Jeremiah 3:3 kjv
Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
Jeremiah 3:3 nkjv
Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no latter rain. You have had a harlot's forehead; You refuse to be ashamed.
Jeremiah 3:3 niv
Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.
Jeremiah 3:3 esv
Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have the forehead of a whore; you refuse to be ashamed.
Jeremiah 3:3 nlt
That's why even the spring rains have failed.
For you are a brazen prostitute and completely shameless.
Jeremiah 3 3 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Deut 11:16-17 | "Take heed to yourselves... and then the Lord’s anger will be kindled... and the heavens will be shut up, so that there will be no rain..." | Drought as a covenant curse for idolatry. |
| Lev 26:19-20 | "I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze... the land will not yield its produce..." | Consequence of disobedience: land unproductive. |
| Deut 28:23-24 | "Your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron... the LORD will send rain as dust and powder." | Divine judgment includes extreme drought. |
| 1 Kgs 8:35 | "When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you..." | King Solomon's prayer links sin to drought. |
| Hos 2:5, 8 | "For their mother has played the harlot; she who conceived them has acted shamefully... They did not know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil..." | Israel's spiritual harlotry forgetting God's provisions. |
| Ezek 16:30-34 | "How sick is your heart, declares the Lord GOD, when you do all these things, the work of a brazen prostitute... worse than a harlot." | Jerusalem's egregious spiritual prostitution. |
| Ezek 23:2, 5 | "There were two women... They committed harlotry in Egypt; they committed harlotry in their youth." | Oholah (Samaria) and Oholibah (Jerusalem) as harlots. |
| Isa 1:21 | "How the faithful city has become a harlot, she who was full of justice!" | Jerusalem's fall from faithfulness to harlotry. |
| Jer 2:20, 25 | "For long ago I broke your yoke... for you said, ‘I will not serve’... You said, ‘It is hopeless! For I have loved foreign gods, and after them I will go.’" | Judah's intentional spiritual infidelity. |
| Hos 4:11-12 | "Harlotry, wine, and new wine take away the understanding... My people inquire of a piece of wood." | Idolatry blinds them to their spiritual adultery. |
| Joel 2:23 | "Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rain in just measure, and he has poured down for you abundance of rain..." | Promise of restoration of the former and latter rain. |
| Zech 10:1 | "Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain, from the LORD who makes the storm clouds..." | The LORD controls rain, not idols. |
| Jer 5:3 | "You have struck them, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent." | Hardened hearts refusing repentance despite judgment. |
| Zeph 3:5 | "The LORD within her is righteous; he does no injustice; every morning he brings his justice to light... but the unrighteous knows no shame." | Righteous God's persistent judgment met with no shame. |
| Rom 1:28 | "And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind..." | Divine abandonment due to persistent rejection of God. |
| Rom 2:4-5 | "Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself..." | Hardened hearts rejecting God's patient call to repentance. |
| Eph 4:19 | "They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity." | Describes utter moral insensitivity and brazen sin. |
| Jer 6:15 | "Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not even know how to blush." | Explicitly states their complete lack of shame. |
| Isa 3:9 | "The expression of their faces bears witness against them, and they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not conceal it. Woe to their soul!" | Open display of sin, without concealment or shame. |
| Rev 16:9, 11 | "...they did not repent and give him glory... They did not repent of their deeds." | Persistence in sin even during extreme divine judgment. |
| Prov 28:13 | "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." | Contrast: the benefit of confessing sin vs. holding to it. |
| Jam 5:7 | "Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the latter rains." | Highlights the vital agricultural importance of the latter rain. |
Jeremiah 3 verses
Jeremiah 3 3 Meaning
Jeremiah 3:3 describes the dire consequences of Judah's spiritual unfaithfulness. Because of their persistent idolatry, God withheld the life-sustaining rains—both the general showers and the crucial "latter rain" necessary for the harvest. Yet, despite this divine judgment and their extreme sin, Judah exhibited audacious shamelessness, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge their guilt or repent.
Jeremiah 3 3 Context
Jeremiah 3 immediately follows chapter 2, where Judah's spiritual infidelity is powerfully indicted. God depicts His relationship with Israel as a marriage (Jer 2:2), and Judah, like an unfaithful wife, has gone after many lovers (idols). The prophet uses the metaphor of an adulterous woman (Jer 3:1-2), suggesting that even after sending away "unfaithful Israel" (the northern kingdom) for her harlotry, Judah (the southern kingdom) continued to transgress even more flagrantly. Verse 3:3, therefore, serves as a direct consequence and a stark observation: God has implemented the covenant curses of drought as judgment, yet Judah remains impenitent and bold in her sin. The "latter rain" was vital for the maturing of crops before the harvest in the semi-arid climate of ancient Judah; its absence implied ruin and famine, a direct sign of God's displeasure.
Historically, Jeremiah prophesied during a period of intense idolatry and moral decline in Judah, prior to the Babylonian exile. The people, including leaders, had strayed far from the covenant made at Sinai. Droughts were a recurring sign of divine displeasure for covenant breaking, as explicitly warned in the Mosaic Law (e.g., Deuteronomy 11, 28).
Jeremiah 3 3 Word analysis
Therefore (לָכֵן - lāḵēn): A consequential conjunction. It links the judgment described here directly to the persistent spiritual harlotry of Judah depicted in the preceding verses (Jer 3:1-2). It signifies "for this reason" or "on account of this."
the showers (רְבִבִים - rĕḇiḇîm): Refers to general or autumn rains. In Israel, these began the rainy season and were essential for preparing the ground for planting.
have been withheld (נִמְנְעוּ - nimnĕ‘û): From the root מָנַע (māna‘), meaning "to keep back," "restrain," or "deny." This is a divine passive, implying God is the one withholding them, as a direct act of judgment.
and there has been no (וּמַלְקוֹשׁ - ûmalqôš): Lit., "and latter rain." The particle indicates a negation or absence here.
latter rain (מַלְקוֹשׁ - malqōš): The critical spring rain that falls in March/April. It is indispensable for the ripening of crops like wheat and barley, leading up to the harvest. Its absence meant complete crop failure and famine. The combined absence of general showers and latter rain signifies a complete agricultural disaster and comprehensive divine judgment.
yet you (וְאַתְּ - wə’at): A strong adversative conjunction, "but you." It highlights the stark contrast between God's clear judgment and Judah's utterly defiant response. "You" here is feminine singular, directly addressing the corporate entity of Judah/Israel as the adulterous wife.
have the foreheads (מֵצַח - mêtsaḥ): The forehead was seen as the seat of boldness, impudence, or character. A "brazen" or "hard" forehead implied an unyielding, unashamed disposition.
of a harlot (זוֹנָה - zônâ): Refers to a prostitute or adulteress. In biblical prophecy, this is the most common metaphor for Israel/Judah's spiritual unfaithfulness to God, violating the covenant marriage vows. A harlot's public demeanor often involved open, unblushing solicitation; hence, the "forehead of a harlot" symbolizes an open, flagrant, and utterly unashamed commitment to sin.
you refuse (מֵאַנְתְּ - mê’ant): From the root מָאַן (mā’an), meaning "to refuse," "decline," or "reject." It denotes a willful and stubborn decision, an active resistance to change.
to be ashamed (לָבֹושׁ - lāḇōš): To feel disgrace, humiliation, or remorse. To lack shame signifies a total lack of repentance, sensitivity to sin, or recognition of divine judgment. This represents the ultimate spiritual callousing.
Words-group Analysis:
- "Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain": This phrase establishes a direct cause-and-effect relationship between Judah's sin and God's judgment. It invokes the covenant curses for disobedience (Deut 11:16-17), highlighting a foundational theological principle in Israel's history.
- "yet you have the foreheads of a harlot, you refuse to be ashamed": This strikingly contrasts God's righteous judgment with Judah's profound moral depravity. Instead of yielding to the corrective measure of the drought, Judah boldly persisted in sin, refusing any shred of penitence or embarrassment. The "forehead of a harlot" is an exceptionally vivid and condemning image, implying public, brazen, and unremitting spiritual infidelity.
Jeremiah 3 3 Bonus section
The image of "the forehead of a harlot" in ancient Near Eastern culture would have immediately conveyed public, open, and deliberate sexual sin, distinct from secret transgression. A harlot often adorned her hair or face (or went without veiling) to indicate her profession, signaling a lack of modesty or shame. By applying this to Judah, Jeremiah portrays their spiritual unfaithfulness not merely as private sin, but as a bold, unhidden, and defiant rebellion against God that was visible to all. This speaks to a deeply ingrained corruption, where the sense of right and wrong, and the fear of God's judgment, had utterly eroded. This state of spiritual numbness foreshadows God's ultimate decision to send Judah into exile, as even His measured judgments failed to bring them to repentance.
Jeremiah 3 3 Commentary
Jeremiah 3:3 paints a grim picture of spiritual defiance. God, as the covenant Lord, brought upon Judah the promised consequences for their persistent spiritual adultery—withholding the rains vital for their very existence. This drought was not random; it was a precise divine judgment designed to prompt reflection and repentance. Yet, Judah's response was not contrition but obstinacy. The "forehead of a harlot" conveys an audacity that is openly committed to sin, without reservation, embarrassment, or fear of God. They had become so desensitized to their wrongdoing and God's holiness that even the visible evidence of His anger, which brought them to the brink of starvation, could not elicit genuine shame or turn them from their evil ways. The verse underscores the extreme recalcitrance of Judah's heart and serves as a powerful testament to the dangers of persistent unrepentance in the face of God's clear warnings and judgments.