For ... - And. It is the continuation of the thought in Jeremiah 3:23. Idolatry was there described as unprofitable, here as ruinous and hurtful.

Shame - literally, the shame (Bosheth, personified), that is, "Baal." The names "Bosheth" and "Baal" are constantly interchanged. Compare Judges 6:31-32.

Their flocks and their herds - The temperate and sober enjoyments connected with Yahweh's sacrifices led to no excess, whereas in idol-worship the people, after sitting down "to eat and drink, rose up to play," and wasted both health and substance in licentious revelry.

Their sons ... - This probably refers to human sacrifices.

For shame hath devoured - The word shame, here and in Jeremiah 11:13; Hosea 9:10, is supposed to signify Baal, the idol which they worshipped. That thing or shame which has brought you into contempt, confusion, and ruin. Sooner or later every sinner must be ashamed of his conduct; next, confounded; and, lastly, ruined by it, unless by true faith and hearty repentance he returns to the Lord.

For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth,.... That is, sin, which is the cause of shame, and of which sinners ought to be ashamed, and will be sooner or later; so the Targum renders it, "the confusion of sins"; and the Jewish writers generally interpret it of idolatry, and of the idol Baal, as Kimchi and others, called "shame", or that "shameful thing", Jeremiah 11:13, this idol, because of the multitude of the sacrifices offered to it, consumed what their fathers laboured for, ever since they had known them; or, for their worshipping of this idol, such judgments came upon them as consumed all they got by hard labour; or rather it may regard their shameful sin of rejecting the Messiah, and crucifying him; which they will be ashamed of at the time of their conversion, when they shall look on him whom they have pierced, and on account of which they suffer the many calamities they now do:

their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters; whatever evils have befallen them in their persons, families, and estates, they will confess are owing to sin they have committed, of which they will now be ashamed; hence it follows:

In Jeremiah 3:24 we are told in what particulars idolatry became to them הבּשׁת .לשׁקר, the shame, opprobrious expression for הבּעל, equal to shame-god, cf. Jeremiah 11:13 and Hosea 9:10; since the worship of Baal, i.e., of the false gods, resulted in disgrace to the people. He devoured the wealth of our fathers, namely, their sheep and oxen, mentioned as a specimen of their wealth, and their sons and daughters. The idols devoured this wealth, to in respect that sheep and oxen, and, on Moloch's altar, children too, were sacrificed, for sheep and oxen were offered to Jahveh; but because idolatry drew down judgments on the people and brought about the devastation of the land by enemies who devoured the substance of the people, and slew sons and daughters, Deuteronomy 28:30, Deuteronomy 28:33. From our youth on; - the youth of the people is the period of the judges.

For shame hath devoured the labour of our {y} fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

(y) For their idolatry God's vengeance has light on them and theirs.

3:24 Shame - Sin, which causes shame, for that brought shame first into the world. Devoured - This hath been the fruit of our labour.

24. shame-that is, the idols, whose worship only covers us with shame (Jer 11:13; Ho 9:10). So far from bringing us "salvation," they have cost us our cattle and even our children, whom we have sacrificed to them.

3:21-25 Sin is turning aside to crooked ways. And forgetting the Lord our God is at the bottom of all sin. By sin we bring ourselves into trouble. The promise to those that return is, God will heal their backslidings, by his pardoning mercy, his quieting peace, and his renewing grace. They come devoting themselves to God. They come disclaiming all expectations of relief and succour from any but the Lord. Therefore they come depending upon him only. He is the Lord, and he only can save. It points out the great salvation from sin Jesus Christ wrought out for us. They come justifying God in their troubles, and judging themselves for their sins. True penitents learn to call sin shame, even the sin they have been most pleased with. True penitents learn to call sin death and ruin, and to charge upon it all they suffer. While men harden themselves in sin, contempt and misery are their portion: for he that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but he that confesseth and forsaketh them, shall find mercy.