Jeremiah 3:23 · Bible study
Jeremiah 3:23 Commentary: Idolatrous Hills and Yahweh's Salvation
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
In Jeremiah 3:23, penitent Israel confesses that seeking help from hilltop idols is vain, while true salvation is found only in Yahweh, contrasting with
Research Summary
- Meaning: Israel confesses that seeking deliverance through idolatrous hill-worship is deception; only Yahweh truly saves.
- Key words: a.khen (truly, emphatic), sheqer (deception, falsehood), hamon (tumult, noisy throng), teshuah (salvation).
- Main debate: Whether 'hills' refer to literal geographical defenses, the multitude of idols worshipped on them, or both; most commentators favor idolatry.
- Theological theme: Exclusive salvation in Yahweh vs. the deception of false worship.
- Best use: Lenten repentance, sermons on idolatry and trust, small-group study of confession.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Surely deception comes from the hills, and commotion from the mountains. Surely the salvation of Israel is in the LORD our God.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Truly help from the hills, the tumult on the mountains, is in vain. Truly the salvation of Israel is in Yahweh our God.
KJV King James Version 1769
Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Truly in vain is the help that is looked for from the hills, the tumult on the mountains: truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Surely in vain from the heights, The multitude of mountains--Surely in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Truly in vain [is salvation looked for] from the hills, [and] the multitude of mountains; truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
In very deed the hills were liars, and the multitude of the mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Ciertamente vanidad son los collados, la multitud de los montes: ciertamente en Jehová nuestro Dios está la salud de Israel.
Certamente confiar nos morros é inútil, na multidão dos montes; certamente a salvação de Israel está no SENHOR nosso Deus.
Oui, le bruit qui vient des collines et des montagnes n’ est que mensonge;
Wahrlich, es ist eitel Betrug mit Hügeln und mit allen Bergen. Wahrlich, es hat Israel keine Hilfe denn am HERRN, unserm Gott.
Waarlijk, tevergeefs verwacht men het van de heuvelen en de menigte der bergen; waarlijk, in den HEERE, onzen God, is Israels heil!
Sì, certo, vano è il soccorso che s’aspetta dalle alture, dalle feste strepitose sui monti; sì, nell’Eterno, nel nostro Dio, sta la salvezza d’Israele.
Zaiste próżna jest nadzieja w pagórkach i w mnóstwie gór; zaiste w Panu, Bogu naszym, jest zbawienie Izraelskie.
Поистине, напрасно надеялись мы на холмы и на множество гор; поистине, в Господе Боге нашем спасение Израилево!
仰望從小山 或從大山 的喧嚷中得幫助，真是 枉然的。以色列 得救，誠然 在乎耶和華─我們的 神。
Truly, the hills, and the noise of an army on the mountains, are a false hope: truly, in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Jeremiah 3:23
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree this verse records Israel's confession of repentance after God's call to return (v. 22). The phrase 'help from the hills' refers to the high places where idols were worshipped, not physical geography itself. Barnes and Cambridge note that the 'tumult' (Hebrew hamon) describes the noisy, chaotic orgies of pagan worship. Calvin observes that Israel confesses they were 'deceived by the hills and the multitude of mountains,' thinking more gods meant more protection. The key Hebrew term sheqer (deception) reinforces the point: idol-worship does not deliver what it promises. In stark contrast stands the claim that 'the salvation of Israel is in Yahweh our God.' The double use of a.khen (truly) at the start of each line drives home the reversal, first confessing the lie, then affirming the truth. This confession aligns with Psalms 3:8 and 37:39, which locate deliverance in Yahweh alone.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Idolatry on high places: Most commentators (Calvin, Barnes, Cambridge) point to the surrounding context of Judah’s pagan worship on hilltops and the word 'tumult' suggesting pagan orgies.
- Political or military help: Gill mentions that 'hills' could represent the multitude of nations from whom Israel expected help; Jamieson-Fausset-Brown also note the possibility of reliance on foreign alliances.
- Textual emendation reading: Cambridge and others argue the Hebrew text is corrupt and should be read as 'the sound from the hills' or 'the revelry of the mountains,' changing the stress slightly.
What is clear: Whatever the exact original wording, all readings agree that the verse contrasts the utter vanity of relying on anything other than Yahweh for salvation.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'hills and mountains' | All traditions agree the phrase refers in context to the high places of idol worship, not merely physical geography. | Some see a secondary reference to political alliances (help from surrounding nations whose armies come over hills). Others limit it strictly to pagan cultic sites. |
| Hebrew text difficulty | The MT is difficult; many translations add words like 'salvation hoped for' to clarify. | Some scholars (Cambridge) suggest emending the text (changing vowel points, restoring a word). Others accept the MT as elliptical but meaningful. |
| Nature of the confession | The confession is corporate and represents genuine repentance in response to God's call. | Catholic and Orthodox traditions see this as a model for sacramental confession. Protestant traditions emphasize the immediate turning from idolatry to faith. |
| Contrast with Psalm 121 | Psalm 121 also mentions hills but clarifies help comes from Yahweh, the Maker of hills. | Liberal interpreters see both texts as expressing the same basic idea in different historical contexts. Conservative interpreters stress that Jeremiah heightens the contrast: the hills themselves are now symbols of apostasy, not provision. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Jeremiah prophesied during the reign of Josiah (640, 609 BC), a period of religious reform and national crisis. The land of Israel/Judah was dotted with 'high places', hilltop shrines where Baal, Asherah and other gods were worshipped. These sites mocked the covenant (Deuteronomy 12:2, 3). Jeremiah’s call for the people to 'return' (v. 22) is set against centuries of such apostasy. Verse 23 captures the people’s own words: they confess that the supposed help from those hills was nothing but deception. The Hebrew word hamon ('tumult') suggests not only noise but the chaotic frenzy of idol feasts, a sharp contrast to the peace found in Yahweh.
Literarily, this verse belongs to a larger unit (Jeremiah 3:19, 4:4) that moves from God’s fatherly lament to Israel’s penitent speech. The confession uses the same imagery as Psalm 121:1, 2, where lifting eyes to the hills leads to a declaration that help comes from the Maker of heaven and earth. But here the hills are stripped of any positive meaning; they represent the very places where Israel betrayed her God. The confession is thorough: not only are the hills empty, but the entire religious system centered on them is false. Only in the God of the covenant, 'Yahweh our God', is salvation found.
Textual Notes
The Hebrew text of Jeremiah 3:23 is grammatically compressed, literally, 'Truly from the hills the tumult the mountains.' The word often translated 'help' or 'salvation' is absent in the MT; most English versions supply it for clarity. Cambridge suggests restoring a word like 'sound' in the first clause and changing a vowel point to read 'on' the mountains. The Targum paraphrases with a reference to worship. No significant textual variants among Hebrew manuscripts are noted by the consulted sources.
Reception History
Early Christian writers like Jerome saw in this verse a clear rejection of idolatry and a confession of faith in the one God. The verse has been used in Lenten liturgies, particularly in services of repentance. In the Protestant tradition, commentators such as Calvin, Matthew Henry, and Wesley emphasized the sharp contrast between vain trust in creatures and saving trust in God. The verse also surfaces in hymns that declare salvation is found only in the Lord, reinforcing the Reformation principle of solus Christus. Modern pastoral use often applies the imagery to anything people trust for security besides God.
Preaching This Verse
Three-Point Outline
- The False Promise of Human Resources: Israel put trust in high places, literal mountains and the gods worshipped there. We do the same when we rely on wealth, government, relationships, or personal strength to save us. The text calls it deception (sheqer). Every substitute for God ultimately disappoints.
- The Confession that Leads to Healing: The people don't just admit sin; they name the specific lie they believed. True repentance includes acknowledging where we looked for help apart from God. God’s response in verse 22 ('I will heal your backsliding') shows that confession opens the door to restoration.
- Salvation Centered in the Lord: The second 'truly' redirects faith to Yahweh alone. Salvation (teshuah) is not a commodity from multiple sources; it is a person. This verse echoes the New Testament claim in Acts 4:12 that salvation is found in no one else.
Five-Point Outline
- Context: God calls backsliding Israel to return (v. 22a), and the people respond with a corporate confession (vv. 22b, 25).
- The Lie Exposed: 'Help from the hills', the high places of idol worship, is declared to be sheqer (deception, falsity).
- The Noisy Confusion: 'Tumult on the mountains' points to the raucous rituals of pagan worship, an image of spiritual chaos replacing covenant order.
- The Single Source: 'In Yahweh our God is the salvation of Israel', a shift from the first line's plural ('hills, mountains') to singular (Yahweh). Deliverance is not distributed across many gods.
- The Pastoral Application: This confession models how we move from misplaced trust to dependence on God alone.
Illustration Hooks
- The lottery ticket routine: A person who pins hope on a winning ticket while ignoring a reliable job, an image of trusting 'hills' for quick salvation versus depending on the steady Provider.
- The broken GPS: Relying on a navigation system that fails halfway through the trip; you must abandon its directions and ask someone who actually knows the road. That is what Israel does here: they stop trusting the false gods and turn to Yahweh.
- The clutter of false saviors: A desk piled with self-help books, horoscopes, and investment strategies, all promising security, none delivering. The confession sweeps them off and leaves only the Bible open to God’s promises.
Questions Your Congregation Is Asking
- Is it wrong to look for help from created things (like doctors, counselors, government) if God works through them?
- What are the 'hills' people trust today, and how do we identify them in our own hearts?
- How can I tell if my faith is in God himself or just in the benefits I expect from him?
Leading a Discussion
Jeremiah 3:23 appears in the middle of a dialogue between God and his people. God has called Israel to return; Israel answers with a confession that names their specific sin, trusting idolatry on the hills, and then declares that only in Yahweh is salvation. This small group guide helps you explore the contrast between false and true sources of help.
Discussion Questions
- Read Jeremiah 3:19, 25 aloud. What emotions do you hear in God’s words (v. 19, 20) and in the people’s response (v. 21, 25)?
- What do you think 'help from the hills' meant to the original audience? (Consider the high places and idols mentioned elsewhere in Jeremiah.)
- The Hebrew word sheqer (deception) is used in verse 23. In what ways can religious activity itself become deceptive, appearing spiritual but actually leading us away from God?
- Compare verse 23 with Psalm 121:1, 2. Both mention hills, but the psalmist finds help from the Maker of the hills, not from the hills themselves. How does the confession in Jeremiah sharpen this point?
- The people say 'the salvation of Israel is in Yahweh our God.' What concrete difference would that belief make in daily life, then and now?
- In what areas of your life do you find yourself tempted to look for help in 'hills' rather than in God? (Money, relationships, career, approval, health?)
- Verse 24 mentions 'the shameful thing' (likely a reference to Baal worship) devouring the work of their fathers. What 'shameful things' might be devouring the fruit of your labor without you realizing it?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Psalms 3:8 | Salvation belongs to Yahweh. May your blessing be on your people. Selah. |
| Psalms 37:39 | But the salvation of the righteous is from Yahweh. He is their stronghold in the time of trouble. |
| Psalms 37:40 | Yahweh helps them and rescues them. He rescues them from the wicked and saves them, because they have taken refuge in him. |
| Psalms 121:1 | A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? |
| Psalms 121:2 | My help comes from Yahweh, who made heaven and earth. |
| Isaiah 12:2 | Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.” |
| Isaiah 43:11 | I myself am Yahweh. Besides me, there is no savior. |
| Isaiah 44:9 | Everyone who makes a carved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that they may be disappointed. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes highlights the penitents' own realization: the loud, frantic worship on the hills is empty. They contrast the sheer uselessness of idolatry with the certain salvation that the Lord alone gives to His people.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin stresses that the Israelites' confession exposes a fatal contradiction: worshiping the true God while also trusting in many other gods. Their repentance means discarding every deceptive hope from the hills and mountains, because true salvation belongs to Jehovah alone.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator highlights the bitter irony that Judah's repentance begins at the very high places where they committed idolatry. Their weeping and confession arise from the same hills where the noisy, chaotic crowds once worshipped false gods, a help they now recognize as utterly empty and vain.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The note sharply contrasts all human trust in visible strongholds with trusting the Lord alone. Hills and mountains, however many, offer nothing but empty hope. Israel's true health and salvation are found only in their God.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill reads this as the repentant people's confession that all human resources and idols have failed them. He highlights the Targum's rendering of "the Word of the Lord" as Christ himself, the only source of salvation for both Jews and Gentiles, who alone is able to save.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB identifies the "hills" in this verse not as physical landmarks but as places of pagan worship. The "multitude of mountains" points to the many gods worshipped at such sites, setting up a contrast with the true help that comes only from the Lord.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange insists that "return to me" in verse 1 must be read as a command, not a question. The whole discourse is a call to return, and God's authoritative decree overrides the legal barrier in Deuteronomy. Israel's false presumption of pseudo-repentance under Josiah is also removed.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry highlights that Israel’s sin is not just disobedience but betrayal of a marriage-covenant with God, who had been entirely faithful to them. He calls it treacherous dealing, worse than unfaithfulness to any human partner. The people’s weeping and confession prove they now recognize their spiritual adultery and God’s right to charge them.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley distinguishes two aspects of idolatrous worship in this verse. The "hills" refer to the locations where idols were set up and worshipped, while the "mountains" point to the great quantity of sacrifices offered in those high places.