Jeremiah 3:6-18

Dr. (with Co. and others) points out that here the word "Israel" is used in its restricted sense for the ten tribes, whereas in Jeremiah 2:1 to Jeremiah 3:5 it meant the people as a whole, and he infers that the passage, though (apart from certain insertions) genuine and of the age of Josiah, has been inserted from some other context, so that Jeremiah 3:19 should follow immediately on Jeremiah 3:5. Jeremiah's general reasoning here is: Israel, though guilty, is less so than Judah, who, in defiance of the warning afforded by her sister's exile, has since plunged deeper into sin. If then Judah may still avert overthrow by repentance and amendment, how much more Israel?