Jeremiah 3:1

1“If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,
he may not take her back again.
Heb “May he go back to her again?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.
For the legal background for the illustration that is used here see Deut 24:1–4.

Doing that would utterly defile the land.
Heb “Would the land not be utterly defiled?” The stative is here rendered actively to connect better with the preceding. The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods.
Heb “But you have played the prostitute with many lovers.”

So what makes you think you can return to me?”
Heb “Returning to me.” The form is the bare infinitive which the KJV and ASV have interpreted as an imperative “Yet, return to me!” However, it is more likely that a question is intended, expressing surprise in the light of the law alluded to and the facts cited. For the use of the infinitive absolute in the place of a finite verb, cf. GKC 346 #113.ee. For the introduction of a question without a question marker, cf. GKC 473 #150.a.

says the Lord.
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