3:6–11 Jeremiah’s confrontation of shamelessness and melodrama in Judah now shifts from poetry to prose. In doing so, the elliptical nature of poetic speeches gives way to the direct confrontation of a prosaic comparison with Israel—no angel herself. By the time of King Josiah (640–609 BC), when Jeremiah receives this oracle, the northern kingdom of Israel has ceased to exist for nearly a century (cf. 2 Kings 17). Israel’s syncretism with Canaanite fertility practices (Jer. 3:6) eventually led to her exile in 721 BC, here described in marital terms as a “decree of divorce” (v. 8). This was a drastic measure intended to warn the southern kingdom of Judah against following in her sister’s apostate footsteps (cf. v. 7).

Nevertheless, the historical reality of Israel’s destruction has had the opposite effect on Judah. The southern kingdom has instead become emboldened in spiritual adultery (vv. 8–9). The source of Judah’s misplaced confidence is later revealed in Jeremiah to be, among other things, the presence of the temple in Jerusalem (7:4, 10), the sacred space the northern kingdom lacked. In fact, the delay in Judah’s judgment by God has apparently created a sham religious industry of ministers who lead the people to repent “in [or “with”] pretense” (3:10; cf. 5:11–13; 6:14; 23:13–17). This self-deception means that the southern kingdom is now worse than the northern kingdom (3:11) despite the latter’s going into exile first. The worsening threat from Babylon in the course of Jeremiah’s ministry means that he has numerous competitors among the “prophets” who claim salvation is on the horizon, as when Judah (unlike Israel) was delivered from Assyria a century before (e.g., chs. 20; 28).

3:12–14 What hope remains for such a people seemingly beyond repentance? The answer comes through a surprising shift in the passage back to Israel, the northern kingdom already in exile. Yahweh directs his “prophet to the nations” (1:5) to turn in the direction of their exile and summon this (nonexistent) nation back to him: “Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord” (3:12). Because of Yahweh’s abundant compassion (v. 13), for Israel to “return” (in the sense of repentance) will lead to “return” (in the sense of restoration from exile) when, as God says, “I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and . . . bring you [back] to Zion” (v. 14). The use of the Hebrew verb shub (“repent, return”) in the OT indicates that repentance serves both to avert the punishment of exile and also to enable Israel’s return after exile has already occurred.

3:15–21 The possibility that an already judged Israel can still be saved is intended to prick the numb conscience of Judah. If shock language does not work (cf. vv. 1–5), perhaps unimaginable hope will (vv. 12–14). As if this were not enough, Yahweh promises—whether or not his people respond to the present invitation—to give them a future with spiritual leaders who are no longer corrupt, as in their past. The “shepherds after my own heart” (v. 15) are an allusion to King David (1 Sam. 13:14), yet they will be better than David since they will always keep their people’s welfare in mind rather than becoming the predatory leader that David sadly became in the Uriah-Bathsheba incident (2 Samuel 11).

Other nations join Israel’s parade of returning exiles in Jeremiah 3:16–18. The plural “you” who receive good leaders (v. 15) and multiply in the land (v. 16) change to a “they” whose identity is not given as “all nations” until verse 17. This group of non-Israelites shall note that the ark of the covenant has become obsolete (v. 16), whether as an instrument of worshiping Yahweh (e.g., Exodus 25–31) or as the war standard going before Israel in battle (e.g., Joshua 3; 1 Samuel 4). Both understandings of the ark appear to be likely background for Jeremiah 3:17, when the nations journey to Jerusalem as a place of pilgrimage rather than as the site of battle and judgment (cf. 1:15). With this reference to Zion/Jerusalem as the place of Yahweh’s reign on earth (cf. Psalm 48; Jer. 33:9, 16), Jeremiah’s vision of the future includes all nations under the aegis of Jeremiah’s “new covenant” (Jer. 31:31–34), with a reunited Israel and Judah first among them (3:18).

The “prophet to the nations” (1:5) remains firmly rooted in the present, however. From the foretelling of the preceding verses he returns to forthtelling Yahweh’s yearning for this generation to call him “My Father” (3:19) rather than continuing to act like a treacherous wife toward him (v. 20). This shift from marital to parental metaphor heralds a new beginning: the children of Israel have begun to mourn over their forgetfulness (v. 21; cf. 2:32).

3:22–23 Yahweh beckons his children closer—a conversation between these two estranged parties begins to take place. Again Yahweh summons his hearers, “Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness” (v. 22), this time including Judah and not only Israel (cf. vv. 12, 14). A reunited people respond to Yahweh’s invitation by confessing him as their God and renouncing their faith in the ability of Canaanite rituals and gods (vv. 22–23). What is more, to confess that Yahweh alone is “salvation” (v. 23) is to remember the long-forgotten truth that he is the incomparable God who delivered Israel in the exodus (cf. 2:6; Ex. 14:30; 15:2).

3:24–25 The prophet adds his voice to the growing ranks of the pious (the voice of “we/us” in these verses could also be that of the people from vv. 22–23). Taking a longer view of Israel’s syncretism, the prophet renounces veneration of the “shameful thing” (v. 24), probably a condemnation of various kinds of idolatry the OT frequently categorizes as “shame/shamefulness.” These can be other gods (e.g., Isa. 42:17; Hos. 9:10; 10:6), military help from human armies instead of Yahweh (e.g., Isa. 30:1–5), and or even Yahwistic (but still syncretistic) icons such as King Jeroboam’s golden calves (e.g., 1 Kings 12:28–32). In the future, those who venerated shameful idols will no longer be shameless (Jer. 3:24) but will recognize the shame such idols bring to the worshiper (v. 25). Significantly, Jeremiah notes that these apostasies are not recent but have characterized the entire history of Yahweh’s people: “we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God” (v. 25). Sins of idolatry date back to Israel’s spiritual adultery with the golden calf (Exodus 32–34).

4:1–4 Though apostasy has tragically been the norm instead of the exception, Yahweh is summoning his people for one last chance to repent (cf. Jer. 3:7, 10, 12, 14). Jeremiah 4:1–2 is an extended if-then sentence that outlines three conditions of repentance. The first is that Israel/Judah must “return” (4:1) to her God with sincerity (v. 2) instead of continuing halfheartedly along paths of spiritual adultery (cf. 3:1). Second and similarly, this people of Yahweh must “remove [their] detestable things from [his] presence” (4:1) by putting away other gods and the syncretistic rituals used to venerate them (cf. 3:22; 7:30; 13:27). The final condition is for Israel/Judah to live as a people whose vows in Yahweh’s name are sworn “in truth, in justice, and in righteousness” (4:2). Other passages in Jeremiah describe Israel’s use of the oath formula “As the Lord lives” (mentioned in v. 2) as a cover for evils such as injustice (5:2) and idolatry (12:16).

Repentance by a chosen nation will lead to Yahweh’s blessing upon all nations. In a remarkable allusion to the Abrahamic promises (Gen. 12:1–3), Israel/Judah’s fulfillment of the “if”—obedience to Yahweh (Jer. 4:2a–b)—leads to the worldwide result that “then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him they shall glory” (v. 2c–d; cf. Gen. 22:17–18). Because Israel/Judah was called to be a countercultural nation (Ex. 19:5–6; Deut. 26:16–19), the loss of distinctiveness among the nations has undermined its ability to be a blessing to the nations.

Since the stakes in Israel’s holiness are international, Yahweh again issues a summons for his particular people to live as he has called them to be. Addressing now the people of Judah and Jerusalem in particular (Jer. 4:3), the Creator commands repentance from the heart using the creational metaphors of softening unfertile ground and sowing seed in fertile places. The prophet Hosea used similar agricultural metaphors of sowing and reaping a century prior in addressing the northern kingdom of Israel (Hos. 10:12). Unique to Jeremiah, though, is that creational ideas for repentance (v. 3) are followed by the priestly language of circumcising oneself and removing the foreskin (v. 4). This is an allusion to Israel’s consecrated identity as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6). As Deuteronomy has already stated and the apostle Paul will also emphasize, true circumcision comes from the heart, not just the body (Deut. 10:16; Rom. 2:25–29; Phil. 3:2–3).

The window for repentance is closing, but this passage concludes by highlighting Yahweh’s willingness to forgive despite centuries of sin. The commands to repent that precede are intended to stir Israel’s conscience and avert a fearful encounter with the other side of Yahweh’s character: “lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds” (Jer. 4:4). Here the connecting words “lest” and “because” are supremely important. “Lest” (Hb. pen) indicates that Yahweh would rather not judge, while “because” (mipne) shows that judgment, should it become inevitable (as it does later in Jeremiah’s ministry), will have been due to the accumulated sins of Judah rather than the fickleness of Yahweh. For Judah to refuse Yahweh’s grace means choosing to face his wrath, and such a disaster will be self-inflicted, not something for which the people blame Yahweh. Amazingly, though, in what follows both the prophet Jeremiah and the people he serves often accuse their God of being unfair (e.g., v. 10).