Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 5:23

"But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone." — Jeremiah 5:23 (ASV)

But this people ... — The contrast seems to lie in the fact that the elements are subject to God’s will, but that humanity’s rebellious will, with its fatal gift of freedom, has the power to resist it. The two adjectives “revolting” and “rebellious” (the negative and positive aspects of apostasy) are joined together, as in Deuteronomy 21:18, 20.