Jeremiah 5 intensifies the indictment of Jerusalem with a divine challenge: search the city for even one person who acts justly and seeks truth, and God will pardon it. The search proves futile — from the poorest to the greatest, all have broken the yoke and shattered the bonds of covenant. The chapter catalogs the nation's sins: adultery and idolatry, willful spiritual blindness, false prophets who prophesy lies, and a people who love it so. God announces that a distant, ancient nation will come as the instrument of judgment — a terrifying army that devours harvest, flocks, sons, daughters, and fortified cities.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
The opening challenge to find one righteous person echoes Abraham's negotiation with God over Sodom (Genesis 18:22-33), but with a devastating reduction — Abraham bargained God down to ten righteous, while here God asks for only one and finds none. The language of verses 20-25 presents a striking courtroom theology: creation itself obeys God's boundaries (the sea stays within its shore), but Israel refuses every boundary God has set. The false prophecy motif appears for the first time with the phrase 'wind and there is no word in them' (v. 13), and the condemnation of prophets and priests in verses 30-31 anticipates the 'shalom shalom' crisis of chapter 6. The 'ancient nation' of verse 15 is Babylon, though never named here — the anonymity increases the dread.
Translation Friction
The verb zanah ('commit adultery/prostitution') in verse 7 carries both literal sexual and metaphorical idolatrous meaning, and we rendered it to preserve this dual register. The word me'anah ('they have refused') in verse 3 uses the same root as Pharaoh's refusal in Exodus, creating an ironic reversal — Israel now acts like Egypt. In verse 22, the rhetorical question 'Do you not fear me?' (ha-oti lo tira'u) contains a wordplay between yir'ah ('fear/reverence') and ra'ah ('see'), both of which the people have abandoned. The phrase 'eternal statutes' (choq olam) for the sea boundary in verse 22 required an expanded_rendering to capture the cosmological weight of olam in this creation context.
Connections
The search for one righteous person connects to Genesis 18:22-33 (Abraham and Sodom), Ezekiel 22:30 (God seeking someone to stand in the gap), and Isaiah 59:16 (God astonished that there was no intercessor). The 'enemy from the north' theme begun in 1:14-15 develops here into a specific military threat (vv. 15-17). The creation theology of verses 22-24 — God who set the sand as boundary for the sea — connects to Job 38:8-11 and Psalm 104:9. The false prophecy condemnation anticipates the full-scale confrontation with false prophets in chapters 23, 27-28. The closing question 'What will you do when the end comes?' (v. 31) reverberates through Ezekiel 7 and into apocalyptic literature.
Go through the streets of Jerusalem — look and take note. Search in her public squares: can you find even one person who acts justly and seeks faithfulness? If so, I will pardon the city.
KJV Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
From the root 'to be firm.' Here it describes not abstract truth but active, lived-out covenant fidelity — the kind of character that would justify sparing the entire city.
מִשְׁפָּטmishpat
"justly"—justice, judgment, ordinance, right conduct, legal decision
The paired demand — mishpat (just action) and emunah (faithful character) — represents the totality of covenant obedience: right deeds flowing from a reliable heart.
Translator Notes
The imperative shotetu ('go about, roam, search') suggests a thorough, street-by-street investigation. The challenge echoes Abraham's negotiation for Sodom in Genesis 18:22-33, but reduces the threshold from ten righteous to one — and still none is found. The word emunah ('faithfulness') from the root aleph-mem-nun ('to be firm') goes beyond mere truthfulness to covenantal reliability.
Even when they say, 'As the LORD lives,' they are swearing falsely.
KJV And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The oath formula 'As the LORD lives' (chai YHWH) was the most solemn declaration in Israelite culture. Using God's name in a false oath compounds the sin — it is not just dishonesty but profanation of the divine name, violating the third commandment (Exodus 20:7).
LORD, do your eyes not look for faithfulness? You have struck them, but they felt no pain. You have crushed them, but they refused to accept correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to turn back.
KJV O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
The central verb of the book of Jeremiah. It can mean turning back to God (repentance) or turning away from God (apostasy). Here, they refuse to turn back — the spatial metaphor captures the stubbornness of their rebellion.
Translator Notes
The phrase me'anu lashov ('they refused to return') uses the key Jeremianic verb shuv, which carries the double meaning of repentance and physical turning. The image of faces harder than rock (sela) suggests willful imperviousness — not inability to change but adamant refusal. The word musar ('correction, discipline') implies God's previous punishments were intended as instructive, not merely punitive.
Then I said: These are only the poor — they are foolish because they do not know the way of the LORD or the justice their God requires.
KJV Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Jeremiah initially excuses the common people (dallim, 'poor, lowly'), attributing their disobedience to ignorance rather than malice. The assumption is that the educated leaders would know better — an assumption the next verse destroys. The word no'alu ('they are foolish') implies senselessness, not mere lack of education.
Let me go to the leaders and speak with them, for they know the way of the LORD and the justice their God requires. But they too had broken the yoke entirely and snapped the restraints.
KJV I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The 'great ones' (gedolim) are the ruling class — priests, prophets, royal officials. The yoke (ol) and restraints (moserot) are metaphors for covenant obligations. 'Breaking the yoke' describes willful rejection of God's authority, not mere drift. The word yachdav ('together, altogether') emphasizes that this was collective, unanimous rebellion — not a few individuals but the entire leadership class.
Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf of the desert will ravage them, a leopard will prowl at their cities — everyone who goes out will be torn apart. For their rebellions are many and their acts of faithlessness are countless.
KJV Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
Pesha is the strongest Hebrew word for sin — it implies deliberate, willful defiance against authority, not mere moral failure but conscious revolt.
Translator Notes
Three predators — lion, wolf, leopard — represent escalating danger from every direction. The phrase ze'ev aravot ('wolf of the desert/steppe') describes wolves from the barren wastelands, desperate and aggressive. The word meshuvotehem ('their turnings away, backslidings') uses the same root shuv — they have turned away from God so often that judgment now stalks them like wild predators. The word pesha'ehem ('their rebellions') denotes willful transgression, not accidental sin.
How can I pardon you for this? Your children have abandoned me and sworn oaths by what are not gods. When I satisfied them with plenty, they committed adultery and crowded into the house of the prostitute.
KJV How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb na'afu ('they committed adultery') operates on two levels simultaneously: literal sexual immorality and metaphorical worship of foreign gods. The phrase 'sworn by what are not gods' (lo elohim) echoes Deuteronomy 32:21 — they provoke God with 'no-gods.' The word va'asbia ('I satisfied them') shares a root with sheva ('oath/seven/fullness'), creating a wordplay: God fulfilled his oath of abundance, and they used that abundance for debauchery.
They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each one neighing after his neighbor's wife.
KJV They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The image is deliberately crude: susim meyuzzanim ('well-fed stallions') compares the men of Jerusalem to stud horses in heat. The verb yitshalu ('they neigh') is the sound a stallion makes when pursuing a mare — applied to human beings, it strips away all pretense of dignity. This is not subtle prophetic metaphor; it is designed to shame.
Should I not punish them for these things? — declares the LORD. Should I not avenge myself against a nation such as this?
KJV Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This rhetorical refrain appears three times in the chapter (vv. 9, 29), framing the indictment. The verb paqad ('visit, attend to, punish') is the same word used for God's 'visiting' Egypt with plagues — now directed at his own people. The phrase titnaqqem nafshi ('shall my soul/self be avenged') attributes deep personal feeling to God — this is not detached judicial action but a wronged party's righteous anger.
Go up through her vine rows and destroy — but do not make a complete end. Strip away her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.
KJV Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD's.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The metaphor shifts to viticulture: sharoteyha ('her vine rows/terraces') and netishoteha ('her branches/tendrils') depict Judah as a vineyard (cf. Isaiah 5:1-7). The command to destroy but not completely (kalah al ta'asu) preserves the remnant theology — God's judgment is severe but not annihilating. The branches that do not belong to the LORD are the idolatrous elements that have infiltrated the covenant people.
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly faithless toward me, declares the LORD.
KJV For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The emphatic infinitive absolute bagod bagdu ('they have utterly betrayed') stresses the completeness of the treachery. The verb bagad carries the sense of marital betrayal — faithlessness within a committed relationship, not violation by a stranger but betrayal by a spouse. Both kingdoms are indicted together.
They have denied the LORD and said, 'He will do nothing. No disaster will come upon us; we will never see sword or famine.'
KJV They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb kichashu ('they have denied, lied about') goes beyond mere unbelief — it is an active denial of God's relevance. Their statement lo hu ('not he' or 'it is not so') effectively dismisses God as a factor in their national life. This is not atheism but functional deism — acknowledging God's existence while denying his active involvement and his power to punish.
The prophets are nothing but wind — there is no word in them. What they threaten will happen to them instead!
KJV And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
רוּחַruach
"wind"—wind, breath, spirit, Spirit (of God)
The double meaning is central to the wordplay: the people call the prophets mere 'wind' (empty air), but the prophets speak by the ruach (Spirit) of God. The same word that means divine power is used dismissively to mean nothingness.
Translator Notes
The people dismiss the true prophets as ruach ('wind') — empty air with no substance. The wordplay is sharp: ruach means both 'wind' and 'spirit,' and the prophets claim to speak by the Spirit (ruach) of God. The people reduce divine spirit to empty bluster. The phrase haddiber en bahem ('the word is not in them') denies that these prophets carry any genuine divine message. The final clause turns their dismissal back on them — what they call empty threats will become their reality.
Therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, says: Because you have spoken this way, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people will be the wood, and the fire will consume them.
KJV Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
God responds to the people's dismissal of the prophets by intensifying the prophetic word — the message they called empty wind will become consuming fire. The metaphor is devastatingly simple: if the people are wood, the word of God is fire, and fire consumes wood. The address shifts to Jeremiah personally ('your mouth'), affirming him as the authentic bearer of the divine word the people have rejected.
I am bringing a nation against you from far away, O house of Israel — declares the LORD. It is an enduring nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, whose speech you cannot understand.
KJV Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
עוֹלָםolam
"ancient"—ancient, everlasting, long duration, time beyond sight
Here olam looks backward — 'from ancient times' — emphasizing Babylon's deep historical roots. The word suggests a duration beyond what can be measured, whether looking forward (everlasting) or backward (ancient).
Translator Notes
Babylon is described without being named — the anonymity heightens the terror. The word eitan ('enduring, mighty, permanent') suggests a power that will not be easily dislodged. The phrase goy me'olam ('a nation from ancient times') emphasizes Babylon's deep historical roots. The language barrier — 'you will not understand what they say' — strips away any possibility of negotiation or appeal. The invader is utterly alien.
Their quiver is like an open grave — they are all warriors.
KJV Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The simile is chilling: a quiver (ashpato) compared to an open grave (qever patuach) means that every arrow is a death sentence. The grave stands open, waiting for the bodies that these arrows will produce. The phrase kullam gibborim ('all of them warriors') eliminates any hope of finding weakness in the invading force.
They will devour your harvest and your food. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They will devour your flocks and your herds. They will devour your vines and your fig trees. They will shatter your fortified cities in which you trust — by the sword.
KJV And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall beat down thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The fivefold repetition of the verb akhal ('devour, eat, consume') creates a devastating catalogue of total consumption: crops, children, livestock, orchards, and cities. The verb is the same for all — the enemy consumes everything with the same indiscriminate appetite. The list moves from agricultural goods to human beings to permanent infrastructure, showing that nothing will remain. The word boteach ('trusting') in reference to fortified cities implies misplaced confidence in military defenses rather than in God.
Yet even in those days — declares the LORD — I will not make a complete end of you.
KJV Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
A sudden note of restraint in the midst of devastating judgment. The phrase lo e'eseh kalah ('I will not make a complete end') preserves remnant theology — God's judgment, however severe, will not be total annihilation. This mirrors verse 10's command to destroy but not completely.
When they ask, 'Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' — you will tell them: Just as you abandoned me and served foreign gods in your own land, so you will serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.
KJV And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The principle of measure-for-measure justice (middah keneged middah) operates here: they served foreign gods in their own land, so they will serve foreign people in a foreign land. The wordplay between elohei nekhar ('foreign gods') and zarim ('foreigners/strangers') ties idolatry directly to exile — the punishment mirrors the crime. The phrase erets lo lakhem ('a land not yours') reverses the promise of the land flowing with milk and honey.
Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
KJV Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The use of 'Jacob' alongside 'Judah' reaches back to the patriarchal name, reminding the people of their identity as descendants of the man who wrestled with God. The parallel between declaring (haggidu) and proclaiming (hashmi'uha) emphasizes that this is a public announcement, not a private revelation.
Hear this, you senseless people, who have no understanding — who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear!
KJV Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase am sakhal ve'en lev ('senseless people without heart') combines two deficiencies: sakhal ('foolish, senseless') and the lack of lev ('heart'), which in Hebrew is the organ of understanding and will, not emotion. The parallel of unseeing eyes and unhearing ears echoes Isaiah 6:9-10 and Ezekiel 12:2. Jesus quotes this tradition in Mark 8:18 when confronting his own disciples' incomprehension.
Do you not fear me? — declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I set the sand as a boundary for the sea, an eternal limit it cannot cross. Though its waves surge, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass beyond it.
KJV Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
עוֹלָםolam
"eternal"—forever, everlasting, ancient, perpetual, time beyond sight
Applied to the boundary of the sea — this is a creation ordinance that stretches beyond any horizon of time. The stability of the shoreline testifies to the reliability of the God whom Israel refuses to fear.
Translator Notes
The creation theology here echoes Job 38:8-11 and Psalm 104:9 — God's sovereign control over the sea as evidence of cosmic authority. The rhetorical force is devastating: the mindless sea obeys God's boundary, but rational Israel does not. The word chol ('sand') as boundary for the sea emphasizes that even the most apparently fragile barrier holds firm when God establishes it. The implied contrast is between creation's obedience and Israel's rebellion.
But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart — they have turned aside and gone away.
KJV But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase lev sorer umoreh ('a stubborn and rebellious heart') uses the same pair of adjectives applied to the 'stubborn and rebellious son' in Deuteronomy 21:18-21, who was subject to the death penalty. The legal implication is severe: Israel is behaving like the incorrigible son of covenant law. The verbs saru vayelekhu ('they turned aside and went away') describe departure from the covenant path.
They do not say in their hearts, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rain — the autumn and spring rains in their season — who keeps for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.'
KJV Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The 'former rain' (yoreh) falls in October-November to soften the ground for plowing; the 'latter rain' (malqosh) falls in March-April to fill the grain before harvest. Both are essential to the agricultural cycle, and both come from God. The 'appointed weeks of harvest' (shevuot chuqqot qatsir) refers to the reliable seven-week period between Passover and Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks). The point is that God's faithful provision of agricultural rhythms should have taught Israel to trust and obey him.
Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have kept good things from you.
KJV Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The two words for wrongdoing — avonoteikhem ('your iniquities,' from the root meaning 'to twist, distort') and chattoteikhem ('your sins,' from the root meaning 'to miss the mark') — represent different dimensions of moral failure. Iniquity twists what should be straight; sin misses what should be hit. Together they have disrupted the natural order — even the rains that God appointed have been withheld because of the people's corruption.
For wicked people are found among my people. They lie in wait like fowlers crouching down; they set traps — they catch human beings.
KJV For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The imagery is of bird-trappers (yoqushim) who crouch hidden and set snares (mashchit) — but instead of birds, they catch human beings. The word yashur ('he watches, peers') describes the patient, concealed observation of a hunter waiting for prey. The metaphor exposes the predatory nature of the wicked within Israel — they exploit their own people as a hunter exploits helpless birds.
As a cage is full of birds, so their houses are full of treachery. That is how they have grown powerful and rich.
KJV As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The kelub ('cage, basket') full of captured birds parallels houses full of mirmah ('deceit, treachery'). Their wealth is not earned but trapped — accumulated through predatory deception of vulnerable people. The verbs gadelu ('they have grown great') and ya'ashiru ('they have grown rich') are presented as consequences of fraud, not blessing.
They have grown fat and sleek. They surpass even the deeds of the wicked. They do not defend the rights of the fatherless — yet they prosper — and they do not uphold the justice due to the poor.
KJV They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verbs shamenu ('they have grown fat') and ashtu ('they are sleek, smooth') describe the physical prosperity of the corrupt — their bodies testify to their unjust wealth. The specific accusation is failure to defend the yatom ('orphan, fatherless') and the evyon ('poor, needy') — the two most vulnerable categories in Israelite social law. The prophets consistently identify justice for the vulnerable as the litmus test of covenant faithfulness (cf. Isaiah 1:17, Amos 2:6-7).
Should I not punish them for these things? — declares the LORD. Should I not avenge myself against a nation such as this?
KJV Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This refrain repeats verbatim from verse 9, creating a literary frame around the expanded indictment. The repetition signals that the case has been fully presented and the verdict is now inescapable. The question is rhetorical — of course God must act.
Jeremiah 5:30
שַׁמָּ֥ה וְשַׁעֲרוּרָ֖ה נִהְיְתָ֥ה בָאָֽרֶץ׃
An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land:
KJV A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The pair shammah veshaararurah ('appalling and horrible') intensifies the shock. The word shammah means 'desolation, horror' — something that causes onlookers to gasp. The word shaararurah ('horrible thing') is extremely rare in Hebrew and appears only in Jeremiah (here and 23:14) and Hosea 6:10, always describing something within Israel that provokes divine disgust.
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction — and my people love it this way! But what will you do when the end comes?
KJV The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
שֶׁקֶרsheqer
"falsely"—falsehood, deception, lie, fraud
Sheqer is the opposite of emunah — where emunah is covenant reliability, sheqer is deliberate fabrication. Applied to prophecy, it means claiming to speak for God while inventing the message.
Translator Notes
The triad of corruption — prophets, priests, and people — forms a closed system of mutual reinforcement. The prophets prophesy basheqer ('with falsehood'), the priests yirdu al yedehem ('rule at their side/direction'), and the people ahavu ken ('love it this way'). The most devastating element is the last: the people are not deceived against their will — they prefer the deception. The closing question umah ta'asu le'acharitah ('what will you do at its end?') is left unanswered, hanging in the air as an invitation to self-examination that the text knows will go unheeded.