They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.

JEREMIAH 3:1KJV
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Jeremiah 3:1 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 3:1 mean?

Jeremiah 3:1 presents the LORD speaking to his people as a husband addressing an unfaithful wife. Although they have turned to many other “lovers,” the KJV ends with the LORD calling them to return to him.

The opening question recalls a law about a divorced woman who marries another man: her first husband could not take her back afterward (Deuteronomy 24:1–4). Jeremiah uses that familiar situation to make the invitation at the end striking. The “many lovers” picture the people’s pursuit of other gods.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 3:1

  • “greatly polluted” — חָנֵף (ḥanef): The Hebrew word can describe something made defiled or corrupted. Its repeated form adds emphasis to the question about the land’s pollution.
  • “lovers” — רֵעַ (reaʿ): This word can mean a companion or associate. Here, the marriage image gives it the sense of partners pursued in unfaithfulness.
  • “return again” — שׁוּב (shuv): The word means to turn back or return. The verse uses the same word for the husband’s possible return to his former wife and for the LORD’s call to his people.

Why Jeremiah 3:1 matters

  • The picture concerns the people’s relationship with the LORD, not just a dispute between husband and wife. The LORD himself says, “return again to me.”
  • The opening comparison makes the final invitation unexpected. The question about the divorced woman points toward a barrier, yet the KJV closes with a call to return.
  • The land is part of the picture as well as the marriage. The question “shall not that land be greatly polluted?” presents the consequences as reaching beyond the two people in the comparison.

Where else these words appear

“greatly” Hebrew H2610 · used in 9 verses

  • Numbers 35:33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
  • Isaiah 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
  • Jeremiah 23:11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.

“harlot” Hebrew H2181 · used in 82 verses

  • Genesis 34:31 And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?
  • 1 Kings 3:16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
  • Ezekiel 16:31 In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;