The Meaning of Jeremiah 5:5 Explained

Jeremiah 5:5

KJV: I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

YLT: I get me to the great, and I speak with them, For they have known the way of Jehovah, The judgment of their God.' Surely they together have broken the yoke, They have drawn away the bands.

Darby: I will go unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God; but these have altogether broken the yoke, have burst the bonds.

ASV: I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of Jehovah, and the law of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I will get  me unto the great men,  and will speak  unto them; for they have known  the way  of the LORD,  [and] the judgment  of their God:  but these have altogether  broken  the yoke,  [and] burst  the bonds. 

What does Jeremiah 5:5 Mean?

Context Summary

Jeremiah 5:1-6 - Widespread Corruption
Diogenes, the cynic, was discovered one day in Athens in broad daylight, lantern in hand, looking for something. When someone remonstrated with him, he said that he needed all the light possible to enable him to find an honest man. Something like that is in the prophet's thought. God was prepared to spare Jerusalem on lower terms than even Sodom, and yet He was driven to destroy her. Both poor and rich had alike "broken the yoke and burst the bonds." The description of the onset of the Chaldeans is very graphic. They settle down upon the land as a flock of locusts, but still the Chosen People refuse to connect their punishment with their sin. It never occurred to the Chosen People that the failure of the rain, the withering of their crops, and the assault of their foes, were all connected with their sin. There is nothing unusual in this obtuseness for as we read the history of our own times, men are equally inapt at connecting national disaster with national sin.
How good it would be if the national cry of today were that of Jeremiah 5:24 : Let us now fear before the Lord our God! Notice the delightful metaphor of Jeremiah 5:22. When God would stay the wild ocean wave a barrier of sand will suffice. The martyrs were as sand grains but wild persecutions were quenched by their heroic patience. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 5

1  The judgments of God upon the people, for their perverseness;
7  for their adultery;
10  for their impiety;
15  for their worship of idols;
19  for their contempt of God;
25  and for their great corruption in the civil state;
30  and ecclesiastical

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 5:5 mean?

Will go I to the great men and speak to them for they have known the way of Yahweh the judgment of their God But those altogether have broken the yoke [And] burst the bonds
אֵֽלֲכָה־ לִּ֤י אֶל־ הַגְּדֹלִים֙ וַאֲדַבְּרָ֣ה אוֹתָ֔ם כִּ֣י הֵ֗מָּה יָדְעוּ֙ דֶּ֣רֶךְ יְהוָ֔ה מִשְׁפַּ֖ט אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֑ם אַ֣ךְ הֵ֤מָּה יַחְדָּו֙ שָׁ֣בְרוּ עֹ֔ל נִתְּק֖וּ מוֹסֵרֽוֹת

אֵֽלֲכָה־  Will  go 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
הַגְּדֹלִים֙  the  great  men 
Parse: Article, Adjective, masculine plural
Root: גָּבֹול 
Sense: great.
וַאֲדַבְּרָ֣ה  and  speak 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: דָּבַר 
Sense: to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing.
אוֹתָ֔ם  to  them 
Parse: Direct object marker, third person masculine plural
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
יָדְעוּ֙  have  known 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
דֶּ֣רֶךְ  the  way 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct
Root: דֶּרֶךְ  
Sense: way, road, distance, journey, manner.
יְהוָ֔ה  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
מִשְׁפַּ֖ט  the  judgment 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מִשְׁפָּט  
Sense: judgment, justice, ordinance.
אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֑ם  of  their  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
הֵ֤מָּה  those 
Parse: Pronoun, third person masculine plural
Root: הֵם 
Sense: they, these, the same, who.
יַחְדָּו֙  altogether 
Parse: Adverb
Root: יַחַד 
Sense: union, unitedness adv.
שָׁ֣בְרוּ  have  broken 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: שָׁבוּר 
Sense: to break, break in pieces.
עֹ֔ל  the  yoke 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹל  
Sense: yoke.
נִתְּק֖וּ  [And]  burst 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: נָתַק  
Sense: to pull or tear or draw off or away or apart, draw out, pluck up, break, li ft, root out.
מוֹסֵרֽוֹת  the  bonds 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: מֹוסֵר 
Sense: band, bond.