Jeremiah 5:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 5:1
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
properly · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
streets
בְּחוּצ֣וֹתbe.chu.Tzot
H2351
properly · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
Jerusalem
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֗םye.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
see
וּרְאוּu.re.'u-
H7200
to see · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
know
וּדְעוּ֙u.de.'U
H3045
to know (properly · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
seek
וּבַקְשׁ֣וּu.vak.Shu
H1245
to search out (by any method · conjunction + verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
places
בִרְחוֹבוֹתֶ֔יהָvir.cho.o.Tei.ha
H7339
a width · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
find
תִּמְצְא֣וּtim.tze.'U
H4672
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
man
אִ֔ישׁ'Ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
be
יֵ֛שׁyesh
H3426
there is or are (or any other form of the verb to be · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
executeth
עֹשֶׂ֥ה'o.Seh
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
judgment
מִשְׁפָּ֖טmish.Pat
H4941
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
seeketh
מְבַקֵּ֣שׁme.va.Kesh
H1245
to search out (by any method · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular absolute
truth
אֱמוּנָ֑ה'e.mu.Nah
H530
literally firmness · noun, common feminine singular absolute
pardon
וְאֶסְלַ֖חve.'es.Lach
H5545
to forgive · conjunction + verb, qal, 1st person common singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 18:23-32 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towa…
Ezekiel 22:30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it:…
Psalms 14:3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Psalms 53:2-4 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
Isaiah 59:4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity…
Isaiah 59:14-15 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
Micah 7:1-2 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 5:1-9
Here is, I. A challenge to produce any one right honest man, or at least any considerable number of such, in Jerusalem, Jer 5:1. Jerusalem had become like the old world, in which all flesh had corrupted their way. There were some perhaps who flattered themselves with hopes that there were yet many good men in Jerusalem, who would stand in the gap to turn away the wrath of God; and there might be others who boasted of its being the holy city and thought that this would save it. But God bids them search the town, and intimates that they should scarcely find a man in it who executed judgment and made conscience of what he said and did: "Look in the streets, where they make their appearance and…
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,.... These are the words of the Lord, not to the prophet only, but to any other, who thought fit to look into the reasons of the Lord's dealing in a way of judgment with the people of the Jews; these he would have go through the whole city of Jerusalem, every street of it, and that backwards and forwards, not once only, but over and over again:
and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof; where there is commonly the greatest concourse of people; here he would have them look out diligently, observe and take cognizance of the persons they should meet with in such places:
if ye can find a man; that is, as the Targum adds, whos…
Jeremiah 5:1
1. Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
1. Circuite per vias (alii vertunt, inquirite, vel, explorate, vel, investigate per vias) Jerusalem, et videte, agedum, (hic enim 'n est hortantis, proximo versu debuit verti nunc, vae nunc mihi,) et cognoscite, et inquirite, in vicis ejus (in compitis ejus,) an invenietis virum, an erit quifaciat judicium (hoc est, rectitudinem,) qui quaerat veritatem, et parcam illi.
In this verse, as in those which follow, God shews that he was not too rigid or too se…
The Church Fathers
After the address of the Lord in which he commanded, "go throughout Jerusalem," and so on, the prophet addresses the Lord in return: "Lord, your eyes look for faith," which is ʾemûnā in Hebrew, referring not to the works of the Jews, in which they exulted according to ceremonies of the law, but to the faith of Christians, through which we are saved by faith. In this chapter, therefore, we learn that supplications are brought for the correction of our faults. This is why he says, "You struck them, and they did not grieve; you wore them out, but they refused to accept discipline." For Jerusalem was emended through many torments and chastisements and was found to have no shame for their faults after all of this, but with rock-hard shamelessness on their brow, they would not convert to the better way.
(Chapter 5 - Verse 1, 2) Go around the streets of Jerusalem and look, observe, and search its squares, whether you find a man who does justice and seeks faithfulness. I will be merciful to him. But even if, by the living Lord, they say and falsely swear this. Great is the love of justice, as God did not deliver the city (Genesis 18) according to the request of Abraham and the response of God for the sake of ten righteous men, but if He finds even one in the now perishing Jerusalem who does justice and seeks faithfulness (or, as Symmachus translated, truth), then God will have mercy on Jerusalem. And because it could happen that some would be found among the people who would feign the worship of God and swear by God, this is prevented so that God is not pleased by empty words but by the truth of faith, and He says: I do not love those who swear by me and swear falsely, but rather those whose hearts and lips are in agreement.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Jerusalem — Called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the “city of God,” the “holy city;” by the modern Arabs el-Khuds, meaning “the holy;” once “the city of Judah” (2 Chr. 25:28). This name is in the original in the…
Intercession · OF MAN WITH GOD — OF MAN WITH GOD
Jerusalem · Wickedness of — Wickedness of
Sins, National · Pervade all ranks — Pervade all ranks
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The Causes which Called Down the Judgment Pronounced: The Total Corruption of the People. - Chr. B. Mich. has excellently summed up thus the contents of this chapter: Deus judicia sua, quae cap. IV praedixerat, justificat ostendens, se quamvis invitum, tamen non aliter posse quam punire Judaeos propter praefractam ipsorum malitiam. The train of thought in this chapter is the following: God would pardon if there were to be found in Jerusalem but one who practised righteousness and strove to keep good faith; but high and low have forsaken God and His law, and serve the false gods. This the Lord must punish (Jer 5:1-9). Judah, like Israel, disowns the Lord, and despises the words of His prophet…
A just person lives according to God’s laws and deals with other people accordingly. An honest person is dependable, truthful, and faithful to God. Jeremiah did not find either justice or honesty. Although some people were under oath, their claims of innocence were false. Their behavior showed that they had perjured themselves (4:2; 7:9; Gen 18:23-32; Isa 48:1; Ezek 22:30; Titus 1:15-16).
