If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

JEREMIAH 4:1KJV
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Jeremiah 4:1 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 4:1 mean?

Jeremiah 4:1 presents the LORD’s call for Israel to come back to him and abandon the things he finds detestable. In the KJV, the promise is that, if Israel puts those things away, the people will not be removed from their place.

The verse comes after Israel’s appeal to the LORD in Jeremiah 3:25. The LORD answers through Jeremiah, addressing Israel directly. “Out of my sight” pictures the removal of the offending things from before the LORD, not merely moving them somewhere less noticeable.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 4:1

  • “return” — שׁוּב (shuv): This word can mean “turn back” or “come back.” Its two appearances make the destination clear: Israel’s return is to the LORD.
  • “abominations” — שִׁקּוּץ (shiqquts): This word refers to things regarded as detestable. In Jeremiah’s setting, such things include objects associated with the worship of other gods.
  • “remove” — נוּד (nud): This word can carry the sense of wandering or moving from place to place. The KJV presents the result as a promise that Israel will not have to move away.

Why Jeremiah 4:1 matters

  • The verse links return with a change in what Israel keeps before the LORD. The call to “return unto me” is followed by the condition that Israel “put away” its abominations.
  • The promise concerns Israel’s place as well as its conduct. “Then shalt thou not remove” gives the call particular weight for a people facing the threat of displacement.

Where else these words appear

“remove” Hebrew H5110 · used in 24 verses

  • Genesis 4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
  • Psalms 36:11 Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.
  • Jeremiah 22:10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.

“abominations” Hebrew H8251 · used in 26 verses

  • Deuteronomy 29:17 And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)
  • Jeremiah 13:27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?
  • Ezekiel 20:8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.