The Meaning of Jeremiah 3:22 Explained

Jeremiah 3:22

KJV: Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.

YLT: Turn back, O backsliding sons, I cause your backslidings to cease. -- Behold us, we have come to Thee, For Thou art Jehovah our God.

Darby: Return, backsliding children; I will heal your backslidings. ... Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art Jehovah our God.

ASV: Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we are come unto thee; for thou art Jehovah our God.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Return,  ye backsliding  children,  [and] I will heal  your backslidings.  Behold, we come  unto thee; for thou [art] the LORD  our God. 

What does Jeremiah 3:22 Mean?

Verse Meaning

This anticipation drew from Him an invitation to His faithless people to return to Him immediately. He promised to heal their faithless addiction to wandering from Him. He also anticipated Israel"s response of acceptance. Israel would return and once again acknowledge Yahweh as her God.
"This simple statement was crucial, for the root of past errors lay in their failure to recognize the Lord as their one and true God, and their consequent resort to the false gods of the fertility cults. Having declared their recognition of God, they would immediately pass on to a denunciation of the false gods to whom they had resorted." [1]

Context Summary

Jeremiah 3:11-25 - Pleading With Faithless Children
The people of the northern kingdom, to whom this appeal is especially addressed, were more excusable than Judah, because their privileges had been less. God judges us according to our opportunities. How precious the invitation and promise of Jeremiah 3:12! Confession is an essential condition that must be fulfilled by us. See 1 John 1:7. Zion shall yet be the center of a restored Israel, Jeremiah 3:14; Jeremiah 3:18. In Jeremiah 3:21-25 the voices of the people in confession and prayer mingle with Jehovah's encouraging their return. When we lie down in broken-hearted shame and penitence, we are very near to being lifted to the bosom of God. Compare Jeremiah 3:25 with Jeremiah 4:1. The return of the Chosen People to the God of their fathers will be the cause of revival and quickening throughout the earth. Compare Jeremiah 4:2 with Romans 11:12. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 3

1  God's great mercy to Judah the polluted land
6  Judah is worse than Israel
12  The promises of the gospel to the penitent
20  Israel reproved, and called by God, makes a solemn confession of their sins

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 3:22 mean?

And Return you children backsliding [And] I will heal your backslidings Indeed we do come to You for You [are] Yahweh our God
שׁ֚וּבוּ בָּנִ֣ים שׁוֹבָבִ֔ים אֶרְפָּ֖ה מְשׁוּבֹֽתֵיכֶ֑ם הִנְנוּ֙ אָתָ֣נוּ לָ֔ךְ כִּ֥י אַתָּ֖ה יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ

שׁ֚וּבוּ  And  Return  you 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
בָּנִ֣ים  children 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
שׁוֹבָבִ֔ים  backsliding 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: שֹׁובָב  
Sense: backsliding, backturning, apostate, recusant.
אֶרְפָּ֖ה  [And]  I  will  heal 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: רָפָא  
Sense: to heal, make healthful.
מְשׁוּבֹֽתֵיכֶ֑ם  your  backslidings 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: מְשׁוּבָה  
Sense: turning away, turning back, apostasy, backsliding.
הִנְנוּ֙  Indeed  we 
Parse: Interjection, first person common plural
Root: הֵן  
Sense: behold, lo, though hypothetical part.
אָתָ֣נוּ  do  come 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common plural
Root: אָתָה  
Sense: to come, arrive.
לָ֔ךְ  to  You 
Parse: Preposition, second person feminine singular
אַתָּ֖ה  You  [are] 
Parse: Pronoun, second person masculine singular
Root: אַתְּ 
Sense: you (second pers.
יְהֹוָ֥ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ  our  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).