The Significance of “Shuv” in Jeremiah

The Hebrew term shuv, meaning “to turn” or “return,” occurs over 1,000 times in the ot. Jeremiah uses the word more than any other biblical writer, accounting for over 10% of the total occurrences. While the prophets openly criticize Israel’s covenant infidelity, Jeremiah makes special use of the subtle nuances of meaning and potential ambiguity with shuv to emphasize Israel’s turning away from God and the repeated offers from God for them to return.

An example of Jeremiah’s deliberate play on the ambiguity of shuv can be seen in Jer 8:4: “And you shall say to them, ‘Thus asks Yahweh: “Do men fall and not stand up? If one turns away does he not return?” ’ ”

In Hebrew, the last phrase reads: im-yashuv welo yashuv; literally, “if one turns, then does one not turn?” The verb carries a double ambiguity of direction (toward or away) and physical versus spiritual movement. The contrast of the previous line with verbs clearly indicating “fall” and “rise” suggests opposites are implied for direction—turning away and returning. The second ambiguity of physical versus spiritual movement is intentional, and only clarified by the following verse: “Why has this people, Jerusalem, turned away (shovevah) in enduring apostasy (meshuvah)? They have kept hold of deceit, they have refused to return (lashuv)” (Jer 8:5).

The turning and returning indicated by the uses of shuv plays on the ideas of faithlessness and faithfulness to the covenant. The prophets particularly apply this covenantal sense to the word—employing it to express a change of loyalty on the part of God or Israel. Jeremiah uses the verb in this covenantal sense 48 times. Earlier prophets used the verb with this same meaning, but infrequently compared with Jeremiah (five times in Amos, nine times in Hosea, one time in Micah, and seven times in Isaiah). All of these early examples use the verb to indicate the prophets’ call to Israel to return to God.

Jeremiah’s usage of shuv can be outlined with five different categories—all of which are used with some nuance of turning to, or away, in a spiritual or religious sense:

Jeremiah’s usage of shuv is concentrated to his poetry and prose passages, which show the most affinities with Deuteronomistic style. The main emphasis lies with the ideas of returning to God and turning away from evil. The essence of Jeremiah’s message can be found in his skillful use of this one Hebrew word. He makes use of the varied nuances of the word to present a central choice to Israel—echoing Elijah in 1 Kings 18:21: worship of Yahweh and idol worship are two paths heading in opposite directions. If Israel did not turn back soon, judgment would come.

Douglas Mangum