Jeremiah 3:10

Jer 3:10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.

Ver. 10. Hath not turned unto me with her whole heart.] Josiah did, but the people did not, as soon appeared, when in the next king’s reign they fell off as fast as leaves do in autumn. And so they did here, when Queen Mary set up Popery.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Her treacherous sister Judith - These words are a sort of refrain, thrice Jer 3:7-8, Jer 3:10 repeated before God finally pronounces Judah more culpable than Israel.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Treacherous sister Judah — Mark the solemn iteration of this accusing phrase in Jer_3:7-8; Jer_3:10-11.

Feignedly — Such language as this makes us know that the reformation of Josiah, remarkable and impressive as it was, was not of that radical character which the case demanded. And so we understand how it was that the destruction of the city so soon followed the most splendid religious pageant Jerusalem ever witnessed. 2 Chronicles 35.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:10 Like the northern tribes of Israel, the people of Judah did not see anything immoral about idol worship; they treated the Lord’s objections lightly. The people did not really repent, but pretended to do so under the pressure of Josiah’s authority (2 Chr 34:32). Their religion was tainted with deception (Jer 12:2; Hos 7:14).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Judah feigned for a time that she did return, as under Josiah and other good kings, but she was never truly touched, or wholly reformed, as appeared when occasion was offered by any wicked prince.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

yet--notwithstanding the lesson given in Israel's case of the fatal results of apostasy.

not . . . whole heart--The reformation in the eighteenth year of Josiah was not thorough on the part of the people, for at his death they relapsed into idolatry (Ch2 34:33; Hos 7:14).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He goes on with the same subject, — that the Jews were not moved by any fear when they saw the dreadful vengeance executed on their brethren on account of their sins. Her perfidious sister, he says, returned not to me, that is, after so many warnings by the prophets and such an example of punishment. He however adds an explanation, — she turned not with her whole heart, but feignedly and falsely.

The Prophet anticipates here such objections as the Jews might have alleged, “What! thou deniest that we have returned! Is not the whole land cleansed from idolatries? Is not God worshipped according to the requirements of the law? Is there any more an altar seen under the shades of trees or on hills?” As then they might have thus evaded the charge as they usually did, the Prophet obviates such an evasion and says, “Though they have ill appearance given some tokens of repentance, yet they have only put on a disguise and have acted falsely towards God; for there is no integrity in them.” We now more clearly see why he had before specifically mentioned the time of Josiah; for the Jews then returned feignedly to God: there was in the king and in a few a right feeling, but in the rest dissimulation only. God then in a few words shews, that he cares not for that reformation which is false and feigned, but that he requires a genuine feeling within: hence he thus concludes —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(10) And yet for all this . . .—Judah was so far worse than Israel that there had been a simulated repentance, as in the reformations under Hezekiah and Josiah, but it was not with the whole heart and soul, but “feignedly,” or, more literally, with a lie.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And yet for all this,.... Though the two tribes saw the lightness and filthiness of the sin Israel was guilty of, and how the land was defiled with it, the stupidity of it, and the punishment inflicted on account of it:

her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord; there was a show of reformation in Josiah's time, but it was but a show; there was no true, hearty cordial repentance for the sin of idolatry, only a feigned one; there was an outward removal of it, and reformation from it, but inwardly the desires of the heart were to it; the good king, with some few others, were hearty in it, but the greater part played the hypocrite; the following reigns proved the truth of this.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Falsehood. Their reform was only apparent, under Joas, &c. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Though God saw what she did, and though she saw the shameful idolatry of Israel, and what she had suffered, yet she was not warned; see Jer 3:8; but fell to idolatry under Manasseh, who undid what Hezekiah had done, 2Ch 33:3, though under fair pretences she dissembled with God in the days of Josiah, 2Ch 34:32,33, as appeared by her sudden revolt, viz. in less than three months after Josiah’s death, 2Ki 23:31,32.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For all this; i.e. though Judah had seen the punishment of apostate Israel. (Jer_3:7, Jer_3:8) So Rashi, Naegelsbach, Payne Smith. Most commentators suppose the phrase to refer to Judah"s obstinate wickedness (ver. 9), but this gives a weak sense. "Judah defiled the land, etc., and yet notwithstanding her repentance was insincere this is by no means a natural sequence of ideas. The right exposition increases the probability of the correction proposed at the beginning of ver. 8.

Insincere repentances.

I REPENTANCE IS INSINCERE WHEN IT DOES NOT POSSESS THE WHOLE HEART. Judah is accused of being "false," and of turning to Jehovah "feignedly," because she did not turn "with her whole heart.

1. True repentance must be found in the heart. Mere confession with the lip without a change of feeling is a mockery. (Isa_29:13) Simple amendment of external conduct is no repentance unless it is prompted by a sincere desire to do better, by a return to the love of goodness.

2. True repentance must possess the whole heart. It is not consistent with a lingering affection for sin. The penitent must not look back regretfully, like Lot"s wife, on the pleasant things he is renouncing. Repentance must be for sin, not for certain sins selected from the rest for condemnation; it means the desire to abandon all wickedness. People sometimes repent insincerely by confessing and abandoning trifling faults, while they cling to greater evils. A right repentance searches the dark depths of the soul and brings forth old buried sins, forgotten but not yet forgiven, darling bosom sins which have grown into the very life and can only be torn out from a bleeding heart, common sins which are classed among a man"s habits and which he excuses to himself as being "his ways." Such repentance is no superficial emotion, no sentiment of the hour stirred in the church only to be forgotten as soon as a man re-enters his worldly associations. It must be thorough, profound, overwhelming. Yet it is not to be measured by the number of tears shed, but by its practical fruits, the solid proofs of a desire for a better life. (Luk_3:8-14)

II INSINCERE REPENTANCE CANNOT BE ACCEPTED BY GOD.

1. Such repentance is inexcusable. Judah had failed to profit by the solemn lessons of her sister"s sin and ruin. In face of such terrible warnings, how foolish to cling still to the old life even while pretending to turn from it!

2. Such repentance is only self-deceiving. The hypocrite would deceive God, but failing to do this he deceives himself. He is the dupe of his own design. For he imagines that his fraud will serve him some good purpose, whereas it is detected by God and frustrated from the first.

3. Such repentance is useless. Judah gains no deliverance by her feigned repentance. God is Spirit, and can only be approached in spirit. (Joh_4:24) Any other pretended return to him is no return. We do not come to God by simply entering a church, nor please him by the mechanical observance of an external service. (Isa_1:11-15) The insincere repentance is a double mistake, its trouble is all wasted, its tears all shed to no purpose, and the falsehood of it is a new offence increasing guilt before God. To turn to God only with the lip is thus not merely not to turn to him at all, it is to wander still further from him. Let us beware, therefore, of using the familiar language of confession if we are not really desiring to renounce sin and be reconciled to God. Let repentance, of all things, be true and whole-hearted.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And yet - Though God saw what she did, and though she saw the shameful idolatry of Israel, and what she had suffered.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

And yet for all this that they saw the misfortune of the retribution of their companions.

but falsely Josiah’s generation would show themselves as righteous although they were wicked. They would make forms of pagan deities on the inside of their doors, half on this door and half on this one, and when the destroyers of idols would inspect, the door would be open, and they would not notice it.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.