And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
- BSB And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than unfaithful Judah.
- NKJV Then the Lord said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
- NASB And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah.
- NLT Then the Lord said to me, “Even faithless Israel is less guilty than treacherous Judah!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God declares faithless Israel more righteous than treacherous Judah. Judah's hypocrisy makes her guilt greater.
Overview
Yahweh judges that backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. Israel sinned openly, but Judah sinned while pretending to repent and despite greater warning. The comparison exposes the special guilt of hypocrisy that adds pretense to rebellion.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ezek 16:51–52Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.
- Ezek 23:11And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.
- Hos 11:7And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
- Hos 4:16For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
- Ezek 16:47Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.
- Jer 3:8And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
- Jer 3:22Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 3:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.