Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:
For three transgressions of Judah ... From foreign kingdoms he passes to Judah and Israel, lest it should be said he was strenuous in denouncing sins abroad, but connived at those of his own nation. Judah and Israel, regarded as one, form the seventh people about to be judged. Seven is the number for a complete whole, implying that judgment would go the round of all the guilty peoples, and that not even the people of God, now that it is in apostasy, shall be spared. Judah's guilt differs from that of all the others in that it was directly against God, not merely against man; also because Judah's sin was willful and wittingly against light and knowledge.
Because they have despised the law - the Mosaic code in general.
And have not kept his commandments - or statutes, the ceremonies and civil laws.
And their lies caused them to err - their lying idols (Psalms 40:4; Jeremiah 16:19, "lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit"), from which they drew false hopes. The order is to be observed. The Jews first cast off the divine law, then fall into lying errors; God thus visiting them with a righteous retribution (Romans 1:25-26; Romans 1:28; 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12). The pretext of a good intention is hereby refuted: the "lies" that mislead them are "their (own) lies" (Calvin).
After the which their fathers have walked. We are not to follow the fathers in error, but must follow the Word of God alone. Nay, it was an aggravation of the Jews' sin that it was not confined to preceding generations: the sons rivaled the sins of their fathers (Matthew 23:32; Acts 7:51, "Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye"). (Calvin.)