“Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.”
My Notes
What Does Jeremiah 5:1 Mean?
Jeremiah 5:1 is God issuing an extraordinary challenge: "Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it." Find one honest person and I'll spare the city.
The echoes of Abraham's negotiation for Sodom are unmistakable (Genesis 18:23-32). Abraham bargained God down from fifty righteous people to ten. Jeremiah's terms are even more generous — and more devastating: find one. A single person who executes judgment and seeks truth. One is enough. And the implication is crushing: even one cannot be found.
The Hebrew shotĕtu and baqqĕshu — "run to and fro" and "seek" — describe an exhaustive search. Every street. Every broad place. Leave no corner unchecked. God isn't being rhetorical. He's daring them to prove Him wrong. Search the entire city. Find me one person of integrity. The scope of the search highlights the scope of the corruption: a capital city full of people, and not one who meets the basic standard of honest dealing and truth-seeking.
Reflection Questions
- 1.If God searched your community for one person who genuinely executes judgment and seeks truth, would He find you? Be honest.
- 2.How can a city full of religious people produce zero people of integrity? What does that tell you about the gap between religious practice and actual righteousness?
- 3.One honest person could have spared Jerusalem. How does that change how you view the weight of your personal integrity?
- 4.Where have you stopped seeking truth because it was too costly or inconvenient? What would it look like to resume the search?
Devotional
One person. That's God's price for pardoning Jerusalem. Not a revival. Not a majority. One person who executes judgment and seeks truth. And the search comes up empty.
That should stun you. A city full of religious people — temple-goers, covenant-keepers in name, circumcised, sacrificing — and God can't find one who's genuinely honest. The religious infrastructure was functioning. The spiritual vocabulary was intact. But the substance — actual justice, actual truth-seeking — had vanished completely.
This verse is a mirror for every religious community that maintains the machinery of faith while the integrity has drained out. The services still happen. The songs still play. The prayers still rise. But does anyone in the room actually execute judgment? Does anyone genuinely seek truth — even when it's inconvenient, even when it costs them something?
God's offer is staggeringly generous: one person spares the city. That tells you what a single life of integrity is worth in God's economy. One honest person — one person who refuses to lie, who insists on justice, who seeks truth when everyone else has given up on it — carries enough weight to tip the scales for an entire community.
That person could be you. Not because you're perfect, but because you're willing to be the one who executes judgment and seeks truth when the streets are empty of both. The search is still running. Will God find what He's looking for in you?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,.... These are the words of the Lord, not to the prophet only, but to…
The broad places - The open spaces next the gates, and other places of concourse. A man - Or, anyone. That executeth -…
Here is, I. A challenge to produce any one right honest man, or at least any considerable number of such, in Jerusalem,…
Run ye to and fro The prophet challenges his hearers to find a single righteous man by a thorough and extensive search.…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture