Thomas Aquinas Commentary Jeremiah 3:6-11

"Moreover Jehovah said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. And I said after she had done all these things, She will return unto me; but she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith Jehovah. And Jehovah said unto me, Backsliding Israel hath showed herself more righteous than treacherous Judah." — Jeremiah 3:6-11 (ASV)

Here, the prophet calls them back using the example of the ten tribes, and on this subject, he makes three points.

1. He gives an example of the crime of idolatry—she has gone away, following her own inclinations and not My commands.

   He speaks of her disobedience: and I said. They have made for themselves statues and groves on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and there they burned incense on their altars in the manner of the nations (2 Kings 17:10). As for the punishment He made known to them: her treacherous sister saw, because they came from the same ancestors.

   I gave her a bill of divorce. She has the appearance of a prostitute, in whom filthiness is found.

   Yet, on the contrary, what is this bill of divorce? (Isaiah 50:1).

   It must be said that God, for His part, divorces no one; rather, it is sinful man who divorces himself from God. For this reason, it says in the same passage: you have been sold for your iniquities, and for your wickedness have I divorced your mother.

2. He exposes their contempt: yet treacherous Judah her sister did not fear.

   With stone—that is, with an idol made of stone. But Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord his God, but walked in the errors that Israel had committed (2 Kings 17:19).

3. He highlights the severity of their guilt: and the LORD said to me, rebellious Israel has justified herself. This is comparatively speaking, because the ten tribes had not seen the punishment of other peoples and were not corrected by it. You have justified your sisters in all your abominations, which you have done (Ezekiel 16:51).