The Hebrew word abar is translated as pass
in Jeremiah 5:23. It refers to movement across or through a physical barrier but is also used in the sense of a vassal transgressing the commands of an overlord (Jeremiah 34:18 transgressed
).1 The unruly sea does not overstep the boundaries set by the Lord, but the people of Judah have a stubborn and rebellious heart
and they have overstepped the boundaries set by the Lord’s covenant with them and they have turned aside and gone away
from the Lord.2
23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away.