The Meaning of Jeremiah 9:2 Explained

Jeremiah 9:2

KJV: Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

YLT: Who doth give me in a wilderness A lodging-place of travellers? And I leave my people, and go from them, For all of them are adulterers, An assembly of treacherous ones.

Darby: Oh that I had in the wilderness a traveller's lodging-place, that I might leave my people, and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

ASV: Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Oh that  I had in the wilderness  a lodging place  of wayfaring men;  that I might leave  my people,  and go  from them! for they [be] all adulterers,  an assembly  of treacherous men. 

What does Jeremiah 9:2 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jeremiah longed for a place of retreat in the wilderness where he could go to get away from his fellow countrymen. Their spiritual adultery and treachery repulsed him. A few recent commentators take the first five verses of this pericope to be the words of God rather than Jeremiah"s. [1]

Context Summary

Jeremiah 9:1-16 - National Perversity
Jeremiah 9:1-6
Once the voice of joy and thanksgiving had been heard in Jerusalem, but now on every side there was bloodshed, and the patriot-prophet could only weep incessantly over the slain. A lodge in the wilderness seemed preferable to the most luxurious mansion in the city. Solitude would be better than association with the ungodly perpetrators of such crimes. Yet we must not go out of the fray so long as our Captain wants us to remain in it, in dependence upon him.
Jeremiah 9:7-16
What a magnificent description of the effect of God's judgments on the land! No bird, no beast, no lowing of cattle, but jackals gamboling over the ruins of Jerusalem. However fast we shut our doors and windows, death enters our homes. Neither palace nor cottage is exempted. There is no escape for young or old from the judgments of God, except in penitence and faith. The secret of national decay and overthrow is the same in all ages. The tree is rotten at the core before it falls beneath the hurricane. Let us turn to 1 Corinthians 1:18, which belongs to this chapter, and learn how little the wisdom and might of the world can avail us in the dread hour of universal desolation. Stand with the Crucified and glory in His Cross; be content to bear His reproach and shame, that you may become a son of the Resurrection, and be accounted worthy to escape those things that must come to pass, and at last stand, before Him. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 9

1  Jeremiah laments the people for their manifold sins;
9  and for their judgment
12  Disobedience is the cause of their bitter calamity
17  He exhorts to mourn for their destruction;
23  and to trust not in themselves, but in God
25  He threatens both Jews and Gentiles

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 9:2 mean?

who will give me in the wilderness a lodging place for travelers that I might leave - my people and go from them for they [are] all adulterers An assembly of treacherous men
מִֽי־ יִתְּנֵ֣נִי בַמִּדְבָּ֗ר מְלוֹן֙ אֹֽרְחִ֔ים וְאֶֽעֶזְבָה֙ אֶת־ עַמִּ֔י וְאֵלְכָ֖ה מֵֽאִתָּ֑ם כִּ֤י כֻלָּם֙ מְנָ֣אֲפִ֔ים עֲצֶ֖רֶת בֹּגְדִֽים

יִתְּנֵ֣נִי  will  give  me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
בַמִּדְבָּ֗ר  in  the  wilderness 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִדְבָּר 
Sense: wilderness.
מְלוֹן֙  a  lodging  place  for 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מָלֹון  
Sense: place of lodging, inn, khan.
אֹֽרְחִ֔ים  travelers 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: אָרַח  
Sense: to wander, journey, go, keep company with.
וְאֶֽעֶזְבָה֙  that  I  might  leave 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: עָזַב 
Sense: to leave, loose, forsake.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
עַמִּ֔י  my  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
וְאֵלְכָ֖ה  and  go 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
מֵֽאִתָּ֑ם  from  them 
Parse: Preposition-m, 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.
כֻלָּם֙  they  [are]  all 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
מְנָ֣אֲפִ֔ים  adulterers 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine plural
Root: נָאַף  
Sense: to commit adultery.
עֲצֶ֖רֶת  An  assembly 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: עֲצָרָה  
Sense: assembly, solemn assembly.
בֹּגְדִֽים  of  treacherous  men 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: בָּגַד  
Sense: to act treacherously, deceitfully, deal treacherously.