How do their children remember their altars and their Asherim?

The Hebrew text of Jeremiah 17:2–4 has a number of difficulties which have resulted in several different translations of these verses. The two possible translations of Jeremiah 17:2 are either, as they remember their children, so they remember their altars and their Asherim or, while their children remember their altars and their Asherim. The first suggests that the pagan altars have become as precious to the nation as their children. The second suggests that pagan worship is so deeply ingrained in Judah that even the children take part.¹ The second translation is probably the more likely.

Perhaps the most compelling translation is as follows: When their sons remember, it is their altars and their Asherahs, beside green trees upon high hills. The meaning here would be that even as the people came to the temple to remember (a strong covenant word: Deuteronomy 8:18; Numbers 15:39; Exodus 20:8), they would still be worshipping at the pagan altars of their Asherim which were green trees on high hills. In other words, their religion was deeply synchronistic and therefore a profound denial of the Lord.² All of the translations above lead to the same conclusion about Judah; they were profoundly double-minded in their worship. They continued with formal worship in the temple, but also actively offered sacrifices to other gods at their pagan worship sites.