Jeremiah 3:11
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And the LORD said to me, The backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And the LORD said to me, The backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And Jehovah said unto me, Backsliding Israel hath showed herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And the Lord said to me, Israel in her turning away is seen to be more upright than false Judah.
Webster's Revision
And the LORD said to me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
World English Bible
Yahweh said to me, "Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
English Revised Version (ERV)
And the LORD said unto me, Backsliding Israel hath shewn herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
Clarke's Jeremiah 3:11 Bible Commentary
Backsliding Israel hath justified herself more - She was less offensive in my eyes, and more excusable, than treacherous Judah. So it is said, Luke 18:14, the humbled publican went down to his house justified rather than the boasting Pharisee. The one was more to be pitied than the other, and more likely to receive the mercy of God.
Barnes's Jeremiah 3:11 Bible Commentary
Hath justified herself - Judah had had the benefit of the warning given by Israel's example. Both abandon Yahweh's service for idolatry, but Israel is simply "apostate," Judah is also false.
The verse is important,
(1) as accounting for the destruction of Jerusalem so soon after the pious reign of Josiah. Manasseh's crimes had defiled the land, but it was by rejecting the reforms of Josiah that the people finally profaned it, and sealed their doom:
(2) As showing that it is not by the acts of its government that a nation stands or falls. Ahaz and Manasseh lent the weight of their influence to the cause of idolatry: Hezekiah and Josiah to the cause of truth. But the nation had to determine which should prevail. Excepting a remnant it embraced idolatry, and brought upon itself ruin: in the remnant the nation again revived Jeremiah 24:5, Jeremiah 24:7.