matter unstated, but from what is written we understand what is not written; and so too are many verses in Scripture, such as "a leader lacking in understanding," and others, as we have written in the book Mikhlol, in the section on grammar, therein.
"And she saw" (vatere). The ketiv is "vatir'eh" (vatireh), and they are one and the same [word].
Regarding "Bogudah" (the treacherous one): It is an adjective that comes with a qamats under the bet, following the pattern of the singular.
Metzudat David
And I say: I said to her, through the prophets, "Return to Me in repentance."
"And she did not return." She did not desire to return. "And she saw." This means: Furthermore, it came about that her sister, Faithless Judah, saw her deeds and learned from her.
Metzudat Zion
In "betrayal." The matter of rebellion is like "all her friends have betrayed her" (Lamentations 1:2).
Her sister. Her friend and companion:
Malbim
B. As I said, "After she has done all these things, let her return to Me," meaning that after she has satisfied her desire, her eyes will be opened; but she did not return at all, for she persisted in her wickedness. C. For she had no one from whom to learn. This is not so with Judah, who had already seen the deeds of her sister. And therefore it says, "and her sister, Faithless Judah, saw it" — she [Judah] saw her [Israel's] sin and also saw her punishment. For "And I saw that because of all the reasons for which she committed adultery, I sent her away" means that what I sent her away for was due to the fact that she committed adultery. And this I saw, recognized, and showed to all, until everyone knew that the reason for her being sent away was because she committed adultery. And based on this, Judah was distinguished in three matters for the worse: A. For she had already seen her sister's punishment, and nevertheless, Faithless Judah did not fear on account of her sister, and she went and committed harlotry as well.
And I saw, when, forasmuch as backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, that yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot;
verse value 7061
Insights
Verse structure: 20 words, 90 letters. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֤י, 2 letters) and the longest is "upon·all·causes" (עַל־כׇּל־אֹדוֹת֙, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 30: for, Judah. 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "and·I·saw" (וָאֵ֗רֶא), "upon·all·causes" (עַל־כׇּל־אֹדוֹת֙), "committed·adultery" (נִֽאֲפָה֙). 18 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 459x in Jeremiah); "for" (root כי, 318x in Jeremiah); "and·not" (root לא, 307x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root נאף ("committed·adultery") in Jeremiah. First appearance of the root ספר ("the·book·of") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·her', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 8 words.
Rashi
"And I saw, that for all the reasons..." etc. The cantillation of this verse teaches its interpretation: "Israel" is marked with a dividing zakef, separating it from "I sent her away" (shilachtiah), which is marked with a zakef gadol standing on its own. And this is its meaning: "And I saw" — I looked upon her to punish her. And why? "Because of all the things for which Rebellious Israel committed adultery." And what was My vengeance? "I sent her away from before Me." And "Faithless Judah was not afraid" — even though she saw the calamity of Samaria, she did not set her heart to repent.
Radak
"And I saw." And I, too, saw that she [Judah] saw and did not return. And what did she see? That for all the matters concerning which Rebel [Israel] committed adultery, I sent her away; despite all this, Faithless Judah, her sister, was not afraid that I would send her away as well, and she [Judah] did not return to Me. And as for what is said, "And I saw" — its sense is connected to the end of the passage, "...but insincerely" (Jeremiah 3:10); therefore it says "And I saw," because people did not see this, but I saw that her repentance was insincere and not with all her heart; and I, who search the heart, saw all this. "And I gave her bill of divorce to her." Now behold, Isaiah said: "Where is your mother's bill of divorce with which I sent her away?" (Isaiah 50:1) But Jeremiah said, "And I gave her bill of divorce to her." The commentator explained that Jeremiah spoke concerning the Ten Tribes, to whom a bill of divorce was given, [meaning] that there would no longer be a king from among them, for regarding the ingathering of the exiles it says, "And My servant David shall be their prince forever," and it says, "and they shall no longer be divided into two kingdoms." But to Judah He did not give a bill of divorce; rather, [it is] like a husband who sends his wife out of his house because he was angry with her, but did not give her a bill of divorce, because he intends to bring her back to him. So too, the kingship is destined to be restored to Judah. And we may also explain it thus: since the Ten Tribes did not return when the exile from Babylon ended, and moreover, since being exiled they have not left the place of their exile, and their exile has been very long for them — behold, it is as if a bill of divorce was given to them, even though they are destined to return. But the tribe of Judah, behold, it is as if no bill of divorce was given to them, since they returned to their land after seventy years and dwelt in their land four hundred and twenty years (ת"כ). And even though the tribe of Judah had not yet been exiled [at the time of this prophecy], the prophet spoke of the future, and of the comfort with which He comforts Israel, who are in this exile, that they will return, for they were sold only on account of their sins, and when they return to God He will restore their captivity. And He said concerning Judah, "Where is the bill of divorce?" — meaning, you are close to returning to Me, just as you returned once before, for there is no divorce between Me and you. And when they return, the rest of the tribes will also return, for David will reign over all the tribes. And so Ezekiel said: "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and I will put with it the stick of Judah, and make them into one stick." And even though a bill of divorce was given to them [the Ten Tribes], the divorce was already great and their exile was very long; and behold, He will restore their captivity together with the tribe of Judah.
Regarding "Bogedah": It comes with a tzere under the second root letter (the ayin ha-po'al), following the pattern of the singular; and similarly "noterah et ha-keramim" ("she who keeps the vineyards," Song of Songs 1:6), and others like them.
Metzudat David
"And I saw" (Va-ereh). This means: "And I see, and it is revealed before Me, that although for all the matters concerning which Rebellious Israel committed adultery through idolatry I sent her away, etc., I see that Faithless Judah, her sister, will not fear Me [i.e., learn from her sister's punishment], and she too will go and commit harlotry with idolatry, like her sister Israel."
Metzudat Zion
"Concerning." Its meaning is like "matter" or "business," and similarly, "concerning me" (Joshua 14:6).
“Ni’afah.” From the language of adultery and harlotry:
I sent her. The matter of distress and divorce:
Sefer Keritutah. So is the woman’s bill of divorce called, and so it says, “and he shall write her a sefer keritut” (Deuteronomy 24:1)—from its name, because it severs and separates between him and her.
"And she went whoring." From the language of harlotry:
and it came to pass through the lightness of her harlotry, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks;
verse value 3473
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 40 letters. Notable word values: "and·it·shall·be" (וְהָיָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "through·lightness·of" (מִקֹּ֣ל, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·land" (אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ, 6 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "her·fornication" (זְנוּתָ֔הּ), "and·was·polluted" (וַתֶּחֱנַ֖ף), "and·commited·adultery" (וַתִּנְאַ֥ף). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·it·shall·be" (root היה, 250x in Jeremiah); "the·land" (root ארץ, 245x in Jeremiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·land', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְהָיָה֙ [and·it·shall·be] (26) + מִקֹּ֣ל [through·lightness·of] (170) + זְנוּתָ֔הּ [her·fornication] (468) + וַתֶּחֱנַ֖ף [and·was·polluted] (544) + אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ [the·land] (697) + וַתִּנְאַ֥ף [and·commited·adultery] (537) + אֶת־הָאֶ֖בֶן [stone] (459) + וְאֶת־הָעֵֽץ [and·the·tree] (572) = 3473.
Rashi
"And she committed adultery with the stone." [Targum Yonatan renders:] "And she went astray with the worshippers of stones and wood." And Targum Yonatan renders "mikkol zenutah" [from the sound/voice of her harlotry] with a term of "lightness," because her idols were worthless/contemptible in her eyes.
Radak
"And it shall be from the voice of her harlotry": The sense [of this word] is "lightness," and the Masorah notes concerning it that there is no other occurrence spelled defectively in this sense. Its meaning is as rendered by its Targum: "And it came to pass that, because her idolatry was light in her eyes, she made the land guilty, and she strayed with the worshippers of stone and wood." And we have already explained that the language of "harlotry" and "adultery" mentioned in this matter refers to the matter of cleaving to idolatry.
Metzudat David
"And it shall be from the sound of her harlotry" – because of the casualness she had regarding the matter of harlotry with idolatry, she caused the Land to become desolate and a waste.
And she committed adultery, etc. She engaged in idolatry with idols made of wood and stone.
Metzudat Zion
"Mikkol" [as if from "voice"/"kol"]. From the language of "lightness" (i.e., levity):
“The stone.” With the stone:
Malbim
2. "And it shall be from the noise of her harlotry" – this means that on account of the report of her harlotry, since she sought to conceal her harlotry and was afraid of the report lest a ceaseless scandal go out against her, on account of this [it says] "she polluted the land" — she acted with hypocrisy and false piety, to demonstrate publicly that she was a righteous woman and God-fearing; yet she committed adultery with the stone in secret, not upon every high mountain as Rebellious [Mishuvah] Israel did, but rather in concealment and hypocrisy. And this sin is more severe, for it constitutes fraud and denial of Divine providence.
and yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not returned to Me with her whole heart, but feignedly, says Hashem—
verse value 2237
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 53 letters. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·also·in·all·this" (וְגַם־בְּכׇל־זֹ֗את, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 30: Judah, for. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "and·also·in·all·this" (וְגַם־בְּכׇל־זֹ֗את), "not·returned" (לֹא־שָׁ֨בָה), "in·all·her·heart" (בְּכׇל־לִבָּ֑הּ). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "says·Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "for" (root כי, 318x in Jeremiah); "to·me" (root אל, 204x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root שקר ("if·in·lie") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·all·her·heart', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְגַם־בְּכׇל־זֹ֗את [and·also·in·all·this] (509) + לֹא־שָׁ֨בָה [not·returned] (338) + אֵלַ֜י [to·me] (41) + בָּגוֹדָ֧ה [treacherous] (20) + אֲחוֹתָ֛הּ [her·sister] (420) + יְהוּדָ֖ה [Judah] (30) + בְּכׇל־לִבָּ֑הּ [in·all·her·heart] (89) + כִּ֥י [for] (30) + אִם־בְּשֶׁ֖קֶר [if·in·lie] (643) + נְאֻם־יְהֹוָֽה [says·Hashem] (117) = 2237.
Rashi
And even in all this: that they saw in the corruption of the calamity of their companions:
"But only in deceit." The generation of Josiah presented themselves as righteous, whereas they were actually wicked: they used to engrave images of idolatry on their doors, on the inside — half [the image] on one leaf and half on the other. And when the destroyers of idolatry came to inspect, the door was [only half] open, and they did not recognize it.
Radak
"And even in all this." "In all this" means that although she [Judah] saw that I had sent away her sister [Israel], she did not return to Me with all her heart. This [prophecy] refers either to before Josiah's repentance, or after it, as explained above regarding the verse "And the Lord said to me."
"Bagodah." It is an adjective; its rule would have been with a shva under the first letter of the root, like "kerovah" (near) and "rechokah" (far), but it retained the qamats, as it does in the masculine form.
Metzudat David
"And even with all this." Despite all the evil that she saw befall Israel, nevertheless she did not return to Me, etc., with her whole heart, but only with falsehood, from the lips outward.
Malbim
3. For whereas Israel never returned to the Lord at any time whatsoever, as it is stated, "And I said, after she had done all these things, she would return to Me, but she did not return," not so was the tribe of Judah: at every instance, after their transgression and harlotry, they returned to their husband's house, like a righteous woman. Nevertheless, they did not return to their husband's house with a whole heart in truth, but rather with deceit, for their heart was inclined toward idolatry. Therefore [it says], "God said to me: Rebellious [Meshuvah] Israel has justified herself more than Faithless [Bogedah] Judah" — for by comparing the deeds of Israel against the deeds of Judah, it is found that Israel is righteous relative to Judah. Therefore, go and call out these words spoken above: "Northward," in the place where Israel was exiled. And say to them, according to these words: "Return, O Rebellious [Meshuvah] Israel." Do not fear that I will let My face fall upon you in anger to punish you. Nor do you need fear that I will harbor hatred in My heart against you, for since I am gracious, I will never harbor resentment; I will completely and utterly forget your iniquity.
even Hashem said to me—backsliding Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
verse value 1930
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 39 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "to·me" (אֵלַ֔י, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·said" (וַיֹּ֤אמֶר, 5 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "than·treacherous" (מִבֹּגֵדָ֖ה). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "and·said" (root אמר, 476x in Jeremiah); "to·me" (root אל, 204x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root צדק ("justified·herself") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Israel', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 2 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֤אמֶר [and·said] (257) + יְהֹוָה֙ [Hashem] (26) + אֵלַ֔י [to·me] (41) + צִדְּקָ֥ה [justified·herself] (199) + נַפְשָׁ֖הּ [her·soul] (435) + מְשֻׁבָ֣ה [turning away] (347) + יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל [Israel] (541) + מִבֹּגֵדָ֖ה [than·treacherous] (54) + יְהוּדָֽה [Judah] (30) = 1930.
Rashi
"Backsliding Israel has justified herself." She was acquitted and freed herself from judgment, for she had no one from whom to learn.
Radak
And the Lord said to me, "She has proven herself more in the right." Even though Rebellious Israel sinned first, behold, her sister Judah added to sin, until her sister Israel was considered righteous in comparison to her. The additional sin of Judah was that they desecrated the House of the Lord by bringing their idols and images into it, nullifying the service of God there, and worshiping idolatry within the Temple itself. As it is stated regarding Ahaz, who commanded that an altar be made in the House of the Lord, in the likeness of the altar that was in Damascus, and he abolished the service of the altar of the Lord, etc., and he closed the doors of the House of the Lord. And it is stated, "And they extinguished the lamps and did not burn incense." And it is stated concerning him, "And he also passed his sons through fire, like the abominations of the nations." Similarly, regarding Manasseh it is stated, "And he bowed down to all the host of heaven." And it is stated, "And he passed his son through fire," and practiced soothsaying, divination, and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and spiritists, doing much evil in the eyes of the Lord. And it is stated concerning him, "He did more evil than all the Amorites who were before him." And he caused Judah also to sin with his idols. And it is stated, "Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem from one end to another with the slain."
Metzudat David
"Her soul was more righteous, etc." The meaning is: Even though Israel sinned initially, Judah sinned so grievously that Israel was considered righteous in comparison to her.
Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: Return, you backsliding Israel, Says Hashem; I will not frown upon you; For I am merciful, says Hashem, I will not bear grudge for ever.
verse value 4734
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 90 letters. Verse gematria: 4734 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֥א, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·words" (אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֨ים, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 117: says·Hashem, says·Hashem. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "return" (שׁ֣וּבָה), "not·I·will·frown" (לוֹא־אַפִּ֥יל), "for·faithful" (כִּֽי־חָסִ֤יד). The root יהוה appears 2 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "says·Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "and·you·shall·say" (root אמר, 476x in Jeremiah); "not" (root לא, 307x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root נפל ("not·I·will·frown") in Jeremiah. First appearance of the root בכם ("in·you") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 13 and 6 words.
Rashi
“Go, and call out...” – “Go” is rendered in the Targum as *azil*, a term denoting a command. Here, He commanded him to go and to bring back the Ten Tribes during the days of Josiah, as stated above: that this prophecy was uttered to him in the days of Josiah, and some of them returned in the eighteenth year of Josiah.
To the north. To the places where they were exiled there to Assyria:
“face.” “My anger.” So does the Targum translate it.
Radak
"Go, and proclaim." He is not telling the prophet to go northward, to the place to which the Ten Tribes were exiled, for the King of Assyria exiled them to Halah and Habor and the cities of Media, which are in the north of the world, toward the east. Rather, its meaning is that "go" denotes urgency, like "Come now, let me test you with mirth" and "Come, and let us cast lots," and the like. And what it says, "and proclaim," means that he should proclaim these words in Jerusalem before the elders of Judah, and proclaim the words toward Israel who were exiled, as if speaking to them face to face, and say to them, "Return, O Backsliding Israel" — hinting to them that they are destined to return in the end of days. And this is what it means by "I will not bear a grudge forever" — that is, that He will not keep their sin forever, but will bring them back to Him after a long time, and gather them together with the exile of Judah. And what it says, "I will not look on you in anger," [also] means "forever"; and the sense of "forever" applies to both: to "I will not cast down My face" and to "I will not bear a grudge" — for He had already cast down His face against them when He exiled them. And "panai" ["My face"] is interpreted as "My anger," as in "And I will set My face against that man," "The anger of the Lord has scattered them," and the like. And what it says, "for I am gracious," means that even though you sinned and deserved destruction, I am gracious, as it says of the attributes of God, "and abundant in kindness" — and kindness is an extra measure of good beyond what is deserved.
Metzudat David
“Northward.” Opposite the north, toward Assyria, the place to which Israel was exiled.
"I will not let [My face] fall." I will not let My wrath rest upon you.
"For I am compassionate." This means: Unlike a person who does not forgive his enemy even if they repent.
"I will not bear a grudge." I will not harbor enmity forever, for as soon as you return, the enmity will depart.
Metzudat Zion
“Walk.” It is a matter of the language of urging on.
"Apil" [I shall bring down/settle]. The matter is one of dwelling and settling, like "he dwelt (lit. fell) alongside all his brothers" (Genesis 25:18):
"Panai" (face). The matter is heat and anger, as in "the face of God has scattered them" (Lamentations 4:16), in that anger is recognized on a person's face.
"Ettor" [I will bear a grudge]. The matter is one of guarding:
Only acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against Hashem your God, And have scattered your ways to the strangers Under every leafy tree, And you have not hearkened to My voice, Says Hashem.
verse value 5410
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 74 letters. The shortest word is "indeed" (אַ֚ךְ, 2 letters) and the longest is "your·ways" (אֶת־דְּרָכַ֜יִךְ, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "you·rebeled" (פָּשָׁ֑עַתְּ), "and·you·scattered" (וַתְּפַזְּרִ֨י), "to·the·strangers" (לַזָּרִ֗ים). The root יהוה appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "in·Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "for" (root כי, 318x in Jeremiah); "not·you·hearkened" (root שמע, 184x in Jeremiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'you·rebeled', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 9 words.
Rashi
"You have transgressed." That is, you have rebelled.
"And you scattered your ways." This is the language of harlotry, meaning the spreading of the legs for the bed of a woman.
Radak
"Only know this: Before I return you to Me, you must know your iniquity and recognize within yourself for what reason I have exiled you, because you have transgressed against the Lord your God. And once you recognize this, return to Me, and I will return to you."
And you scattered. For you did not serve a single idolatrous deity alone, but rather you scattered your ways among strangers, to this one and to that one, as it is stated: “For your gods were as numerous as your cities, O Judah.”
"And to My voice you did not listen." For I was continually warning you through the prophets, yet you did not listen.
Metzudat David
"Only know your iniquity": Be aware within yourself that you have increased your sin, for you have transgressed against the Lord.
"And you scattered." "You have scattered your legs, one from another," to commit adultery with many strangers; and this means that you worshipped much idolatry.
"And to My voice you did not listen." This means: You did not serve Me even in partnership [with other deities].
Metzudat Zion
"And you scattered." From the language of "scattered" and "separated."
“Your ways” – Your feet are called by this name, because one treads and paces with them. Just as the word *pa’am* is used both in the sense of walking and for the foot, as it is stated, “the feet of his chariots” (Judges 5:28), and it is also stated, “the feet of the poor” (Isaiah 27).
Malbim
Yet on the condition that you will know your iniquity and remember that you have sinned, for your sin was threefold: 1. You rebelled against the Lord your God by rebelling against your husband; 2. In that you scattered your ways and became promiscuous to all, and moreover, the promiscuity was exceedingly great, for it was harlotry with every person, with strangers, and in every place, under every lush tree; 3. For even though I called you to return to Me and I warned you, nevertheless, you did not heed My voice.
Return, O backsliding children, says Hashem; for I am a lord to you, and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion;
verse value 4846
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 77 letters. Notable word values: "one" (אֶחָ֣ד) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "says·Hashem" (נְאֻם־יְהֹוָ֔ה, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 461: you, you. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "from·clan" (מִמִּשְׁפָּחָ֔ה). 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "says·Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "for" (root כי, 318x in Jeremiah); "and·I·will·bring" (root בוא, 211x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root שובב ("backsliding") in Jeremiah. First appearance of the root אחד ("one") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 9 words.
Rashi
"Wayward ones" (shovavim) — "anevoisier" in the vernacular — meaning that you strayed from your way out of the abundance of ease and pleasure in which you dwelt, as it says: "Those who pluck upon the lute" (Amos 7), "those who drink wine in bowls" (ibid.).
For I have espoused you. And you are called by My Name, that I am a Master to you, and it is not fitting for My honor to leave you in the hand of My enemies.
Radak
"Return, O rebellious children." [Shovavim, meaning] rebels, like "meshuvah" [backsliding], which we explained.
"For I have been married to you." That is to say, I will espouse you after I have divorced you. And the Targum renders: "I was pleased with you." And my lord father, of blessed memory, explained that "I have been married" means "I loathed [you]," since it is connected with the letter bet; and likewise, "I have loathed them, says the Lord" is to be understood the same way. And he likened this to a similar usage in the Arabic language.
"One from each city" – even if there is only one Jew alone in a city among the cities of the nations, from there I will take him; and likewise, if there are even two alone in a single nation, from there I will take them. A "nation" is termed a "family," as it is written, "And if the family of Egypt does not go up," and similarly, "to all the families of the kingdoms of the north." Our Sages of blessed memory interpreted "one from each city" to mean that one person merits redemption for the entire city, and two from a family merit redemption for the entire family, and by their merit, all of them will be redeemed from exile.
Metzudat David
"Return." You are rebellious children; return to Me, for I am the Master and Ruler over you. Therefore, it is fitting that you return to Me.
"And I will take you." And then I will take you out of exile:
"One from the city." This means that even if only a small number return to Me, I will take them, and they will not remain there among those who persist in their rebellion.
Metzudat Zion
"Ba'alti" [I have ruled over/espoused]. The term denotes a ruler and lord, as in: "if his master is with him" (Exodus 22):
Malbim
"Return, O backsliding children," and although the sinful fathers did not return, behold, I am calling that at least their children shall return. For "I have betrothed you," meaning: although I divorced your mother and gave her a bill of divorce, I have betrothed you, meaning: I will hold you as my wife, and I will be your husband. And "I will take you," even if only one from a city remains, a small remnant, nevertheless I will take you in the future and bring you to Zion. And since the cause of your fathers' sin was the kings, the kings of Israel who led you astray from the path, therefore "I will give you shepherds after My own heart," good shepherds who will shepherd you with understanding and discernment.
and I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
verse value 2531
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 33 letters. The shortest word is "to·you" (לָכֶ֛ם, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·understanding" (וְהַשְׂכֵּֽיל, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "as·my·heart" (כְּלִבִּ֑י), "knowledge" (דֵּעָ֥ה). The root רעה appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·I·will·give" (root נתן, 141x in Jeremiah); "to·you" (root לכם, 51x in Jeremiah); "evil" (root רעה, 50x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root לכם ("to·you") in Jeremiah. First appearance of the root לב ("as·my·heart") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'as·my·heart', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 4 words. Full calculation: וְנָתַתִּ֥י [and·I·will·give] (866) + לָכֶ֛ם [to·you] (90) + רֹעִ֖ים [evil] (320) + כְּלִבִּ֑י [as·my·heart] (62) + וְרָע֥וּ [and·they·will·pasture] (282) + אֶתְכֶ֖ם [you] (461) + דֵּעָ֥ה [knowledge] (79) + וְהַשְׂכֵּֽיל [and·understanding] (371) = 2531.
Radak
"And I will give." "Like My heart." "They shall shepherd them"—"like My heart" and "My desire"—not like the earlier shepherds, who were the kings of Israel and Judah, who led them astray on an evil path and to serve idolatry; but those shepherds that I will give them in the time of salvation will shepherd them with knowledge and understanding. And the shepherds are the leaders of Israel, who will be with the messianic king, as it is stated in the prophecy of Micah: "And we will raise up over him seven shepherds and eight princes of men."
Metzudat David
"Ro'im kelibi" (Shepherds of my heart): These are the righteous kings, and according to the desire of my heart, it will not be as in the past, when they anointed wicked kings of their own accord, and they incited them toward idolatry; but in the future, the Messiah will reign over you.
"and they shall pasture you." They shall pasture you in the way of knowledge and understanding.
And it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says Hashem, they shall say no more: The ark of the covenant of Hashem; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they make mention of it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more.
verse value 4541
Insights
Verse structure: 22 words, 97 letters. Notable word values: "and·it·shall·be" (וְהָיָ֡ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·covenant·of·Hashem" (בְּרִית־יְהֹוָ֔ה, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 80: again, again. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "you·increase" (תִרְבּוּ֩), "and·you·will·bear·fruit" (וּפְרִיתֶ֨ם), "chest" (אֲרוֹן֙). The root לא appears 4 times in this verse. 18 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "says·Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "not·shall·say" (root אמר, 476x in Jeremiah); "for" (root כי, 318x in Jeremiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'upon·inner man', dividing the verse into phrases of 15 and 7 words.
Rashi
They shall no longer say "ark." For all your gathering-places [i.e., synagogues] shall be holy, and I will dwell in them as if they were an ark.
"Yifkedu" [they shall miss it]. Like "yizkeru" [they shall remember it]:
And it shall not be done again. What had already been done with it at Shiloh, when they brought it out in battle against the Philistines in the days of Eli (I Samuel 4):
Radak
"And it shall be when you multiply." They shall no longer say, "The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord," nor shall it come to mind. This means: even though you multiply and increase in the land, the nations shall not envy you to the point of coming to fight against you, so that you would need to go out to war with the Ark of God with you, as was their custom of taking the Ark out to war. In those days, they shall not need this, for they shall have no more war. Therefore it says: "They shall no longer say," "nor shall it come to mind," "nor shall they mention it," "nor shall they miss it," "nor shall it be made again"—meaning, for this purpose, to take it out for war. And Targum Yonatan [has]: "nor shall it be made again, nor shall they wage war with it again."
Metzudat David
"They shall no longer say, 'The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.' This means that they shall no longer say to one another, 'Let us go before the Ark to pray there,' because due to the multitude of the people, they will not all be able to come there, for the place will not be able to contain them."
"And it shall not come up into your mind." "It shall not come up" means that no one should entertain in his heart the idea of going there, even if he is alone, for it is exceedingly difficult to enter that place due to the congestion of the multitude of people.
"And they shall not mention it." [This means] that no one shall call the Ark to mind, to go there. And the matter is repeated in what is stated, and likewise, "nor shall they miss it."
"And it shall not be made anymore." This means that no additional arks shall be made, so that all may come before one of them. And as it is stated below, that the Shechinah will rest in all of Jerusalem, and there the prayers of those who pray will be accepted.
Metzudat Zion
"And you shall be fruitful." The language of "fruit" means that you shall bear many children.
"Yifkodu." The matter is one of remembrance:
Malbim
“And it shall come to pass when you multiply” – meaning that after you were few in number at the time of the gathering, with one from each city and two from each family, and then you multiply and bear fruit afterward, then all of them shall be righteous, as it is stated, “And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion shall be called holy” [Isaiah 4:3] — “They shall no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’” This means that currently, speech does not align with thought, and likewise, thought does not align with action. That is to say, even though they speak with their mouths and mention the holiness of the Ark of the Covenant and the words of the Torah scroll placed within it, nevertheless, their hearts are distant from their speech, and they do not take it to heart. Likewise, at the time when they do take the Ark to heart, still, they do not perform actions in accordance with the words of this covenant. But in the future, it will not be so. The proper parsing of the verse is: “For then they shall no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord,’ nor shall it come to mind.” This means that it will not be as it is now, where they say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord,” yet it does not come to mind—that is, they say it with their mouths but do not take it to heart. “With their mouth and with their lips they honor Him, but their heart is far from Him.” Then it will not be so. Likewise, “nor shall they remember it, nor shall it be missed, nor shall it be made.” This means that it will not be as it is now, where, when they remember and consider in their thoughts the words of the Ark of the Covenant, still, they do not act; they do not perform actions according to the words of the covenant, and they do not bring their thoughts from potentiality into actuality. Then it will not be so; rather, if they remember it, they will immediately perform it, until the action is joined with the thought, and the thought is joined with the speech.
At that time they shall call Jerusalem The throne of Hashem; and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of Hashem, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
verse value 4728
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 81 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֔ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "time" (בָּעֵ֣ת, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·Jerusalem" (לִירוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 616: to·Jerusalem, to·Jerusalem. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "they·call" (יִקְרְא֤וּ), "and·they·will·be·waited" (וְנִקְו֨וּ), "and·not·shall·walk" (וְלֹא־יֵלְכ֣וּ). The root ירושלם appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "to·her" (root אל, 204x in Jeremiah); "to·name·of" (root שם, 122x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root קוה ("and·they·will·be·waited") in Jeremiah. First appearance of the root ילך ("and·not·shall·walk") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·Jerusalem', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 6 words.
Rashi
"Venikvu." And they shall be gathered: the term is akin to a mikveh, a gathering of waters.
"Serirah." This is the language of "seeing," like "ashurenu" [I behold him] (Numbers 24).
Radak
"At that time." It need not be said that the nations will not come against Jerusalem to wage war; rather, they will call it the Throne of the Name, and all the nations will gather there for the sake of the Lord and to serve Him, not to wage war. And what is meant by saying "to Jerusalem" after having said "to her"? It implies that one will say to another, "Let us go to Jerusalem," and they will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil heart, neither Israel nor the nations.
“their stubborn hearts.” The strengthening of their hearts, as our Sages of blessed memory stated: “firm and established.”
Metzudat David
“The throne of the Lord.” This means that there, too, the Divine Presence will dwell.
"And they shall gather unto her." All the nations shall assemble unto her, because of the Name of the Lord which dwells within her. And he returns and explains: "To Jerusalem shall they assemble, for there shall be the dwelling of the Divine Presence."
“The stubbornness of their evil heart.” This refers to the appearance of their heart, which shows them evil and incites them to commit it.
Metzudat Zion
"And they shall be gathered." The matter is one of gathering and collecting, as it is said, "Let the waters be gathered" (Genesis 1).
Shirrut. The matter of seeing and gazing, like "which men have beheld" (Job 36:24):
Malbim
At that time, “the throne of the Lord” — in place of [the fact] that now He has set His throne in the heavens, [meaning] that His sovereignty and governance are manifest in the heavens, in that He governs all according to the laws of nature — then the sovereignty of the Lord and His governance will be revealed in Jerusalem through miraculous governance that transcends nature, such that it will appear as though the Lord sits there, governing, overseeing, and reigning. Therefore, all nations will gather toward it, not for war against it or to consume its fruit, but for the sake of the Lord, and also for Jerusalem, because of the importance of the city. And they will no longer follow the willfulness of their hearts, for they will all recognize the sovereignty of the Lord, His oneness, His ways, and His Torah.
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 to your fathers.’
verse value 4608
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 72 letters. Verse gematria: 4608 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "that" (אֲשֶׁ֥ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "your·fathers" (אֶת־אֲבוֹתֵיכֶֽם, 9 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "house·of·Judah" (בֵית־יְהוּדָ֖ה), "I·gave·as·an·inheritance" (הִנְחַ֖לְתִּי). The root בית appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 459x in Jeremiah); "from·land·of" (root ארץ, 245x in Jeremiah); "and·they·will·go·in" (root בוא, 211x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root יחד ("together") in Jeremiah. First appearance of the root נחל ("I·gave·as·an·inheritance") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Israel', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 8 words. Full calculation: בַּיָּמִ֣ים [in·the·days] (102) + הָהֵ֔מָּה [abundance] (55) + יֵלְכ֥וּ [they·shall·walk] (66) + בֵית־יְהוּדָ֖ה [house·of·Judah] (442) + עַל־בֵּ֣ית [with·house·of] (512) + יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל [Israel] (541) + וְיָבֹ֤אוּ [and·they·will·go·in] (25) + יַחְדָּו֙ [together] (28) + מֵאֶ֣רֶץ [from·land·of] (331) + צָפ֔וֹן [north] (226) + עַל־הָאָ֕רֶץ [upon·the·earth] (396) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + הִנְחַ֖לְתִּי [I·gave·as·an·inheritance] (503) + אֶת־אֲבוֹתֵיכֶֽם [your·fathers] (880) = 4608.
Rashi
"The House of Judah shall go upon the House of Israel." They will join with them and be added to them, so that they may become one kingdom.
Radak
"In those days." In the ingathering of the exiles:
Upon the House of Israel. With the House of Israel; and similarly, "And the men came with the women."
“From the land of the north.” As we have written, the tribes were in the land of the north, eastward beyond Babylon.
Metzudat David
"They shall go forth." From the place where they were exiled:
“House of Judah.” These are those who were exiled from the cities of Judah by Sennacherib, king of Assyria, and did not return in the Second Temple period.
“Upon the house of Israel.” With the sons of the Ten Tribes:
Together. Judah and Israel:
“From the land of the north” – from the place to which they were exiled.
"Upon the land." "To the land."
Metzudat Zion
“Upon the house of Israel.” “With the house of Israel” is analogous to “And the men came upon the women” (Exodus 35:22):
Malbim
In those days, the ingathering of the exiles will take place. The House of Judah will go to the House of Israel, who are the Ten Tribes, as it is stated (Isaiah 11:12) in the verse: “and will assemble the outcasts of Israel.” Both will be joined together as one, and they will appoint a single leader for themselves, and they will ascend from the land to the land of their forefathers.
But I said: ‘How would I put you among the sons, And give you a pleasant land, The finest heritage of the nations! ’ And I said: ‘You shall call Me, My father; And shall not turn away from following Me.’
verse value 7053
Insights
Verse structure: 20 words, 89 letters. Notable word values: "my·father" (אָבִי֙) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֥א, 2 letters) and the longest is "you·would·call·Me" (תִּקְרְאִי־לִ֔י, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 31: how?, not. 9 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "in·the·sons" (בַּבָּנִ֔ים), "and·I·will·give·to·you" (וְאֶתֶּן־לָךְ֙), "possession" (נַחֲלַ֥ת). The root אמר appears 2 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "I·utteranced" (root אמר, 476x in Jeremiah); "not" (root לא, 307x in Jeremiah); "land" (root ארץ, 245x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root חמדה ("desire") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'nations', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 8 words.
Rashi
"And I said" — in My heart, and therefore I caused your fathers to inherit them:
"How shall I set you among the children?" — My congregation and My nation, among the other children; therefore, I have chosen a good portion and will give you a desirable land.
“The beauty of the armies of the nations.” The beauty of all the armies of the nations.
Radak
"And I said" – this is what has been said until now: I am destined to fulfill all of them in the end of days, even though you will be in exile many days; but if you desire, you will not be exiled, for I said: 'How shall I set you among the sons?' That is to say, through the declaration by which you shall be called 'sons,' as it is stated: 'You are sons to the Lord your God.'
"And I will give you" – meaning, I will leave you in them, just as I gave you the land, which is called "a desirable land," for all the nations desire it.
"The heritage of beauty." The doubling of the matter in what is stated: for "tzvi" means "desire," and it is like "desirable" [chemdah] that he mentioned — that the hosts of the nations desire it. And Targum Yonatan renders "the beauty of the hosts of the nations" as: "the joy, the praise of the peoples." Now how can this be, and in what way will I give it to you? And it says regarding this matter: it will be that I shall set you among the sons, and I will give you a desirable land, so that you shall call Me "Father," and shall not turn back from following Me. "תקראו" [you shall call, masc. pl.] is written, and it is read "תקראי" [fem. sing.] — [the Qere] corresponds to the Congregation [of Israel], and the Ketiv corresponds to the people. And it is one and the same: if you call Me "Father," I will call you "sons," as it said, "I will set you among the sons." "תשובו" [you shall return, pl.] is written, and it is read "תשובי" [fem. sing.], as we explained regarding the word "תקראו."
Metzudat David
"And I said": At first, when I took you to be My people, I said in My heart: In what matter shall I place you among the sons, and make you similar to them? That is to say, to be similar to the angels above, who are called "sons of God," as it is written, "And the sons of God came" (Job 1:6).
"And I will give you." And for this reason I have given you a desirable land, a glorious inheritance, among all the armies of the nations, for they all yearn and crave for it and glorify it, because it is the place of the Divine Presence’s resting, and it is a great gateway to fear the Lord, to be like the angels above.
"And I said." I said concerning this matter, "You shall call me 'my father,' and you shall not turn away from after me forever."
Metzudat Zion
"Ashitecha" [I will place you]. The meaning is "setting" [placing]:
Tzvi. The matter of splendor and glory, and likewise "tzvi" [beauty] of kingdoms (Isaiah 13:19):
Malbim
"And I said" — in contrast to what I stated earlier, that then all the nations will gather to Jerusalem and all the world will recognize the faith of the Lord — He said that initially the Lord conceived thoughts to separate them from all the nations, and to isolate them in a specific land. He likened them in His parable to one who has a beloved daughter among many sons, who fears placing her dwelling among the sons, lest they harm her or lead her into bad behavior; therefore, He gives her a specific inheritance of a field and vineyard. This is what it says: "And I said, 'How shall I set you among sons?'" meaning that I feared lest you become mixed with the nations. Therefore, I gave you a desirable land. There were two aspects to this: 1. In itself, it is a desirable land. 2. It is an inheritance of beauty, which will have eternal permanence. And I said in My heart: through the fact that it is a desirable land, you will call Me Father and recognize the goodness; and through the fact that it is an inheritance of beauty and permanence — "you shall not turn back from following Me," for you will be established in My fear, just as the inheritance will be permanently established in your hands.
Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, So have you dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, Says Hashem.
verse value 2307
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 38 letters. The shortest word is "so" (כֵּ֣ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "says·Hashem" (נְאֻם־יְהֹוָֽה, 7 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "you·acted·treacherously" (בְּגַדְתֶּ֥ם). The root בגד appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "says·Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "house·of" (root בית, 128x in Jeremiah); "Israel" (root ישראל, 110x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root אכן ("surely") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·her·neighbor', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 6 words. Full calculation: אָכֵ֛ן [surely] (71) + בָּגְדָ֥ה [acted·treacherously] (14) + אִשָּׁ֖ה [wife] (306) + מֵרֵעָ֑הּ [from·her·neighbor] (315) + כֵּ֣ן [so] (70) + בְּגַדְתֶּ֥ם [you·acted·treacherously] (449) + בִּ֛י [against·me] (12) + בֵּ֥ית [house·of] (412) + יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל [Israel] (541) + נְאֻם־יְהֹוָֽה [says·Hashem] (117) = 2307.
Rashi
Indeed. But you did not act according to My thoughts, rather like a woman who is unfaithful to her husband because he is unable to provide for her sustenance; so too, you have been unfaithful to Me, who provides you with every good. This is the aggadic midrash.
Radak
Indeed, they have betrayed. Just as a woman betrays her lover, who is her husband, so too have you betrayed Me. And the reason this verb is connected with a mem, contrary to the usual custom, is to indicate that in the act of betraying her husband, she goes away from him to another man.
Metzudat David
Truly. In truth, it is not so; for just as a woman betrays her companion, who is her husband, and departs from him, so too have you, the House of Israel, betrayed Me.
Metzudat Zion
Betrayed. Rebellious:
"Mereah" [her companion]. From the language of "rei'a" [friend] and "chaver" [companion]:
Malbim
Indeed, you have not behaved as a daughter toward her father, who had done good to her; rather, like a woman who is faithless to her husband, so have you been faithless to Me, O house of Israel.
Hark! upon the high hills is heard The suppliant weeping of the children of Israel; For that they have perverted their way, They have forgotten Hashem their God.
verse value 3929
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 59 letters. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֤י, 2 letters) and the longest is "upon·bareness" (עַל־שְׁפָיִ֣ים, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "upon·bareness" (עַל־שְׁפָיִ֣ים), "supplications·of" (תַחֲנוּנֵ֖י), "they·perverted" (הֶעֱווּ֙). 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "for" (root כי, 318x in Jeremiah); "is·heard" (root שמע, 184x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root בכי ("weeping·of") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Israel', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 6 words. Full calculation: ק֚וֹל [voice] (136) + עַל־שְׁפָיִ֣ים [upon·bareness] (540) + נִשְׁמָ֔ע [is·heard] (460) + בְּכִ֥י [weeping·of] (32) + תַחֲנוּנֵ֖י [supplications·of] (524) + בְּנֵ֣י [son] (62) + יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל [Israel] (541) + כִּ֤י [for] (30) + הֶעֱווּ֙ [they·perverted] (87) + אֶת־דַּרְכָּ֔ם [way] (665) + שָׁכְח֖וּ [they·forgot] (334) + אֶת־יְהֹוָ֥ה [Hashem] (427) + אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם [their·God] (91) = 3929.
Rashi
"On the bare heights is heard." It is close to being heard [i.e., it is about to happen]:
Radak
"A voice is heard upon the heights" – the verb is a nifal participle, as it has a qamats vowel. The meaning of "heights" is the elevated places. And it says "upon the heights" so that their voice would be heard from afar, as they confess. The meaning of the verse is: it was fitting for them that their voice be heard from afar upon the heights, and that they — the children of Israel — weep and supplicate to God, and confess to Him that they had corrupted their way and forgotten the Lord their God. For had they done this, I would have accepted them in repentance and said to them, "Return, O backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." And they would say, "Here we are, we come to You, for You are the Lord our God."
Metzudat David
“A voice is heard upon the heights.” This means that it was fitting for a voice to be heard on the high places, to be proclaimed from afar, and that voice would be one of weeping and supplication from the House of Israel, weeping over their transgression and seeking forgiveness for it, because they had committed many evils, they had perverted their way in matters between man and his fellow, and they had forgotten the Lord and had not served Him.
Metzudat Zion
Shefayim. High places:
The word "he'evu" is derived from the language of "avut" and "akum," meaning twisted and crooked.
Malbim
The voice depicts in its rhetoric that it hears two distinct voices: 1. A voice is heard upon the heights, that it hears a voice exploding upon the high mountains; 2. It hears from the valley a second voice of the supplications of the children of Israel. It depicts exaltation, as if Israel were like a lost, rejected lamb, and the Lord were like a shepherd standing upon the high mountains and calling to the lamb in the valley, so that it would recognize His voice and return to Him. And it weeps in the valley because it has forgotten the shepherd's voice and strayed from the path. For "they have gone a crooked way" is a parenthetical statement, explaining why he hears these two voices: because Israel has made their way crooked and weep in the valley, not knowing the way. And they also do not recognize the voice of the shepherd calling upon the heights, because they have forgotten the Lord their God.
Return, you backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings.— ‘Here we are, we are come to You; For You are Hashem our God.
verse value 3062
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 51 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֥ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "to·you" (לָ֔ךְ, 2 letters) and the longest is "your·backslidings" (מְשׁוּבֹתֵיכֶ֑ם, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 102: son, our·God. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "I·will·heal" (אֶרְפָּ֖ה), "your·backslidings" (מְשׁוּבֹתֵיכֶ֑ם), "they" (הִנְנוּ֙). The root אתה appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "for" (root כי, 318x in Jeremiah); "our·God" (root אלהים, 140x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root רפא ("I·will·heal") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'your·backslidings', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 7 words. Full calculation: שׁ֚וּבוּ [return] (314) + בָּנִ֣ים [son] (102) + שׁוֹבָבִ֔ים [backsliding] (360) + אֶרְפָּ֖ה [I·will·heal] (286) + מְשׁוּבֹתֵיכֶ֑ם [your·backslidings] (818) + הִנְנוּ֙ [they] (111) + אָתָ֣נוּ [we·have·come] (457) + לָ֔ךְ [to·you] (50) + כִּ֥י [for] (30) + אַתָּ֖ה [you] (406) + יְהֹוָ֥ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ [our·God] (102) = 3062.
Rashi
"Here we are, we have come to You." The prophet teaches them to confess and say thus: "Here we are, we have come to You; surely it was for naught, etc.; and shame has consumed..., etc.; let us lie down in our shame." All of this is the language of prayer that the prophet teaches them to say.
"Atanu." We have come:
Radak
"Return, and I will heal." It is written with a heh, and it is as though [written] with an aleph, [denoting] the concept of healing. And he used the term "healing" for forgiveness by way of metaphor. And similarly, "Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You." For just as the wound of the body is healed by the treatment that is administered to it, so too the wound of the soul, which is sin — its healing is forgiveness together with repentance.
"Hinnenu" (Behold, we are here). [The first] nun is light [i.e., without a dagesh], and it has a shva.
"Atanu" ("We came"). It is vocalized with a qamats, like [roots] that have an aleph [radical], and it also belongs among [roots] that have a heh [radical], from "ve-ata mi-rivevot kodesh" ("and He came from the myriads of holiness") [Deut. 33:2].
Metzudat David
"Return, O backsliding children." You are rebellious children; return to Me, so that I may heal and forgive the rebellion with which you rebelled against Me. And they said, "Here we are, we have come to You in repentance, for You have always been the Lord our God."
Metzudat Zion
"Arpah." It is from the root of "healing," though it is spelled with a heh. [The term for healing] is used regarding forgiveness by way of metaphor, as in: "Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You" (Psalms 41:5).
With us. The matter of "coming" is like "atah boker" [morning has come] (Isaiah 21:12):
Malbim
(22-23) "Return" elucidates ("a voice is heard on the heights"): "Return, wayward children." The Lord calls out with His voice for them to return to Him, for He will heal their apostasy. ("and the weeping of the supplications of the children of Israel"): "Behold, we are with You, for You are the Lord our God." Indeed, "in vain, from the hills, a multitude of mountains." This means that Israel weeps before Him in the valley and responds to the voice calling from the heights, saying: "We are ready to return to You, and we have already come to You, because You are the Lord our God. But we do not recognize Your voice, nor do we know the place to which we should return, for 'from the hills, a multitude of mountains' is deceptive." This indicates that against the voice emanating from among the mountains, the hills respond with an echo, so that the one standing in the valley cannot distinguish the true voice from the echo, which is a reflected voice. Likewise, even though a voice issues from the mountains to show us the path of truth, from the hills is heard the "multitude of mountains," which is the echo responding against it. "Deceptive" means that we would not return to You but deceptively; that is, the true prophets teach us to return to You, while the false prophets say we should go toward deception, namely, to serve idolatry. They cannot distinguish the true voice, the voice of the Lord, from the imagined voice. And they offer a second argument: "Behold, we are with You, for You are the Lord our God." Indeed, "In the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel." This means: But it is impossible for us to return, for we have become exceedingly weak, to the point that only in the Lord our God can the salvation of Israel be conceived. Without help from on high, it is impossible for us to return and be saved, for shame has already consumed the labor of our fathers from our youth. All that we had, idolatry has consumed and exhausted, so that therefore we are in utter despair, doing nothing, but only lying in our shame, for we cannot lift our heads or do anything. There is a difference between shame and disgrace: shame is internal, while disgrace comes from others. Therefore, it says, "We lie in our shame," and the disgrace is the covering on top, for it comes from outside, for "to the Lord our God we have sinned from our youth," and it is no longer possible for us to return to Him.
Truly vain have proved the hills, The uproar on the mountains; Truly in Hashem our God Is the salvation of Israel.
verse value 3496
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 45 letters. The shortest word is "surely" (אָכֵ֥ן, 3 letters) and the longest is "from·hills" (מִגְּבָע֖וֹת, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 71: surely, surely. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "from·hills" (מִגְּבָע֖וֹת), "salvation" (תְּשׁוּעַ֖ת). The root אכן appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "in·Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "our·God" (root אלהים, 140x in Jeremiah); "Israel" (root ישראל, 110x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root המון ("multitude") in Jeremiah. First appearance of the root הר ("mountains") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'mountains', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 5 words. Full calculation: אָכֵ֥ן [surely] (71) + לַשֶּׁ֛קֶר [to·the·lie] (630) + מִגְּבָע֖וֹת [from·hills] (521) + הָמ֣וֹן [multitude] (101) + הָרִ֑ים [mountains] (255) + אָכֵן֙ [surely] (71) + בַּיהֹוָ֣ה [in·Hashem] (28) + אֱלֹהֵ֔ינוּ [our·God] (102) + תְּשׁוּעַ֖ת [salvation] (1176) + יִשְׂרָאֵֽל [Israel] (541) = 3496.
Rashi
"Surely for naught." We looked in vain to the hills and multitude of mountains, where we served foreign gods there.
Indeed. Truly:
Radak
"Indeed, it is for falsehood." They shall confess and say, "We served idolatry in vain, for it did not benefit us." For the idolaters used to worship on the mountains and on the hills; therefore it says, "from the hills, a multitude of mountains." And the meaning is: "from the hills" [refers to] the deliverance that we hoped for from the worship of the hills — it is false, for there is no deliverance for Israel except through the Lord our God. And "hamon" has a qamats under the heh, and it is not in construct with "harim" ("mountains"), for if it were in construct it would say "hamon" with a shva [under the mem] and a patach under the heh, as in "the father of a multitude of nations." And its meaning is: the deliverance that we hoped for from the hills, through the worship that we performed upon them, is false; and likewise the multitude that we would gather on the mountains to worship idols there is false. And "harim" ("mountains") is missing the functional letter bet [i.e., the prefix meaning "on/in"], as is found [elsewhere], such as "[came to] the house of the Lord" and "to play the harlot [in] her father's house," and others like them, which we wrote about in the book Mikhlol, in the grammar section thereof. And in this manner Targum Yonatan interpreted the verse: "Indeed for falsehood was [our] worship on the heights, and not for benefit did we throng on the mountains." And the verse can be interpreted in another way.
"Indeed, it is for falsehood, from the hills." We, who were looking out from the hills for help from the nations, and likewise from the mountains we were looking out, expecting that a multitude from the nations would come to our aid — it was in vain, as it says, "In our looking out, we looked out for a nation that would not save." And so our Sages of blessed memory explained. And in saying "the salvation of Israel" — [it means] that His eyes were upon them for good when they walked in His ways, and He guarded them always, and not so with the other nations.
Metzudat David
"Indeed, in vain, from the hills." In truth, we hoped in vain for help from the idolaters who stand upon the hills, and from the multitude of idols that are upon the mountains.
"Through the Lord." With the help of the Lord came the salvation of Israel.
But the shameful thing has devoured The labour of our fathers from our youth; Their flocks and their herds, Their sons and their daughters.
verse value 4929
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 60 letters. The shortest word is "devoured" (אָ֥כְלָ֛ה, 4 letters) and the longest is "and·their·daughters" (וְאֶת־בְּנוֹתֵיהֶֽם, 10 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "and·the·shame" (וְהַבֹּ֗שֶׁת), "toil" (אֶת־יְגִ֥יעַ), "small cattle" (אֶת־צֹאנָם֙). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "our·fathers" (root אב, 52x in Jeremiah); "devoured" (root אכל, 44x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root צאן ("small cattle") in Jeremiah. First appearance of the root בקר ("and·cattle") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·our·youth', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 4 words. Full calculation: וְהַבֹּ֗שֶׁת [and·the·shame] (713) + אָ֥כְלָ֛ה [devoured] (56) + אֶת־יְגִ֥יעַ [toil] (494) + אֲבוֹתֵ֖ינוּ [our·fathers] (475) + מִנְּעוּרֵ֑ינוּ [from·our·youth] (432) + אֶת־צֹאנָם֙ [small cattle] (582) + וְאֶת־בְּקָרָ֔ם [and·cattle] (749) + אֶת־בְּנֵיהֶ֖ם [their·sons] (508) + וְאֶת־בְּנוֹתֵיהֶֽם [and·their·daughters] (920) = 4929.
Rashi
And the shame. Idolatry, which we engaged in, as it is stated: "and they consecrated themselves to the shameful thing."
She consumed the toil of our fathers. Due to the sin of her worship, our toil became plunder.
Radak
And "the shame." They shall also confess and say that the shame — which is idolatry — consumed the labor of our fathers from our youth. The Baal that they used to worship is called "Boshet" ("shame"), as in "and they consecrated themselves to Boshet," where "Boshet" is equivalent to "Baal." Likewise, Jerubbaal is called Jerubbesheth, for Baal is shame and disgrace to whoever occupies himself with it. And "labor" refers to the produce of the field, for as punishment for this sin, their crops were afflicted with blight, mildew, locusts, or an enemy. And similarly, it consumed their sheep and their cattle, their sons and their daughters, who died by plague as punishment for the sin of idolatry. Behold, we know that the shame, namely idolatry, consumed everything. And the Targum [renders it]: "And through the shame of [our] sins, [it] consumed the toil of our fathers." And in saying "our fathers" and then saying "from our youth," it means that we saw from our youth that the labor of our fathers was consumed because of our sin[s].
Metzudat David
"And the shame." [This refers to] the idol worship, which is a shame and disgrace to those who worship it; the entire sin of its worship caused the loss of what our fathers gathered through toil and labor.
"From our youth." This means that the destruction and loss that occurred from the time of our youth was due to this sin.
"their flock." Now he explains to say that this is what we lost: what they gathered, namely, their flock, etc.
Let us lie down in our shame, And let our confusion cover us; For we have sinned against Hashem our God, We and our fathers, From our youth even to this day; And we have not hearkened To the voice of Hashem our God.’
verse value 4442
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 94 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֥ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּי֩, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·our·fathers" (וַאֲבוֹתֵ֔ינוּ, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 102: our·God, our·God. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Jeremiah. Unique to this verse in Jeremiah (hapax): "let·us·lie·down" (נִשְׁכְּבָ֣ה), "in·our·shame" (בְּבׇשְׁתֵּ֗נוּ), "and·let·it·cover·us" (וּֽתְכַסֵּ֘נוּ֮). The root יהוה appears 2 times in this verse. 16 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·Hashem" (root יהוה, 725x in Jeremiah); "for" (root כי, 318x in Jeremiah); "and·not" (root לא, 307x in Jeremiah). First appearance of the root כסה ("and·let·it·cover·us") in Jeremiah. First appearance of the root כלמה ("our·disgrace") in Jeremiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'this', dividing the verse into phrases of 13 and 5 words.
Radak
"Let us lie down in our shame." We too, just like our forefathers who were consumed by their shame, so we, following after them, have taken hold of their ways, and "let us lie down in our shame." And as for its saying "let us lie down" — this is because a person in great distress who does not know what to do casts himself into sleep and lies down. And so, in this manner, [as in] "Though you lie among the sheepfolds" (Psalms 68:14), and "you shall be like one lying in the heart of the sea, and like one lying atop a mast" (Proverbs 23:34). And so it says, "let our shame cover us," following the manner of "and shame has covered my face" (Psalms 44:16), from our youth. Explanation:
From our youth. We did evil, as we saw our fathers do:
Metzudat David
"Let us lie down." This means that shame surrounds us on all sides, as if we were lying upon beds of shame, and as if disgrace covered us from above; this is a figure of speech.
"For the Lord, etc." And there is no greater shame than this.
From our youth. This means from the time that He took us as a people:
And we have not heard, etc. The matter is repeated in what is stated:
Rashi
Radak
Metzudat David
Metzudat Zion
Malbim