Jeremiah 4:1

“If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, etc.] To which they had been encouraged, and as they had promised they would, and said they did, (<240314>Jeremiah 3:14,22): return unto me; with thy whole heart, and not feignedly and hypocritically, as Judah did, (<240310>Jeremiah 3:10). Some render the words (and the accents require they should be rendered so) “if thou wilt return to me, O Israel, saith the Lord, thou shalt return”f83; that is, to thine own land, being now in captivity; or, “thou shalt rest”f84; or “have rest”; so Kimchi interprets the last word; (see <243010>Jeremiah 30:10), and these words may very well be considered as the words of Christ, and as spoken by him, when he…”

“CONTINUATION OF ADDRESS TO THE TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL. (Jer 4:1-2). THE PROPHET TURNS AGAIN TO JUDAH, TO WHOM HE HAD ORIGINALLY BEEN SENT (Jer. 4:3-31). (Jer. 4:1-31) return . . . return--play on words. "If thou wouldest return to thy land (thou must first), return (by conversion and repentance) to Me." not remove--no longer be an unsettled wanderer in a strange land. So Cain (Gen 4:12, Gen 4:14).”

“Return - The repentance of Israel described in Jeremiah 3:21-25 was a hope, and not a reality. The return, literally, would be their restoration to their land; spiritually, their abandoning their sins. Jeremiah 4:1-2 should be translated as follows: If thou wouldst return, O Israel, saith Yahweh. Unto Me thou shalt return: And if thou wouldst remove thy abominations from before Me, And not wander to and fro, But wouldst swear truly, uprightly; and justly By the living Yahweh; Then shall the pagan bless themselves ... - In him - In Yahweh. Two great truths are taught in this verse; (1) that the Gentiles were to be members of the Church of the Messiah; (2) that Israel’s special office was to…”

“If - If thou wilt return, return; make no longer delay. Remove - Thou shalt not go out of thine own land into exile. Jeremiah 4:2”

“4:1 The Lord saw that despite their lovely prayer, the people did not intend to throw away their idols or change their lifestyle (15:19; Joel 2:12).”

“wilt return: Jer 4:4, Jer 3:12, Jer 3:22 return: Jer 3:1, Jer 3:14; Isa 31:6; Hos 7:16, Hos 14:1; Joe 2:12 put away: Gen 35:2; Deu 27:15; Jos 24:14; Jdg 10:16; Sa1 7:3; Kg2 23:13, Kg2 23:24; Ch2 15:8; Eze 11:18, Eze 18:13, Eze 20:7, Eze 20:8, Eze 43:9; Hos 2:2; Eph 4:22-31 then shalt: Jer 15:4, Jer 22:3-5, Jer 24:9, Jer 25:5, Jer 36:3; Ch2 33:8 Jeremiah 4:2”

“The answer of the Lord. - Jer 4:1. "If thou returnest, Israel, saith Jahveh, returnest to me; and if thou puttest away thine abominations from before my face, and strayest not, Jer 4:2. and swearest, As Jahveh liveth, in truth, with right, and uprightness; then shall the nations bless themselves in Him, and in Him make their boast." Graf errs in taking these verses as a wish: if thou wouldst but repent...and swear...and if they blessed themselves. His reason is, that the conversion and reconciliation with Jahveh has not yet taken place, and are yet only hoped for; and he cites passages for אם with the force of a wish, as Gen 13:3; Gen 28:13, where, however, נא or לוּ is joined with it. But…”