Jeremiah 5

Introduction

Jeremiah 5 delivers an unsparing indictment of Judean society. The chapter opens with a challenge that echoes Abraham's bargaining for Sodom (Genesis 18:22-33): God invites a search through the streets of Jerusalem for even one person who acts justly and seeks truth, promising that if such a person is found, he will pardon the entire city. The search comes up empty. Neither the poor nor the powerful know the way of the LORD -- both have thrown off every moral restraint.

The chapter then unfolds a catalogue of national sins: false oaths, spiritual adultery, brazen lust, denial that God will act, exploitation of the vulnerable, and prophets and priests who traffic in lies. Interwoven with the indictment is the twice-repeated refrain, "Should I not punish them for these things?" (vv. 9, 29), in which God's justice is presented not as arbitrary wrath but as the only rational response to such thoroughgoing corruption. The chapter concludes with a pointed observation: the prophets prophesy falsely, the priests rule by their own authority, and the people love it so -- but what will they do when the end comes?

The Search for One Righteous Person (vv. 1--6)

¹ "Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city. ² Although they say, 'As surely as the LORD lives,' they are swearing falsely." ³ O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent. ⁴ Then I said, "They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God. ⁵ I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God." But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains. ⁶ Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.

¹ "Roam through the streets of Jerusalem; look, I urge you, and take note. Search her public squares -- if you can find one person, anyone who does justice, anyone who seeks faithfulness, then I will pardon her. ² Even when they say, 'As the LORD lives,' they are swearing falsely." ³ O LORD, do not your eyes look for faithfulness? You struck them, but they felt no anguish. You consumed them, but they refused to accept correction. They made their faces harder than rock; they refused to turn back. ⁴ Then I said, "These are only the lowly -- they act foolishly because they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God. ⁵ Let me go to the great ones and speak to them, for surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God." But these too, together, had broken the yoke and snapped the bonds. ⁶ Therefore a lion from the forest strikes them down; a wolf of the wastelands ravages them; a leopard watches over their cities. Everyone who goes out from them is torn to pieces -- for their transgressions are many and their apostasies are numerous.

Notes

The opening command שׁוֹטְטוּ ("roam, run to and fro") is intensive, implying a thorough, exhaustive search. God challenges Jeremiah to comb the חוּצוֹת ("streets") and רְחוֹבוֹתֶיהָ ("public squares") of Jerusalem for even a single אִישׁ ("one person") who does מִשְׁפָּט ("justice") and seeks אֱמוּנָה ("faithfulness, truth"). That word אֱמוּנָה denotes reliability, steadfastness, trustworthiness -- not merely intellectual assent to truth but lived integrity. If one such person can be found, God promises וְאֶסְלַח לָהּ ("and I will pardon her").

The parallel with Genesis 18:22-33 is unmistakable. Abraham bargained God down from fifty righteous people to ten as the threshold for sparing Sodom. Here the threshold has dropped to one -- and even one cannot be found. The situation in Jerusalem is worse than Sodom.

Verse 2 exposes the perversion of the oath formula חַי יְהוָה ("As the LORD lives"). They use God's name, but לַשֶּׁקֶר יִשָּׁבֵעוּ ("they swear falsely"). The noun שֶׁקֶר ("falsehood, deception") is one of Jeremiah's key terms -- it will reappear in the false prophets who prophesy בַשֶּׁקֶר in verse 31.

In verse 3, Jeremiah addresses God directly. God's eyes look for אֱמוּנָה ("faithfulness") -- the same word from verse 1. He הִכִּיתָה ("struck") them, but they felt no חָלוּ ("pain, anguish"). He כִּלִּיתָם ("consumed/finished them"), but they מֵאֲנוּ קַחַת מוּסָר ("refused to accept discipline/correction"). The word מוּסָר ("discipline, instruction") is a key concept in wisdom literature -- it is the formative correction that makes a person wise. They made their faces harder than סֶלַע ("rock/cliff") and מֵאֲנוּ לָשׁוּב ("refused to return/repent").

Jeremiah's initial reaction in verse 4 is to excuse the common people: these are דַּלִּים ("poor, lowly ones") who lack access to instruction. They נוֹאֲלוּ ("act foolishly") because they do not know דֶּרֶךְ יְהוָה ("the way of the LORD") or מִשְׁפַּט אֱלֹהֵיהֶם ("the justice of their God"). So in verse 5 he goes to הַגְּדֹלִים ("the great ones") -- the ruling class, the educated elite who should know better. But these too have שָׁבְרוּ עֹל ("broken the yoke") and נִתְּקוּ מוֹסֵרוֹת ("snapped the bonds") -- images of draft animals throwing off their harness, refusing to be directed.

Verse 6 announces a triple beast judgment: אַרְיֵה ("lion") from the forest, זְאֵב עֲרָבוֹת ("wolf of the wastelands"), and נָמֵר ("leopard") watching over their cities. Three different predators, three different terrains -- forest, desert, and the settled land itself. No place is safe. The reason is given with two parallel terms: פִּשְׁעֵיהֶם ("their transgressions") are רַבּוּ ("many"), and their מְשׁוּבוֹתֵיהֶם ("apostasies, backturnings") are עָצְמוּ ("numerous/mighty"). The word מְשׁוּבָה is from the same root as שׁוּב ("to turn") -- it means a turning away, an apostasy.

Interpretations

The search for one righteous person has been read in various ways:

Christological reading: The utter failure to find a single just person in Jerusalem points to the universal human condition that only Christ can remedy. Paul's argument in Romans 3:10-12 ("There is no one righteous, not even one") draws on this same tradition. Only Jesus fulfills the condition that Jerusalem could not meet.
Prophetic/social justice reading: The emphasis on מִשְׁפָּט and אֱמוּנָה frames the search in terms of justice and integrity in public life, not merely private piety. The indictment falls on social structures that corrupt everyone, from the poorest to the most powerful.

Spiritual Adultery and Its Consequences (vv. 7--11)

⁷ "Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes. ⁸ They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor's wife. ⁹ Should I not punish them for these things?" declares the LORD. "Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? ¹⁰ Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD. ¹¹ For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me," declares the LORD.

⁷ "How can I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken me and sworn by what are no gods. I fed them to the full, yet they committed adultery and crowded into the prostitute's house. ⁸ They are well-fed, lusty stallions -- each one neighing after his neighbor's wife. ⁹ For these things shall I not bring reckoning?" declares the LORD. "Against a nation such as this, shall I not avenge myself? ¹⁰ Go up through her vine-rows and destroy -- but do not make a complete end. Strip away her tendrils, for they do not belong to the LORD. ¹¹ For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt utterly treacherously with me," declares the LORD.

Notes

Verse 7 opens with the rhetorical question אֵי לָזֹאת אֶסְלַח לָךְ -- "How/why for this should I pardon you?" using the same verb סלח ("pardon") from verse 1. The people's children have עֲזָבוּנִי ("forsaken me") and sworn by בְּלֹא אֱלֹהִים ("what are not gods"). God וָאַשְׂבִּעַ אוֹתָם ("satisfied/fed them to the full"), yet they וַיִּנְאָפוּ ("committed adultery"). The verb נאף carries both literal and metaphorical force in Jeremiah -- spiritual infidelity with other gods and actual sexual immorality. They יִתְגֹּדָדוּ ("crowd together, assemble") at the בֵּית זוֹנָה ("house of the prostitute").

Verse 8 deploys a deliberately degrading metaphor: the men of Judah are compared to סוּסִים מְיֻזָּנִים מַשְׁכִּים -- "well-fed stallions in heat." The word מְיֻזָּנִים means "well-nourished, fattened," and מַשְׁכִּים likely refers to sexual potency (perhaps "having large organs" -- the precise meaning is debated). Each one יִצְהָלוּ ("neighs") after אֵשֶׁת רֵעֵהוּ ("his neighbor's wife"). The people have reduced themselves to animals in rut.

Verse 9 introduces the refrain that will recur in verse 29: הַעַל אֵלֶּה לֹא אֶפְקֹד -- "For these things shall I not bring reckoning?" The verb פקד ("visit, attend to, bring reckoning") is a loaded term that can mean to inspect, to muster, or to punish -- here it carries the sense of a judicial accounting. The second line asks: לֹא תִתְנַקֵּם נַפְשִׁי ("shall my soul not avenge itself?"). God speaks of his own נֶפֶשׁ ("soul") -- the divine self -- experiencing something analogous to the demand for justice.

The vineyard imagery in verse 10 depicts Judah as God's vine (cf. Isaiah 5:1-7). The invaders are told to עֲלוּ בְשָׁרוֹתֶיהָ וְשַׁחֵתוּ ("go up through her vine-rows and destroy"), but crucially וְכָלָה אַל תַּעֲשׂוּ ("do not make a complete end"). Even in judgment, God restrains the destruction. The נְטִישׁוֹתֶיהָ ("her tendrils/shoots") are to be stripped away because לוֹא לַיהוָה הֵמָּה ("they do not belong to the LORD") -- the branches have become alien to the vine's owner.

Verse 11 summarizes the charge: בָגוֹד בָּגְדוּ בִי -- "they have dealt utterly treacherously with me." The infinitive absolute בָגוֹד intensifies the verb -- this is thorough, comprehensive betrayal. Both בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל ("house of Israel") and בֵּית יְהוּדָה ("house of Judah") are implicated.

Denial and Its Consequences (vv. 12--17)

¹² They have lied about the LORD and said: "He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine. ¹³ The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them." ¹⁴ Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: "Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes. ¹⁵ Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel," declares the LORD. "It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand. ¹⁶ Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men. ¹⁷ They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust."

¹² They have denied the LORD and said, "He is nothing; no harm will come upon us; we will see neither sword nor famine. ¹³ The prophets are nothing but wind, and the word is not in them -- let what they say happen to them!" ¹⁴ Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Hosts: "Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words fire in your mouth, and this people wood, and it will devour them. ¹⁵ Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel," declares the LORD. "It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, whose speech you cannot understand. ¹⁶ Their quiver is like an open grave; all of them are warriors. ¹⁷ They will devour your harvest and your bread; they will devour your sons and your daughters; they will devour your flocks and your herds; they will devour your vine and your fig tree; they will shatter with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust."

Notes

Verse 12 describes the people's blasphemous self-assurance. They כִּחֲשׁוּ בַיהוָה ("denied/lied about the LORD") and said לֹא הוּא -- literally "Not he!" or "He is nothing!" This is not atheism but practical theological dismissal: God will not intervene, God is irrelevant. They deny the possibility of רָעָה ("harm/disaster"), חֶרֶב ("sword"), or רָעָב ("famine").

Verse 13 records the people's contempt for the prophets: וְהַנְּבִיאִים יִהְיוּ לְרוּחַ -- "the prophets will become wind." The word רוּחַ means both "wind" and "spirit" -- the people are punning: the prophets claim to have the Spirit, but they are nothing but hot air. וְהַדִּבֵּר אֵין בָּהֶם ("the word is not in them") -- they dismiss the prophetic word entirely.

God's response in verse 14 is direct. He turns the people's own mockery against them: since they said the prophets are mere wind, God will make his דְּבָרַי ("words") into אֵשׁ ("fire") in Jeremiah's mouth, and the people will be עֵצִים ("wood") that the fire וַאֲכָלָתַם ("devours them"). The word they dismissed will consume them (cf. Jeremiah 23:29: "Is not my word like fire?").

The invasion described in verses 15--17 uses language of overwhelming, inexorable force. The nation is אֵיתָן ("enduring, mighty"), מֵעוֹלָם ("ancient, from of old"), and speaks an unknown לְשֹׁנוֹ ("language"). Their אַשְׁפָּתוֹ ("quiver") is like קֶבֶר פָּתוּחַ ("an open grave") -- every arrow that leaves it brings death. Verse 17 uses the verb אכל ("devour, eat") five times in rapid succession, creating a sense of insatiable consumption: the enemy devours harvest, bread, sons, daughters, flocks, herds, vines, and fig trees. The repetition is relentless, like the advancing army itself.

The Measure-for-Measure Judgment (vv. 18--19)

¹⁸ "Yet even in those days," declares the LORD, "I will not make a full end of you. ¹⁹ And when the people ask, 'For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' You are to tell them, 'Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.'"

¹⁸ "Yet even in those days," declares the LORD, "I will not make a complete end of you. ¹⁹ And when they say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' -- you shall say to them, 'Just as you forsook me and served foreign gods in your own land, so you will serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'"

Notes

Verse 18 again introduces the crucial qualification: לֹא אֶעֱשֶׂה אִתְּכֶם כָּלָה -- "I will not make a complete end of you" (cf. Jeremiah 4:27). God's judgment is severe but not total; a remnant will survive.

Verse 19 establishes a principle of measure-for-measure justice (מידה כנגד מידה in later rabbinic terminology). When the people ask תַּחַת מֶה ("on account of what?") God has done this, the answer carries a precise symmetry: you served אֱלֹהֵי נֵכָר ("foreign gods") בְּאַרְצְכֶם ("in your own land"), so you will serve זָרִים ("foreigners/strangers") בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָכֶם ("in a land not yours"). The punishment mirrors the sin: those who chose to serve alien gods at home will be forced to serve alien masters abroad.

A Foolish People Who Cannot See (vv. 20--25)

²⁰ Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah: ²¹ "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. ²² Do you not fear Me?" declares the LORD. "Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it. ²³ But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away. ²⁴ They have not said in their hearts, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.' ²⁵ Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.

²⁰ Declare this in the house of Jacob, and proclaim it in Judah, saying: ²¹ "Hear this now, O foolish people without sense, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear: ²² Do you not fear me?" declares the LORD. "Will you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, an everlasting decree that it cannot overstep. Though its waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot cross over it. ²³ But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away. ²⁴ They have not said in their hearts, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives rain -- the early rain and the late rain -- in its season, who guards for us the appointed weeks of harvest.' ²⁵ Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have withheld the good from you."

Notes

Verse 21 addresses the people as עַם סָכָל וְאֵין לֵב -- "a foolish people without heart/sense." The word סָכָל denotes dullness and stupidity. The phrase עֵינַיִם לָהֶם וְלֹא יִרְאוּ אָזְנַיִם לָהֶם וְלֹא יִשְׁמָעוּ -- "eyes they have but do not see, ears they have but do not hear" -- echoes the language used of idols in Psalm 115:5-6 and Psalm 135:16-17. The people have become like the dead idols they worship. Jesus quotes this tradition in Mark 8:18, and Isaiah received a similar commission in Isaiah 6:9-10.

Verse 22 appeals from creation. God set חוֹל ("sand") as a גְּבוּל ("boundary") for the יָם ("sea"), an חָק עוֹלָם ("everlasting decree"). The sea's waves וַיִּתְגָּעֲשׁוּ ("toss and surge") but וְלֹא יוּכָלוּ ("cannot prevail"). They וְהָמוּ ("roar") but cannot cross. The argument moves from the lesser to the greater: if the mighty sea obeys God's boundary, how much more should human beings fear the one who set it? The sea -- that ancient symbol of chaos and rebellion -- submits to a line of sand, while Israel refuses to submit to any boundary at all.

Verse 23 provides the contrast: the sea obeys, but this people has לֵב סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה ("a stubborn and rebellious heart"). Both adjectives describe a willful, defiant refusal -- סוֹרֵר ("stubborn, wayward") is used for a rebellious son in Deuteronomy 21:18, and מוֹרֶה ("defiant") comes from the root meaning to rebel against authority.

Verse 24 reveals what they should have said: נִירָא נָא אֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ -- "Let us fear the LORD our God." God is the one who gives גֶּשֶׁם ("rain"), including יוֹרֶה ("early rain," the autumn rains that soften the soil for plowing) and מַלְקוֹשׁ ("late rain," the spring rains that fill the grain). He guards the שְׁבֻעוֹת חֻקּוֹת קָצִיר ("appointed weeks of harvest") -- the regulated agricultural calendar that sustains all life.

Verse 25 draws the connection: עֲוֺנוֹתֵיכֶם הִטּוּ אֵלֶּה -- "your iniquities have turned these things away." The עֲוֺנוֹת ("iniquities") have disrupted the natural order. Their חַטֹּאותֵיכֶם ("sins") have מָנְעוּ הַטּוֹב מִכֶּם ("withheld the good from you"). Sin does not merely offend God -- it disrupts the channels through which his blessings flow.

The Wicked Rich and the Refrain of Judgment (vv. 26--31)

²⁶ For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men. ²⁷ Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich. ²⁸ They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy. ²⁹ Should I not punish them for these things?" declares the LORD. "Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? ³⁰ A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land. ³¹ The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?"

²⁶ For among my people are found wicked men; they lie in wait like one who sets snares; they set a trap -- they catch human beings. ²⁷ Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become great and rich. ²⁸ They have grown fat and sleek; they have also surpassed the deeds of the wicked. They do not plead the case -- the case of the fatherless -- that they might prosper, and the rights of the needy they have not defended. ²⁹ For these things shall I not bring reckoning?" declares the LORD. "Against a nation such as this, shall my soul not avenge itself? ³⁰ An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: ³¹ the prophets prophesy by falsehood, and the priests rule at their direction, and my people love it so. But what will you do when the end comes?"

Notes

Verse 26 describes the wicked among God's people using hunting imagery. They יָשׁוּר כְּשַׁךְ יְקוּשִׁים ("lurk like one who crouches as a fowler") -- the rare verb שׁוּר means to watch or spy, and יְקוּשִׁים are bird-trappers. They הִצִּיבוּ מַשְׁחִית ("set a snare/trap") to catch אֲנָשִׁים ("people"). The powerful prey upon the vulnerable as hunters prey upon birds.

Verse 27 extends the metaphor: כִּכְלוּב מָלֵא עוֹף -- "Like a cage full of birds" -- so their houses are full of מִרְמָה ("deceit, fraud"). The word כְּלוּב ("cage, basket") appears only here and in Amos 8:1 in the Hebrew Bible. The trapped birds represent the ill-gotten gains crammed into the homes of the wealthy. Through this fraud they have גָּדְלוּ וַיַּעֲשִׁירוּ ("become great and rich").

Verse 28 intensifies the charge: שָׁמְנוּ עָשְׁתוּ -- "they have grown fat and sleek." The verb שׁמן ("to grow fat") carries overtones of self-indulgent excess (cf. Deuteronomy 32:15: "Jeshurun grew fat and kicked"). They have עָבְרוּ דִבְרֵי רָע ("surpassed even the deeds of the wicked"). Their specific failure: דִּין לֹא דָנוּ דִּין יָתוֹם -- "the case of the fatherless they have not judged." The יָתוֹם ("orphan, fatherless") and אֶבְיוֹנִים ("needy") are the paradigmatic vulnerable persons in the Old Testament whose cause God defends (Exodus 22:22-24, Deuteronomy 10:18, Psalm 68:5).

Verse 29 repeats the refrain of verse 9 word for word: הַעַל אֵלֶּה לֹא אֶפְקֹד -- "For these things shall I not bring reckoning?" The repetition brackets the entire chapter: from sexual sin in verse 9 to social injustice in verse 29, the same question demands the same answer.

Verses 30--31 form a striking conclusion. The word שַׁמָּה ("appalling thing") paired with שַׁעֲרוּרָה ("horrible, shocking thing") describes something that makes one shudder. The indictment is triple: the נְבִיאִים ("prophets") prophesy בַשֶּׁקֶר ("by falsehood"); the כֹּהֲנִים ("priests") יִרְדּוּ עַל יְדֵיהֶם ("rule at their direction" -- or "by their own power," the phrase is ambiguous); and worst, וְעַמִּי אָהֲבוּ כֵן -- "my people love it so." The people are not merely passive victims of corrupt leadership; they actively embrace the deception.

The chapter closes with an unanswered question: וּמַה תַּעֲשׂוּ לְאַחֲרִיתָהּ -- "But what will you do at its end?" The word אַחֲרִית ("end, latter part") refers to the outcome, the final reckoning. The question hangs unanswered in the air, forcing the reader to confront the inevitable consequences of a society that has chosen comfortable lies over painful truth.