John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 3:13

"Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against Jehovah thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith Jehovah." — Jeremiah 3:13 (ASV)

Only acknowledge your iniquity
Or, "know" ^F5 it; unless a man knows his sin, and is convicted of it, he will never repent of it, or turn from it; and when he is made sensible of it, and sorry for it, he ought to acknowledge and confess it before God, against whom he has sinned; this is what is insisted upon, and all that is insisted upon; and it is the least that can be done, and is what every sensible sinner will do, who upon it may expect the discovery of pardoning grace and mercy, (Psalms 32:5) (Psalms 51:3Psalms 51:4) (Proverbs 28:13) (1 John 1:9) :

that you have transgressed against the Lord your God ;
against his law, his declared mind and will, and notwithstanding he is the Lord your God; against a God of love, grace, and mercy, who had loaded them with his benefits, and followed them with his goodness; all which aggravates the sin they had been guilty of:

and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree ;
a phrase expressive of whoredom; it is an euphemism, the same with (Mylgr qwvyp) , as Jarchi observes, "the opening of the feet", to everyone that passes by, to be lain with, (Ezekiel 16:25) and is to be understood of the multiplied idolatries of Israel; and that as harlots run about here and there, and prostitute themselves to whomsoever they meet with, so they worshipped the strange gods of the Heathens everywhere, in all their cities, upon every mountain and hill, and under every green tree; see (Jeremiah 2:20Jeremiah 2:28) so the Targum,

``and you have corrupted your way, you have joined yourself to the people that worship idols under every green tree:''

and you have not obeyed my voice, says the Lord :
the voice of his command in the law, which forbids idolatry; and his voice by his prophets, which reproved them for it, and exhorted them to repentance; but they regarded neither.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F5: (yed) "scito", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus.