Jeremiah 5:30 · Bible study
Jeremiah 5:30 Commentary: The Astonishing Horror in the Land
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
What specific condition in Judah is described as 'astonishing and horrible'? This verse captures the prophet's summary verdict on a society in moral collapse.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Jeremiah summarizes the appalling moral corruption of Judah, which shocks the conscience and defies explanation.
- Key words: šammâ (horror, waste) and šaʿarûrâ (appalling thing), a unique pair emphasizing the incomprehensibility of the sin.
- Main debate: Whether the focus is on the sins of the leaders or the people's willing complicity; most hold both are in view.
- Theological theme: The severity of covenant violation, God's people can sink into a state that evokes divine judgment.
- Best use: A diagnostic text for spiritual decay in corporate faith, calling for self-examination and repentance.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land.
WEB World English Bible 2000
“An astonishing and horrible thing has happened in the land.
KJV King James Version 1769
A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
ASV American Standard Version 1901
A wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land:
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
An astonishing and horrible thing hath been in the land.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
An appalling and horrible thing is committed in the land:
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Astonishing and wonderful things have been done in the land.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Cosa espantosa y fea es hecha en la tierra:
Uma coisa espantosa e horrível está sendo feita na terra:
Des choses horribles, abominables,
Es steht greulich und schrecklich im Lande.
Een schrikkelijke en afschuwelijke zaak geschiedt er in het land.
Cose spaventevoli e orride si fanno nel paese:
Rzecz dziwna i sroga dzieje się w tej ziemi:
Изумительное и ужасное совершается в сей земле:
國中 有 可驚駭、可憎惡的事：
A thing of wonder and fear has come about in the land;
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Jeremiah 5:30
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Jeremiah 5:30 functions as a climactic summary of Judah's condition. The prophet uses two rare and forceful Hebrew words, šammâ (waste, horror) and šaʿarûrâ (appalling thing), to declare that what has happened in the land defies normal description. Calvin says the situation 'could not be expressed in words or could not be conceived by the mind; for it was a monstrous thing.' Gill adds that it is 'so amazing that it can hardly be conceived of, and so shameful and filthy as not to be expressed.' Clarke translates the phrase as 'strange crimes and horrible trespasses.' The horror is not a single sin but a comprehensive breakdown: injustice, deceit, and spiritual apostasy among those who bear God's name. The verse looks ahead to verse 31, which names the specific agents: prophets who prophesy falsely, priests who rule by their own authority, and a people who love it so. That mix, corrupt leaders and complicit followers, is what makes the situation so shocking.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: What is not in dispute: the prophet declares that Judah's condition is objectively shocking and horrible, deserving of amazement and dread, and it stems from a breakdown of justice, truth, and covenant loyalty among leaders and people alike.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| What is the 'astonishing and horrible thing'? | It refers to the comprehensive moral and spiritual corruption of the nation, injustice, deceit, idolatry, and false leadership. | Some interpreters (e.g., Adam Clarke) emphasize the external acts of sin (crimes, trespasses); others (e.g., Calvin, Gill) stress that the horror is that such impiety exists among God's own people, making it a mystery of human rebellion. |
| Does verse 30 summarize the preceding verses (25, 29) or introduce the following (31)? | The verse functions as a hinge: it gathers the charges of the first part and leads into the specific failure of leadership. | Lange treats it as the final summary of the entire chapter's argument; Cambridge Bible connects it more closely to the leaders and people of verse 31. |
| Who is responsible for the 'appalling' condition? | Both leaders (prophets, priests) and the people share responsibility. | Reformed commentators (Geneva, Calvin) stress the culpability of the false prophets and priests; Matthew Henry and Wesley also point to the people's love of sin as a key factor. |
| What response does the verse expect from the reader? | The verse is meant to evoke amazement and horror, leading to an acknowledgment of the severity of the situation. | Some (Calvin, Gill) see it as sheer descriptive lament; others (Clarke, Matthew Henry) draw an implicit call to repentance and a warning of judgment. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Jeremiah prophesied in the final decades of the kingdom of Judah, roughly 627, 586 BC. The nation had survived the reforms of King Josiah, but the heart of the people had not changed. Chapter 5 presents a society in moral freefall: the wealthy exploit the poor through deceit and violence (vv.26, 28), the leaders fail to defend the fatherless and needy, and the religious establishment has abandoned its calling. Verse 30 erupts as an exclamation, a thing so abnormal, so contrary to what a people of God should be, that it evokes both amazement and dread.
The word šammâ is used elsewhere in Jeremiah for the desolation of cities (Jer 2:15, 4:7). Šaʿarûrâ appears only here and in two other passages:
"In the prophets of Jerusalem I have also seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one returns from his wickedness."
— Jeremiah 23:14 (WEB)
In each case, it signals a violation of covenant loyalty so severe that it can only be called an abomination. The historical irony deepens the shock: this is happening in 'the land', the land promised to Abraham, where the temple stands, where God's name dwells. Wesley notes the phrase 'this land' (Hebrew idiom) 'aggravates the greatness of the wonder, that such a thing should be in such a land.'"In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephraim. Israel is defiled."
— Hosea 6:10 (WEB)
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Jeremiah 5:30. The phrase šammâ wešaʿarûrâ occurs only here and in the closely related passage Jeremiah 23:14, where the order is reversed (šaʿarûrâ wešammâ). The Masoretic Text is stable.
Reception History
From the Reformation onward, commentators have used this verse to warn against the slow slide of a believing community into apostasy. John Calvin read it as a demonstration that the human mind cannot fully grasp the evil of rebellion against God. Matthew Henry applied it to the church of his own day, observing that 'sin stops the current of God's favour.' Methodist interpreters like Adam Clarke and John Wesley saw in it a call to moral reformation, urging readers to be shocked at sin rather than desensitized. The verse has been cited in sermons addressing clergy corruption (drawing on verse 31) and in calls for national repentance. Across traditions, readers have found in Jeremiah 5:30 a mirror for examining whether their own generation has grown too comfortable with what should appall.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The shocking condition: Jeremiah uses the language of amazement and horror, a society so corrupt it defies explanation.
- The stunned response: The prophet calls the reader to feel the weight of what is happening; apathy is not an option.
- The urgent question: Verse 31 closes with 'What will you do in the end of it?', the crisis demands a response, either repentance or judgment.
Five-point outline
- Injustice at every level: The rich get richer by cheating the poor (vv.26, 27).
- Neglect of the vulnerable: No one pleads the cause of the fatherless or defends the needy (v.28).
- False spiritual leadership: Prophets speak lies, priests rule by their own whim (v.31a).
- Complicit congregation: 'My people love to have it so' (v.31b).
- Hopeful warning: Even in the worst decay, God's question ('What will you do?') invites reconsideration.
Illustration hooks
- A community that takes pride in its religious heritage but tolerates corruption among its leaders, the dissonance is what shocks.
- A trusted volunteer caught embezzling from a church fund: the combination of trust and betrayal produces both astonishment and horror.
- A string of scandals in a familiar institution, the feeling of 'not again, and it's worse than we thought'.
Questions your congregation is asking
- How could God's own people fall so far?
- What does it say about us if we are comfortable with sin we know is wrong?
- Is there hope for a society that has reached this point?
Leading a Discussion
Jeremiah 5:30 is a short exclamation that packs the weight of an entire chapter. It says that in the land of Israel, something has happened that is both astonishing and horrible. As you read the verses around it, you see a society where the rich oppress the poor, leaders lie, and people seem fine with it. This discussion will help your group feel the weight of sin and consider what it means to be faithful in an unfaithful world.
Discussion questions
- What do the words 'astonishing' and 'horrible' tell you about how Jeremiah feels about what is happening?
- Read verses 26, 28. What specific sins are named? How do they connect to the broader condition in verse 30?
- Why do you think the prophet includes the detail that 'my people love to have it so' (v.31)? What does that say about human nature?
- How is this passage similar to or different from the kind of moral failure we see in society today?
- What does the question 'What will you do in the end of it?' (v.31) mean for someone who has become comfortable with sin?
- In what ways might a church or a nation become blind to its own corruption, even while claiming to follow God?
- What would it take for a community in this condition to turn back? What role does honest prophecy play in that?
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)
| Isaiah 1:2 | Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me. |
| Jeremiah 2:12 | “Be astonished, you heavens, at this and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate,” says Yahweh. |
| Jeremiah 23:14 | In the prophets of Jerusalem I have also seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one returns from his wickedness. They have all become to me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.” |
| Hosea 6:10 | In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephraim. Israel is defiled. |
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
7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke highlights the translator Dahler's rendering of "wonderful and horrible thing" as "strange crimes and horrible trespasses." He notes that while these offenses have already been described, the verse may also point forward to what follows, leaving the reference intentionally open.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin emphasizes that the people's wickedness is so extreme it defies human understanding or description. He calls it a monstrous thing that should fill everyone with amazement and horror, because it surpasses what any mind could conceive or any words could express.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible clarifies that the word often rendered "wonderful" here actually means appalling, conveying desolation and destruction. It notes that both leaders and the people had united in disaffection from God, making the threatened judgment more severe.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
An horrible and filthie thing is committed in the land.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill observes that the thing being described is both astonishing and horrifying at once, so shocking it can hardly be imagined and so shameful it cannot be put into words. It rightly stirs wonder in some and horror in others, or both in every person.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry stresses that the people's own sins, not God's unwillingness, have stopped the flow of His blessings like the rains. He points to the shocking moral decay among God's own people, where wickedness and exploitation had grown worse than among the heathen. Sin itself is what withholds good.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley draws attention to the Hebrew phrase "this land," arguing that it intensifies the wonder being described. The point is that such an extraordinary event occurring in this particular land — implying something remarkable about the land's character or circumstances — makes the miracle even more striking.