Jeremiah 23:24
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.
Study Note
Study Note
The divine self-revelation — 'Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth?' — states the divine omnipresence with rhetorical force that makes all evasion of divine accountability impossible. The context is a polemic against false prophets who claim divine commission while their personal lives are marked by adultery and covenant violation — such prophets imagine that private behaviour is invisible to the God whose word they claim to proclaim. Psalm 139:7-12's meditation on the impossibility of fleeing God's presence and Hebrews 4:13 ('all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do') develop the same theology of divine inescapable omniscience. The verse is simultaneously warning (for those who seek moral escape) and comfort (for those who feel abandoned): the same presence that exposes wickedness also protects the vulnerable.
Other Translations
Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? saith Jehovah. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith Jehovah.
Is any one hidden in secret places, And I see him not? an affirmation of Jehovah, Do not I fill the heavens and the earth? An affirmation of Jehovah.
In what secret place may a man take cover without my seeing him? says the Lord. Is there any place in heaven or earth where I am not? says the Lord.
Cross References
Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that …
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high …
Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, …
But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide …
And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though …
Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I …
In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the …
They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths …
Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?