Jeremiah 5:11 kjv
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 5:11 nkjv
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me," says the LORD.
Jeremiah 5:11 niv
The people of Israel and the people of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me," declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 5:11 esv
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly treacherous to me, declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 5:11 nlt
The people of Israel and Judah
are full of treachery against me,"
says the LORD.
Jeremiah 5 11 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Isa 1:2-4 | Hear, O heavens... For I have nourished children... they have rebelled against Me... | God's sorrow over children's rebellion. |
| Jer 2:13 | My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me... and hewn themselves cisterns... | Judah's double sin: forsaking God & idolatry. |
| Jer 3:6-10 | And the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king: "Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain... Yet for all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not turn to Me... but only feignedly." | Explicitly links Israel's treachery to Judah's similar unfaithfulness. |
| Jer 7:24 | But they did not obey or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. | Stubborn disobedience leading to deeper sin. |
| Jer 9:2 | Oh, that I had in the desert a travelers' lodging place... they are all adulterers, a company of treacherous men. | Description of widespread spiritual adultery and treachery. |
| Hos 1:2 | When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: "Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry; for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the LORD." | Spiritual harlotry as a metaphor for apostasy. |
| Hos 4:12 | My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, and their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has led them astray... | Deeper entanglement in idolatry and apostasy. |
| Hos 5:7 | They have dealt treacherously with the LORD... | Direct statement of Israel's treachery. |
| Ezek 16:15 | But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame... | Judah's spiritual adultery depicted. |
| Ezek 23:2-4, 11 | There were two women... Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister... Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah. Oholibah saw her sister Oholah's lewd behavior, yet she was more corrupt... | Both Israel (Samaria) and Judah (Jerusalem) engaged in spiritual harlotry. |
| Deut 31:16 | Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, you will rest with your fathers... And this people will rise and play the harlot with the foreign gods of the land..." | Prophecy of Israel's future unfaithfulness. |
| Deut 32:15-18 | But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese! Then he forsook God who made him... They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods... | Israel's spiritual betrayal after being blessed. |
| Judges 2:11-13 | Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals... they forsook the LORD... and followed other gods... | Recurrent pattern of unfaithfulness in Israel's history. |
| 1 Ki 11:30-33 | He tore the new garment into twelve pieces... ten pieces for you; for thus says the LORD... I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon... because they have forsaken Me... | Origin of the divided kingdom and the charge of forsaking God. |
| Ps 78:57-58 | But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers... and provoked Him to anger with their high places. | Historical pattern of Israel's faithlessness. |
| Isa 48:8 | You have neither heard nor known... for you were called a transgressor from the womb. | God's prior knowledge of Israel's innate rebelliousness. |
| Mal 2:10 | Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant...? | Addresses treachery in the context of covenant. |
| Heb 3:12 | Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God... | New Testament warning against apostasy, echoing OT patterns. |
| Heb 10:26 | For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins... | Warning against deliberate and sustained apostasy. |
| 2 Tim 3:1-5 | For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money... unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slandering, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, treacherous, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God... | Describes characteristics of moral and spiritual decline, including treachery. |
| Rev 2:4-5 | Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen... | Loss of initial love/faithfulness in the church, echoing OT unfaithfulness. |
| Jer 4:22 | "For My people are foolish, they have not known Me; They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge." | The foundational lack of knowing God that leads to such treachery. |
Jeremiah 5 verses
Jeremiah 5 11 Meaning
Jeremiah 5:11 declares a profound and deeply personal accusation from God against both the northern kingdom of Israel (Ephraim/Samaria) and the southern kingdom of Judah. It asserts that both nations, despite their unique histories and the former's prior judgment, had fundamentally and repeatedly betrayed their covenant relationship with Yahweh. This treachery was not a simple deviation but an act of deep spiritual infidelity, akin to violating a solemn trust, directly affronting their God who had chosen and delivered them.
Jeremiah 5 11 Context
Jeremiah chapter 5 depicts God's comprehensive indictment against Judah, describing its pervasive sin and the impending judgment. The chapter begins with God searching for a righteous person, implying none are found. It outlines various forms of transgression, including idolatry, injustice, oppression, spiritual blindness among leaders and prophets, and a general moral decay that is both defiant and complacent. Jeremiah 5:11 specifically functions as a climactic summation, declaring that the spiritual defection previously seen in the northern kingdom of Israel has now fully manifested in Judah. It underlines the inescapable truth that both branches of the covenant people have profoundly betrayed their God, thereby justifying the severe punishment that God is about to bring upon them through the Babylonian invasion, as detailed in the subsequent verses and chapters.
Jeremiah 5 11 Word analysis
- For (כִּי, kî): This conjunction introduces the reason or explanation for the preceding statements (e.g., God's judgment and warning). It signals that what follows is the fundamental indictment against the people.
- have dealt very treacherously (בָּגֹד בָּגְד֥וּ, bāgoḏ bāgeḏû): This is an emphatic Hebrew construction known as an infinitive absolute, using the verbal root bāgaḏ (בגד) twice.
- Root meaning of bāgaḏ: To deal treacherously, to betray, to be unfaithful, to act deceptively, to break a covenant or promise. It often carries connotations of a grave breach of trust within a deeply committed relationship.
- Emphatic Repetition: The repetition ("treacherously have they acted treacherously") magnifies the severity and depth of the betrayal. It conveys not just an instance of unfaithfulness but a habitual, deep-seated, and deliberate pattern of profound betrayal. It highlights a fundamental violation of their covenant marriage to Yahweh.
- against Me (בִ֖י, bî - literally 'in Me' or 'against Me'): The preposition "against Me" indicates the direct object of their treachery. Their unfaithfulness was not merely a deviation from a law or principle, but a direct, personal offense against God Himself. This underscores the relational aspect of their sin as covenant betrayal.
- the house of Israel (בֵּ֤ית יִשְׂרָאֵל֙, bêṯ yiśrā’ēl): This refers to the Northern Kingdom, which had already fallen to Assyria in 722 BCE due to their idolatry and unfaithfulness. Jeremiah uses them as a historical example and comparison, showing that Judah's sin parallels, and even exceeds, Israel's. "House" signifies the entirety of the descendants or the nation.
- and the house of Judah (וּבֵ֣ית יְהוּדָ֔ה, ūbêṯ yəhûḏāh): This refers to the Southern Kingdom, the audience Jeremiah is primarily addressing, which still existed. By linking Judah with Israel, God emphasizes that Judah has followed the same path of rebellion and will face similar consequences if they do not repent. It shows a continuous, collective sin across generations and divisions of the covenant people.
Words-group analysis:
- "have dealt very treacherously against Me": This phrase powerfully conveys the core accusation. It's not passive failing, but active, deep, and deliberate disloyalty directed specifically against their covenant Lord. This is spiritual adultery, a rejection of the Divine Lover, echoing the prophets' metaphor of Israel as God's unfaithful wife.
- "the house of Israel and the house of Judah": This dual mention highlights that God's people, in their entirety – past and present, divided and reunited in spirit of sin – have engaged in this comprehensive betrayal. Judah could not claim innocence by pointing to Israel's fate, for they were guilty of the very same offense, having learned nothing from Israel's demise. The term "house" underscores the generational and institutional nature of this apostasy.
Jeremiah 5 11 Bonus section
- The charge of "treachery" implies the breaking of a binding, intimate covenant relationship. In ancient Near Eastern thought, covenants were often established with solemn oaths and reciprocal obligations, violation of which brought severe penalties. God's covenant with Israel at Sinai (Ex 19-24) was foundational to their national identity and existence, promising blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. This verse asserts a fundamental breach of this sacred pact by His chosen people.
- The use of both "the house of Israel" and "the house of Judah" highlights the unity of their rebellion, transcending their political division. Despite distinct histories post-Solomon, their spiritual pathology of turning away from God was shared, culminating in similar destinies of judgment. It underscores God's perspective on them as one people under His covenant, regardless of their internal divisions.
- This specific pronouncement lays the groundwork for Jeremiah's consistent warnings and the unfolding prophetic narrative, which culminates in the Babylonian exile. It explains why the exile became inevitable: it was a just and unavoidable consequence of persistent, unrepentant covenant betrayal, a treachery that ran from the lowest citizen to the highest leaders.
Jeremiah 5 11 Commentary
Jeremiah 5:11 delivers God's stark verdict against both Israel and Judah: they had thoroughly, repeatedly, and profoundly betrayed their covenant relationship with Him. The emphatic Hebrew expression signifies a treachery that ran deep, pervading the national life, much like spiritual adultery breaking the vows of a sacred marriage. Their sin was not merely moral failure but a direct, personal offense against Yahweh, who had redeemed and sustained them. Despite the Northern Kingdom of Israel already falling due to its unfaithfulness, Judah, the Southern Kingdom, learned nothing and replicated the same patterns of idolatry, injustice, and disobedience. This verse serves as the theological justification for the severe judgment impending upon Judah, making it clear that their suffering would be a direct consequence of their consistent and grievous unfaithfulness to the One who rightfully claimed their exclusive allegiance.