They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.
Parallel translations
- WEB They have turned to me the back, and not the face: and though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.
- KJV And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
- NKJV And they have turned to Me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.
- NASB They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen to accept discipline.
- NLT My people have turned their backs on me and have refused to return. Even though I diligently taught them, they would not receive instruction or obey.
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
The people turned their backs on God and refused His persistent teaching. Their hardened refusal to listen brought judgment.
Overview
Despite God's tireless instruction, depicted as 'rising up early and teaching,' the people would not receive correction. Their turning the back rather than the face pictures deliberate rejection of relationship with God. Such stubbornness highlights the need for the inward renewal of the new covenant, in which God writes His law on the heart so His people will hear and obey (Jer. 31:33).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Jer 7:13And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer,
- Ezek 8:16So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.
- Jer 2:27say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces, yet in the time of trouble they beg, ‘Rise up and save us!’
- Jer 35:15Again and again I have sent you all My servants the prophets, proclaiming: ‘Turn now, each of you, from your wicked ways, and correct your actions. Do not go after other gods to serve them. Live in the land that I have given to you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me.
- Jer 26:5and if you do not listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have sent you again and again even though you did not listen,
- John 8:2Early in the morning He went back into the temple courts. All the people came to Him, and He sat down to teach them.
- 2 Chr 36:15–16Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.
- Jer 7:24Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
- Jer 44:4Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.’
- Zech 7:11But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
- Jer 18:17I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity.”
- Hos 11:2But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images.
- Jer 25:3–4“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
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 32:33 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.