
Text -- Jeremiah 2:4-8 (NET)




Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics



collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Idols.

Fools; senseless as the stocks and stones that they made their idols of.

Wesley: Jer 2:6 - -- They never concerned themselves about what God had done for them, which should have engaged them to cleave to him.
They never concerned themselves about what God had done for them, which should have engaged them to cleave to him.

Where they had no water but by miracle.

Wesley: Jer 2:6 - -- Bringing forth nothing that might support life, therefore nothing but death could be expected; and besides, yielding so many venomous creatures, as ma...
Bringing forth nothing that might support life, therefore nothing but death could be expected; and besides, yielding so many venomous creatures, as many enemies that they went in continual danger of.

As having in it no accommodation for travellers, much less for habitation.

Consecrated to my name; by your idols and many other abominations.

Wesley: Jer 2:8 - -- They that should have taught others, knew as little as they, or regarded as little, who are said here to handle the law, the priests and Levites, who ...
They that should have taught others, knew as little as they, or regarded as little, who are said here to handle the law, the priests and Levites, who were the ordinary teachers of the law.

Wesley: Jer 2:8 - -- They that should have taught the people the true worship of God, were themselves worshippers of Baal.
They that should have taught the people the true worship of God, were themselves worshippers of Baal.
The whole nation.

JFB: Jer 2:4 - -- (See on Jer 1:15). Hear God's word not only collectively, but individually (Zec 12:12-14).
(See on Jer 1:15). Hear God's word not only collectively, but individually (Zec 12:12-14).


JFB: Jer 2:5 - -- Contrasted with "walkest after me in the wilderness" (Jer 2:2): then I was their guide in the barren desert; now they take idols as their guides.
Contrasted with "walkest after me in the wilderness" (Jer 2:2): then I was their guide in the barren desert; now they take idols as their guides.

JFB: Jer 2:5 - -- An idol is not only vain (impotent and empty), but vanity itself. Its worshippers acquire its character, becoming vain as it is (Deu 7:26; Psa 115:8)....

JFB: Jer 2:6 - -- The very words which God uses (Isa 63:9, Isa 63:11, Isa 63:13), when, as it were, reminding Himself of His former acts of love to Israel as a ground f...

JFB: Jer 2:6 - -- The desert between Mount Sinai and Palestine abounds in chasms and pits, in which beasts of burden often sink down to the knees. "Shadow of death" ref...

JFB: Jer 2:7 - -- Literally, "a land of Carmel," or "well-cultivated land": a garden land, in contrast to the "land of deserts" (Jer 2:6).
Literally, "a land of Carmel," or "well-cultivated land": a garden land, in contrast to the "land of deserts" (Jer 2:6).

JFB: Jer 2:7 - -- Change to the second person from the third, "they" (Jer 2:6), in order to bring home the guilt to the living generation.
Change to the second person from the third, "they" (Jer 2:6), in order to bring home the guilt to the living generation.

JFB: Jer 2:8 - -- The three leading classes, whose very office under the theocracy was to lead the people to God, disowned Him in the same language as the nation at lar...
The three leading classes, whose very office under the theocracy was to lead the people to God, disowned Him in the same language as the nation at large, "Where is the Lord?" (See Jer 2:6).

Are occupied with the law as the subject of their profession.

JFB: Jer 2:8 - -- Who should have reclaimed the people from their apostasy, encouraged them in it by pretended oracles from Baal, the Phœnician false god.
Who should have reclaimed the people from their apostasy, encouraged them in it by pretended oracles from Baal, the Phœnician false god.
Clarke: Jer 2:5 - -- What iniquity have your fathers found in me - Have they ever discovered any thing cruel, unjust, oppressive in my laws? Any thing unkind or tyrannic...
What iniquity have your fathers found in me - Have they ever discovered any thing cruel, unjust, oppressive in my laws? Any thing unkind or tyrannical in my government? Why then have they become idolaters?

Clarke: Jer 2:6 - -- Through the wilderness - Egypt was the house of their bondage: the desert through which they passed after they came out of Egypt, was a place where ...
Through the wilderness - Egypt was the house of their bondage: the desert through which they passed after they came out of Egypt, was a place where the means of life were not to be found; where no one family could subsist, much less a company of 600, 000 men. God mentions these things to show that it was by the bounty of an especial providence that they were fed and preserved alive. Previously to this, it was a land through which no man passed, and in which no man dwelt. And why? because it did not produce the means of life; it was the shadow of death in its appearance, and the grave to those who committed themselves to it.

And I brought you into a plentiful country - The land of Canaan

Clarke: Jer 2:7 - -- My land - The particular property of God, which he gave to them as an inheritance, they being his peculiar people.
My land - The particular property of God, which he gave to them as an inheritance, they being his peculiar people.

Clarke: Jer 2:8 - -- They that handle the law - ותפשי vethophe shey , they that draw out the law; they whose office it is to explain it, draw out its spiritual mea...
They that handle the law -

The pastors also - Kings, political and civil rulers

Clarke: Jer 2:8 - -- Prophesied by Baal - Became his prophets, and were inspired with the words of lying spirits.
Prophesied by Baal - Became his prophets, and were inspired with the words of lying spirits.
Calvin: Jer 2:4 - -- Here God explains why he had referred to what we have noticed, — that he had consecrated Israel to himself as a peculiar people, and as the first ...
Here God explains why he had referred to what we have noticed, — that he had consecrated Israel to himself as a peculiar people, and as the first — fruits. God often mentions his favors to us, in order to encourage our hope, that we may be fully persuaded that whatever may happen we are ever safe, because we are under his protection, since he has chosen us. But in this place, and in many other places, God recounts the obligations under which the Israelites were to him, that thence their ingratitude might become more apparent.
Hence he says, Hear ye the word of Jehovah By this preface he seeks to gain attention; for he intimates that he was going to address them on no common subject. Hear ye, then, O house of Jacob; hear all ye families of the house of Israel; as though Jeremiah had said, “Here I come forth boldly in the name of God, for I fear not that any defense can be brought forward by you to disprove the justice of God’s reproof; and I confidently wait for what ye may say, for I know you will be silent. I then loudly cry like a trumpet and with a clear voice, that I am come to condemn you; if there is anything which ye can answer, I give you full liberty to do so; but the truth will constrain you to be mute, for your guilt is extremely odious and capable of the fullest proof.” Hence it was that he exhorted them to hear attentively.

Calvin: Jer 2:5 - -- Then follows the charge: What, iniquity have your fathers found in me, that having forsaken me they should walk after vanity and become vain? Here...
Then follows the charge: What, iniquity have your fathers found in me, that having forsaken me they should walk after vanity and become vain? Here Jeremiah charges the people with two crimes, — that they had departed from the true God, whom they had found to be a deliverer, — and that they had become vain in their devices; or, in other words, that they were become for no reason apostates: for their sin was enhanced, because there had been no occasion given them to forsake God, and to alienate themselves from him. As then God had kindly treated them, and they themselves had shaken off the yoke, and as there was no one whom they could compare with God, they could not have said, “We have been deceived, ” — how so? “ For ye have, he says, followed vanity; and vanity alone was the reason why ye have departed from me.” 29 I wish I could proceed farther; but I have some business to which I was called even before the lecture.

Calvin: Jer 2:6 - -- The Prophet goes on with the same subject; for God adduces here no small crime against his people, as they had buried his favom’s in oblivion. Inde...
The Prophet goes on with the same subject; for God adduces here no small crime against his people, as they had buried his favom’s in oblivion. Indeed, a redemption so wonderful was worthy of being celebrated in all ages, not only by one nation, but by all the nations of the earth. As then the Jews had thus buried the memory of a favor so remarkable and valuable, their base impiety appeared evident. Had they not experienced the power and kindness of God, or had they only witnessed them in an ordinary way, their guilt might have been extenuated; but as God had from heaven made an unusual display of his power, and as his majesty had been manifested before the eyes of the people, how great was their sottishness in afterwards forgetting their God, who had openly and with such proofs made himself known to them!
We now then understand what the Prophet means by saying, they have not said: for God here sharply reproves the stupidity of the Jews, — that they did not consider that they were under perpetual obligations to him for his great kindness in delivering them in a manner so wonderful from the land of Egypt. By saying that they did not say, Where is Jehovah, he intimates that he was present with them and nigh them, but that they were blind, and that hence they were without an excuse for their ignorance, as he was not to be sought as one at a distance, or by means tedious and difficult. If then this only had come to their mind, “Did not God once redeem us?” they could not have departed after their vanities. How then was it that their error, or rather their madness, was so great that they followed idols? Even because they did not choose to make any effort, or to apply their minds to seek or to inquire after God.
Here then the Prophet meets the objection of the hypocrites, who might have said, that they had been deceived, and had relapsed through ignorance; for they have ever some evasions ready at hand, when they are called to an account for their sins. But lest the Jews should make any pretense of this kind, the Prophet here shews that they had not been through a mistake deceived, but that they had followed after falsehood through a wicked disposition, for they had willfully despised God and refused to inquire respecting him, though he was sufficiently nigh them.
This passage deserves to be especially noticed; for there is nothing more common than for the ungodly, when they are proved guilty, to have recourse to this subterfuge, — that they acted with good intention, when they gave themselves up to their own superstitions. The Prophet then takes off this mask, and shews that where God is once known, his name and his glory cannot be obliterated, except through the depravity of men, as they knowingly and willfully depart from him. Hence all apostates are by this one clause condemned, that they may no more dare to make evasions, as though they have been through more simplicity deceived: for when the matter is examined, their malignity and ingratitude are discovered, because they deign not to inquire, Where is Jehovah?
And he afterwards adds what explains this sentence. I have said that other nations are not here condemned, but the Jews, who had known by clear experience that God was their father. As then God had, by many testimonies, made himself known to them, they had no pretext for their ignorance. Hence the Prophet says, that they did not consider where God was who brought them from the land of Egypt, and made them to pass through the desert He could not have stated this indiscriminately of all nations; but, as it has been said, the words are addressed particularly to the Jews, who had clearly witnessed the power of God; so that they could not have sinned except willfully, even by extinguishing, through their own malignity, the light presented to them, which shone before their eyes. And here, also, the Prophet amplifies their guilt by various circumstances: for he says, not simply that they had been brought out of Egypt, but intimates that God had been their constant guide for forty years; for this time is suggested by the word “desert.” The history was well known; hence a brief allusion was sufficient. He, at the same time, by mentioning the desert, greatly extols the glory of God.
But the first thing to be observed is, that the Jews were inexcusable, who had not considered that their fathers had been wonderfully and in an unusual manner preserved by God’s hand for forty years; for they had no bread to eat, nor water to drink. God drew water for them from a rock, and satisfied them with heavenly bread; and their garments did not wear out during the whole time. We then see that all those circumstances enhanced their guilt. Then follows what I have referred to: the Prophet calls the desert a dry or a waste land, a dreary land, a horrible land, a land of deadly gloom, as though he had said, that the people had been preserved in the midst of death, yea in the midst of many deaths: for man was not wont to pass through that land, nor did any one dwell in it 30 “Whence then,” he says, “did salvation arise to you? from what condition? even from death itself: for what else was the desert but a horrible place, where you were surrounded, not only by one kind of death, but by a hundred? Since then God brought you out of Egypt by his incredible power, and fed you in a supernatural manner for forty years, what excuse can there be for so great a madness in now alienating yourselves from him?” Now this passage teaches us, that the more favors God confers on us, the more heinous the guilt if we forsake him, and less excusable will be our wickedness and ingratitude, especially when he has manifested his kindness to us for a long time and in various ways.

Calvin: Jer 2:7 - -- He afterwards adds, And I brought you in, etc. Here Jeremiah introduces God as the speaker; for God had, as with his hand stretched forth, brought i...
He afterwards adds, And I brought you in, etc. Here Jeremiah introduces God as the speaker; for God had, as with his hand stretched forth, brought in the children of Abraham into the possession of the promised land, which they did not get, as it is said in Psa 44:3, by their own power and by their own sword; for though they had to fight with many enemies, yet it was God that made them victorious. He could then truly say, that they did not otherwise enter the land than under his guidance; inasmuch as he had opened a way and passage for them, and subdued and put to flight their enemies, that they might possess the heritage promised to them. I brought you in, he says, into the land, into Carmel Some consider this to be the name of a place; and no doubt there was the mount Carmel, so called on account of its great fertility. As then its name was given to it because it was so fertile, it is nothing strange that Jeremiah compares the land of Israel to Carmel. Some will have the preposition
That ye might eat its fruit and its abundance; that is, “I wished you to enjoy the large and rich produce of the land.” By these words God intimates that the Israelites ought to have been induced by such allurements cordially to serve him; for by such liberal treatment he kindly invited them to himself. The greater, then, the bounty of God towards the people, the greater was the indignity offered by their defection, when they despised the various and abounding blessings of God.
Hence he adds, And ye have polluted my land, 32 and mine heritage have ye made an abomination; as though he had said, “This is the reward by which my bounty towards you has been compensated. I indeed gave you this land, but on this condition, that ye serve me faithfully in it: but ye have polluted it.” He calls it his own land, as though he had said, that he had so given the land to the Israelites, that he remained still the lord of it as a proprietor, though he granted the occupation of it to them. He hence shews that they impiously abused his bounty, in polluting that land which was sacred to his name. For the same purpose he calls it his heritage, as if he said that they possessed the land by an hereditary right, and yet the heritage belonged to their Father. They ought, therefore, to have considered, that they had entered into the land, because it had been given to Abraham and to his children for an heritage, — by whom? By God, who was the fountain of this bounty. The more detestable, then, was their ingratitude, when they made the heritage of God an abomination It follows —

Calvin: Jer 2:8 - -- God assails here especially the teachers and those to whom was committed the power of ruling the people. It often happens that the common people fall...
God assails here especially the teachers and those to whom was committed the power of ruling the people. It often happens that the common people fall away, while yet some integrity remains in the rulers. But God shews here that such was the falling away among the whole community, that priests as well as prophets and all the chief men had departed from the true worship of God, and from all uprightness.
Now, when Jeremiah thus rebukes the teachers and the priests and others, he does not excuse the common people, nor extenuate the crimes, which then prevailed everywhere, as we shall see from what follows. As many think that they set up a shield against God, when they pretend that they are not acquainted with so much learning as to distinguish between light and darkness, but that they are guided by their rulers, the Prophet, therefore, does not here cast the faults of the people upon their rulers, but, on the contrary, he amplifies the atrocity of their impiety, for they had, from the least to the greatest, rejected God and his Law. We now, then, understand the design of the Prophet. 33
We may learn from this passage how unwise and foolish are they who think that they are in part excusable when they can say, that they have proceeded in their simplicity and have been drawn into error by the faults of others; for it appears evident that the whole community was in a hopeless state when God gave up the priests and rulers unto a reprobate mind; and there is no doubt but that the people had provoked God’s vengeance, when every order, civil as well as religious, was thus corrupt. God then visited the people with deserved punishment, when he blinded the priests, the prophets, and the rulers.
Hence Jeremiah now says, that the priests did not inquire where Jehovah was: and he adds, and they who keep the law, etc. The verb
“Thou who hast the form of the law — thou who preachest against adultery, committest adultery, and thou who condemnest idols art thyself guilty of sacrilege; for thou keepest the law, restest in it, boastest in God, and with thee is understanding and knowledge.”
(Rom 2:20.)
Paul in these words detects the wickedness of hypocrites; for the more detestable they were, as they were thus inflated with false glory; they profaned the name of God, while they pretended to be his heralds, and as it were his prophets. We now see that this second clause refers to the priests, and that they are called the keepers of the law, because they were so appointed, according to what we read in Malachi. 34
He afterwards adds, The pastors have dealt treacherously with God We may apply this to the counselors of the king as well as to the governors of cities. The Prophet, I have no doubt, included all those who possessed authority to rule the people of God; for kings and their counselors, as well as prophets, are in common called pastors.
And he says, that the prophets prophesied by Baal The name of prophet is sacred; but Jeremiah in this place, as in other places, calls those prophets (contrary to the real fact) who were nothing but impostors; for God had taken from them all the light of divine truth. But as they were held still in esteem by the people, as though they were prophets, the Prophet concedes this title to them, derived from their office and vocation. We do the same in the present day; we call those bishops and prelates, and primates and fathers, who under the papacy boast that they possess the pastoral office, and yet we know that some of them are wolves, and some are dumb dogs. We concede to them these titles in which they take pride; and yet a twofold condemnation impends over their heads, as they thus impiously, and with sacrilegious audacity, claim for themselves sacred titles, and deprive God of the honor rightly due to him. So then Jeremiah, speaking of the prophets, does now point out those as impostors who at that time wickedly deceived the people.
He says that they prophesied by Baal: they ascribed more authority to idols than to the true God. The name of Baal, we know, was then commonly known. The prophets often call idols Baalim, in the plural number; but when Baal signifies a patron, when the prophets speak either of Baal in the singular number, or of Baalim in the plural, they mean the inferior gods, who had then been heaped together by the Jews, as though God was not content with his own power alone, but had need of associates and helpers, according to what is done at this day by those under the papacy, who confess that there is but one true God; and yet they ascribe nothing more to him than to their own idols which they invent for themselves at their pleasure. The same vice then prevailed among the Jews, and indeed among all heathen nations; for it was the plain and real confession of all, that there is but one supreme Being; and yet they had gods without number, and these all were called Baalim. When, therefore, the Prophet says here, that the teachers were ministers of Baal, he sets this name in opposition to the only true God, as though he had said that the truth was corrupted by them, because they passed over its limits, and did not acquiesce in the pure doctrine of the law, but mingled with it corruptions derived from all quarters, even from those many gods which heathen nations had invented for themselves.
Nor does the Prophet insist on a name; for it may have been that these false teachers pretended to profess the name of the eternal God, though falsely. But God is no sophist: there is then no reason for the Papists to think that they are at this day unlike these ancient impostors, because they profess the name of the only true God. It has always been so. Satan has not begun for the first time at this day to transform himself into an angel of light; but all his teachers in all ages have presented their poison, even all their errors and fallacies, in a golden cup. Though, then, these prophets boasted that they were sent from above, and confidently affirmed that they were the servants of the God of Abraham, it was yet all an empty profession; for they mingled with the truth those corruptions which they had derived from the ungodly errors of heathen nations.
It follows, And after those who do not profit have they gone 35 He again, by an implied comparison, exaggerates their sin, because they had despised him whom they had known, by so many evidences, to be their Father and the author of salvation, whose infinite power they had as it were felt by their own hands, and then they followed their own inventions, though there was nothing in all their idols which could have justly allured the people of Israel. Since, then, they followed vain and profitless deceptions, the more heinous and inexcusable was their sin. It afterwards follows —
TSK: Jer 2:4 - -- Hear ye : Jer 5:21, Jer 7:2, Jer 13:15, Jer 19:3, Jer 34:4, Jer 44:24-26; Isa 51:1-4; Hos 4:1; Mic 6:1
all the families : Jer 31:1, Jer 33:24

TSK: Jer 2:5 - -- What : Jer 2:31; Isa 5:3, Isa 5:4, Isa 43:22, Isa 43:23; Mic 6:2, Mic 6:3
are gone : Jer 12:2; Isa 29:13; Eze 11:15; Mat 15:8
walked : Jer 10:8, Jer 1...

TSK: Jer 2:6 - -- Where : Jer 2:8, Jer 5:2; Jdg 6:13; 2Ki 2:14; Job 35:10; Psa 77:5; Isa 64:7
brought us up : Exod. 14:1-15:27; Isa 63:9, Isa 63:11-13; Hos 12:13, Hos 1...

TSK: Jer 2:7 - -- brought : Num 13:27, Num 14:7, Num 14:8; Deu 6:10,Deu 6:11, Deu 6:18, Deu 8:7-9, Deu 11:11, Deu 11:12; Neh 9:25; Eze 20:6
a plentiful country : or, th...
brought : Num 13:27, Num 14:7, Num 14:8; Deu 6:10,Deu 6:11, Deu 6:18, Deu 8:7-9, Deu 11:11, Deu 11:12; Neh 9:25; Eze 20:6
a plentiful country : or, the land of Carmel
ye defiled : Jer 3:1, Jer 3:9, Jer 16:18; Lev 18:24-28; Num 35:33, Num 35:34; Deu 21:23; Psa 78:58, Psa 78:59; Psa 106:38, Psa 106:39; Eze 36:17; Mic 2:10

TSK: Jer 2:8 - -- priests : Jer 2:6, Jer 5:31, Jer 8:10,Jer 8:11, Jer 23:9-15; 1Sa 2:12; Isa 28:7, Isa 29:10, Isa 56:9-12; Hos 4:6
and they that : Jer 8:8, Jer 8:9; Deu...
priests : Jer 2:6, Jer 5:31, Jer 8:10,Jer 8:11, Jer 23:9-15; 1Sa 2:12; Isa 28:7, Isa 29:10, Isa 56:9-12; Hos 4:6
and they that : Jer 8:8, Jer 8:9; Deu 33:10; Mal 2:6-9; Luk 11:52; Joh 8:55, Joh 16:3; Rom 2:17-24; 2Co 4:2
the pastors : Jer 10:21, Jer 12:10, Jer 23:1, Jer 23:2
prophets : Jer 23:13; 1Ki 18:29, 1Ki 18:22, 1Ki 18:40
do not : Jer 2:11, Jer 7:8; 1Sa 12:21; Isa 30:5; Hab 2:18; Mat 16:26

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes: Jer 2:6 - -- Modern researches have shown that this description applies only to limited portions of the route of the Israelites through the Sinaitic peninsula.
Modern researches have shown that this description applies only to limited portions of the route of the Israelites through the Sinaitic peninsula.

Barnes: Jer 2:7 - -- A plentiful country - literally, "a land of the Carmel,"a Carmel land (see 1Ki 18:19, note; Isa 29:17, note).

Barnes: Jer 2:8 - -- The guilt of this idolatry is ascribed to the four ruling classes: (a) The accusation brought against the priests is indifference. (b) "They that ha...
The guilt of this idolatry is ascribed to the four ruling classes:
(a) The accusation brought against the priests is indifference.
(b) "They that handle the law"belonged also to the priestly class Deu 33:10. Their offence was that "they knew not God."Compare Mic 3:11.
© The third class are "the pastors"or shepherds, that is the temporal rulers. Their crime is disobedience.
(d) The fourth class are "the prophets."It was their business to press the moral and spiritual truths of the law home to the hearts of the people: but they drew their inspiration from Baal, the Sun-god. Upon the corruption of the prophetic order at this time, see the Jer 14:13 note.
Things that do not profit - Here idols, which are not merely unreal, but injurious. See 1Sa 12:21; Isa 44:9.
Poole: Jer 2:4 - -- Hear ye the word of the Lord: he bespeaks their attention to what he is about to speak, as unto the word of the Lord, telling them that he deliver...
Hear ye the word of the Lord: he bespeaks their attention to what he is about to speak, as unto the word of the Lord, telling them that he deliver’ s God’ s message, and vents not his own passions: the like Isa 1:10 , and elsewhere frequently, both in the Old and New Testament, as 1Co 11:23 1Th 4:15 .
Jacob , i.e. his posterity; Jacob and Israel here being the same, as it is Isa 43:1 . The families, viz. tribes, Jer 31:1 .

Poole: Jer 2:5 - -- God having, as it were on his own behalf, shown how kind he had been, calls upon them to speak now, if they knew any thing of injury, either in brea...
God having, as it were on his own behalf, shown how kind he had been, calls upon them to speak now, if they knew any thing of injury, either in breach of covenant or severity, that they can charge him with, that they have thus apostatized. See Poole "Isa 1:18" ; See Poole "Isa 5:3" : compare Mic 6:2-4 . By this manner of speech his proceeding appears the more justifiable; he both makes their conviction the clearer, and the reproof the sharper.
Walked after vanity viz. idols, showing their folly in going from God to such vain things as idols are, Deu 32:21 1Sa 12:20,21 ; and see on Isa 41:29 ; the abstract for the concrete, Ecc 1:2 .
Become vain , viz. in following their imaginations; fools,
Rom 1:21,22 , as senseless as the stocks and stones that they made their idols of, Psa 115:8 ; and herein they are said to go far from God, and choose their delusions, Jon 2:8 .

Poole: Jer 2:6 - -- Neither said i.e. with themselves, thought not.
Brought us up: the expression may have some respect to the situation of the place, as lying lower t...
Neither said i.e. with themselves, thought not.
Brought us up: the expression may have some respect to the situation of the place, as lying lower than Canaan; but the design is to reprove their sloth and stupidity, charging herein their apostacy, not upon their ignorance, but wilfulness; their deliverance from Egypt, and therefore is it here mentioned, being such a deliverance as never greater was wrought for any people, wherein there was so much of his power and love seen; they never regarded the operations of his hands, never concerned themselves about what God had done for them, Jer 2:8 , which should have engaged them to a more close cleaving to him.
Through a land of deserts desolate places, Jer 1:13 ; and then what follows is to amplify the greatness of their dangers in the wilderness, and therein the greatness of their deliverance. And of pits ; either those natural dangerous pits that were there; or put for the grave, where passengers are so often buried quick in the heaps of sand suddenly blown up by the wind; or threatening in every respect nothing but death, which may be implied in that expression of the
shadow of death in this verse, which may allude to several kinds or fears of death in passing through a wilderness. See in the Synopsis.
A land of drought where they had no water but by miracle; the LXX. render it a land without water. The shadow of death: see on the word pits: the LXX. render it a land without fruit, bringing forth nothing that might have a tendency to the support of life, therefore nothing but death could be expected; and besides, it yielding so many venomous creatures, as scorpions, and serpents, &c., as also the many enemies that they went in continual danger of; all which could not but look formidable, and as the
shadow of death. That no man passed through, and where no man dwelt as having in it no accommodation for travel, much less for habitation. In these respects may it well be called a waste howling wilderness, Deu 32:10 .

Poole: Jer 2:7 - -- Plentiful country Heb.
land of Carmel Isa 29:17 ; understand Canaan, Num 13:27 : See Poole "Isa 35:2" .
To eat the fruit thereof and the goodness ...
Plentiful country Heb.
land of Carmel Isa 29:17 ; understand Canaan, Num 13:27 : See Poole "Isa 35:2" .
To eat the fruit thereof and the goodness to enjoy all the blessing of it.
My land i.e. consecrated to my name, Lev 25:23 ; and this you have defiled by going a whoring after your idols, Jer 3:1 , and many other abominations, Psa 106:29,35,37-39 .
Mine heritage in the same sense that it is said in the foregoing clause my land, and which you received from me as your heritage, the place that I chose for my church’ s present habitation, and earnest of their future heavenly one.

Poole: Jer 2:8 - -- They that handle the law knew me not: q.d. They that should have taught others knew as little as they, or regarded as little to know, Hos 4:6 , who a...
They that handle the law knew me not: q.d. They that should have taught others knew as little as they, or regarded as little to know, Hos 4:6 , who are said here to handle or teach the law, viz. the priests and Levites, who Were the ordinary teachers of the law; not that they did so, but that either they ought to do so, or pretended to do so. This was their office, Deu 33:10 , and their practice, Neh 8:8 . The phrase is a metaphor taken from warriors, that are said tractare bellum , to handle their arms.
The pastors either teachers, as instructors; or kings and princes, as conductors. See 1Ki 22:17 .
The prophets prophesied by Baal they that should have taught the people the true worship of God were themselves worshippers of Baal, 1Ki 18:22 . Or, instead of fetching their oracles from me, saying,
Thus saith the Lord they would say, Thus saith Baal; or they did make use of lesser deities (for so doth Baal or Baalim signify) in conjunction with God, persuading themselves they could honour God together with them, as the calves, 1Ki 12:28 .
Things that do not profit viz. idols, a periphrasis, that were never able to do them any service, as Jer 2:5,11 . See Poole "Isa 44:10" . Sure the state must be very bad, when priests, prophets, and people were thus corrupt.
Vanity; idols, whom he will not mention, to spare their shame. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jer 2:7 - -- Carmel. That is, a fruitful, plentiful land. (Challoner) (Worthington) ---
All Palestine is thus designated. (Menochius)
Carmel. That is, a fruitful, plentiful land. (Challoner) (Worthington) ---
All Palestine is thus designated. (Menochius)

Haydock: Jer 2:8 - -- Priests were silent, or abandoned themselves. ---
Pastors; "princes." (Chaldean) Manasses, Amon, &c. ---
In Baal, promoting his worship. (Hayd...
Priests were silent, or abandoned themselves. ---
Pastors; "princes." (Chaldean) Manasses, Amon, &c. ---
In Baal, promoting his worship. (Haydock) ---
The land was full of false prophets, and none stood up for the Lord.
Gill: Jer 2:4 - -- Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. The Lord, by the prophet, having observed his great kindn...
Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. The Lord, by the prophet, having observed his great kindness to this people, what they were unto him, and what a regard he had for them, proceeds to upbraid them with their ingratitude, and requires an attention to what he was about to say; all are called upon, because, all were guilty. This respects the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the several families in them. The ten tribes had been long carried captive.

Gill: Jer 2:5 - -- Thus saith the Lord, what iniquity have your fathers found in me,.... What injustice or injury has been done them? there is no unrighteousness in God,...
Thus saith the Lord, what iniquity have your fathers found in me,.... What injustice or injury has been done them? there is no unrighteousness in God, nor can any be done by him; or what unfaithfulness, or want of truth and integrity in performing promises, had they found in him? he never suffers his faithfulness to fail, or any of the good things he has promised. So the Targum,
"what falsehood have your fathers found in my word?''
none at all; God is a covenant keeping God:
that they are gone far from me; from my fear, as the Chaldee paraphrase; from the word and worship, and ways of God:
and have walked after vanity; after idols, the vanities of the Gentiles, Jer 14:22,
and are become vain? in their imaginations and in their actions, in their knowledge and in their practice, worshipping idols, as well as guilty of many other sins.

Gill: Jer 2:6 - -- Neither said they, where is the Lord?.... They did not ask after him, nor seek his face and favour, nor worship him, nor took any notice of the blessi...
Neither said they, where is the Lord?.... They did not ask after him, nor seek his face and favour, nor worship him, nor took any notice of the blessings he bestowed upon them:
that brought us up out of the land of Egypt? by means of Moses the deliverer, with a mighty hand, and outstretched arm; for, though Moses was the instrument, God was the efficient cause of the deliverance; the favour was his, and the glory of it ought to have been given to him:
that led us through the wilderness; of "Shur", or of "Sin", the desert of Arabia, Exo 15:22 and a dreadful and terrible one it was:
through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death; where were scorpions, fiery serpents, drought, and no water, and so very dangerous as well as uncomfortable travelling; and yet through all this they were led, and wonderfully supplied and preserved;
through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt; there was no passenger in it, nor inhabitants on it, so that there were none to relieve them; whence it appears, that all their supply, support, and preservation, were from the Lord. The Jews y interpret this of the first man Adam, after this manner,
"all land, concerning which the first man decreed that it should be inhabited, it is inhabited; and all land, concerning which he did not decree it should be inhabited, it is not inhabited; and such they suggest was this wilderness;''
see Deu 8:15.

Gill: Jer 2:7 - -- And I brought you into a plentiful country,.... "Into the land of Carmel", as in the Hebrew text; that is,
"into the land of Israel, which was plan...
And I brought you into a plentiful country,.... "Into the land of Carmel", as in the Hebrew text; that is,
"into the land of Israel, which was planted as Carmel,''
as the Targum paraphrases it; with wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olives; a land flowing with milk and honey, Deu 8:8, so Ben Melech:
to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; of vineyards and oliveyards, which they had not planted, and for which they had never laboured, Jos 24:13,
but when ye entered ye defiled my land; which the Lord had chosen above all lands, where he would have a temple built for his worship, and where he would cause his Shechinah or glorious Majesty to dwell; but this they defiled by their sins and transgressions, and particularly by their idolatry, as follows:
that made mine heritage an abomination; by devoting it to the worship of idols, as the Targum paraphrases it.

Gill: Jer 2:8 - -- The priests said not, where is the Lord?.... Whose business it was to draw nigh to God, and offer the sacrifices of the people, and inquire of God for...
The priests said not, where is the Lord?.... Whose business it was to draw nigh to God, and offer the sacrifices of the people, and inquire of God for them; whose lips should keep knowledge, and at whose mouth the law should be sought, they being the messengers of the Lord of hosts, Mal 2:7,
and they that handle the law knew me not; the sanhedrim, according to Jarchi; or the lawyers and scribes, the Rabbins and doctors of the law, whose business it was to read and explain it; these did not understand it, nor the mind of God in it; and much less did they know him in a spiritual and evangelical manner; or as he is in Christ, and revealed in the Gospel:
the pastors also transgressed against me; kings, as the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi interpret it, who were pastors or shepherds in a civil sense; whose business it was to feed the people as the shepherd does his flock; that is, to guide and govern them by wholesome laws, by the laws of God; but, instead of this, they rebelled against the Lord, and transgressed his commands:
and the prophets prophesied by Baal; in his name; pretending to be inspired by that idol, and to receive the spirit of prophecy from him:
and walked after things that do not profit; the gods of the Gentiles, which could not supply them with the least temporal blessing, and much less give them spiritual and eternal ones; see Jer 14:22. This is to be understood of false prophets, as Ben Melech.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jer 2:5 The words “to me” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context: Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things ...

NET Notes: Jer 2:6 The context suggests that the question is related to a lament where the people turn to God in their troubles, asking him for help and reminding him of...

NET Notes: Jer 2:7 The land belonged to the Lord; it was given to the Israelites in trust (or usufruct) as their heritage. See Lev 25:23.

NET Notes: Jer 2:8 Heb “and they followed after those things [the word is plural] which do not profit.” The poetic structure of the verse, four lines in whic...
Geneva Bible: Jer 2:5 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they have gone ( e ) far from me, and have walked after vanity, and have become...

Geneva Bible: Jer 2:6 Neither said they, Where [is] the LORD that brought us out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of ...

Geneva Bible: Jer 2:7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit of it and the goodness of it but when ye entered, ye defiled ( h ) my land, and made my h...

Geneva Bible: Jer 2:8 The priests said not, ( i ) Where [is] the LORD? and they that handle the ( k ) law knew me not: the ( l ) rulers also transgressed against me, and th...

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Jer 2:1-37
TSK Synopsis: Jer 2:1-37 - --1 God having shewed his former kindness, expostulates with the Jews on their causeless and unexampled revolt.14 They are the causes of their own calam...
MHCC -> Jer 2:1-8
MHCC: Jer 2:1-8 - --Those who begin well, but do not persevere, will justly be upbraided with their hopeful and promising beginnings. Those who desert religion, commonly ...
Matthew Henry -> Jer 2:1-8
Matthew Henry: Jer 2:1-8 - -- Here is, I. A command given to Jeremiah to go and carry a message from God to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He was charged in general (Jer 1:17) to ...
Keil-Delitzsch -> Jer 2:4-8
Keil-Delitzsch: Jer 2:4-8 - --
But Israel did not remain true to its first love; it has forgotten the benefits and blessings of its God, and has fallen away from Him in rebellion....
Constable: Jer 2:1--45:5 - --II. Prophecies about Judah chs. 2--45
The first series of prophetic announcements, reflections, and incidents th...

Constable: Jer 2:1--25:38 - --A. Warnings of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem chs. 2-25
Chapters 2-25 contain warnings and appeals to t...

Constable: Jer 2:1--6:30 - --1. Warnings of coming punishment because of Judah's guilt chs. 2-6
Most of the material in this ...

Constable: Jer 2:1-37 - --Yahweh's indictment of His people for their sins ch. 2
"The whole chapter has strong rem...
