Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
Parallel translations
- WEB Truly in vain is help from the hills, the tumult on the mountains. Truly the salvation of Israel is in Yahweh our God.
- BSB Surely deception comes from the hills, and commotion from the mountains. Surely the salvation of Israel is in the LORD our God.
- NKJV Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, And from the multitude of mountains; Truly, in the Lord our God Is the salvation of Israel.
- NASB “Certainly the hills are a deception, Commotion on the mountains. Certainly in the Lord our God Is the salvation of Israel.
- NLT Our worship of idols on the hills and our religious orgies on the mountains are a delusion. Only in the Lord our God will Israel ever find salvation.
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
Joab is told that Abner came and was sent away unharmed. The news sets Joab's vengeful suspicion in motion.
Overview
Upon returning, Joab learns that his rival Abner had visited the king and departed peacefully. Joab's reaction will be driven by both personal vengeance for his brother Asahel and political jealousy over his position as commander. The repeated note that Abner left in peace heightens the contrast with Joab's coming treachery.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Ps 121:1–2I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
- Ps 3:8Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.
- Isa 12:2Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
- Hos 1:7But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
- John 4:22Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
- Ezek 20:28For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.
- Jer 10:14–16Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
- Isa 43:11I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
- Isa 63:1Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
- Isa 45:15Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.
- Isa 45:17But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
- Jer 14:8O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?
- Ps 37:39–40But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
- Isa 44:9They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
- Isa 63:16Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
- Jer 3:6The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
- Isa 46:7–8They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
- Isa 45:20Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
- Jer 17:14Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
- Jonah 2:8–9They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 3:23 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.