Jeremiah 2:2

2:2 “Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: ¹  ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have fond memories of you, ²  how devoted you were to me in your early years. ³  I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

Jeremiah 3:1

3:1 “If a man divorces his wife

and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,

he may not take her back again. ⁴ 

Doing that would utterly defile the land. ⁵ 

But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. ⁶ 

So what makes you think you can return to me?” ⁷ 

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:32

31:32 It will not be like the old ⁸  covenant that I made with their ancestors ⁹  when I delivered them ¹⁰  from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” ¹¹  says the Lord. ¹² 

Ezekiel 16:18

16:18 You took your embroidered clothing and used it to cover them; you offered my olive oil and my incense to them.

Ezekiel 23:4

23:4 Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah ¹³  the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. ¹⁴  Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

¹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

² tn Heb “I remember to/for you.”

³ tn Heb “the loyal love of your youth.”

⁴ tn Heb “May he go back to her again?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

⁵ tn Heb “Would the land not be utterly defiled?” The stative is here rendered actively to connect better with the preceding. The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

⁶ tn Heb “But you have played the prostitute with many lovers.”

⁷ tn Heb “Returning to me.” The form is the bare infinitive which the KJV and ASV have interpreted as an imperative “Yet, return to me!” However, it is more likely that a question is intended, expressing surprise in the light of the law alluded to and the facts cited. For the use of the infinitive absolute in the place of a finite verb, cf. GKC 346 §113.ee. For the introduction of a question without a question marker, cf. GKC 473 §150.a.

⁸ tn The word “old” is not in the text but is implicit in the use of the word “new.” It is supplied in the translation for greater clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “fathers.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “when I took them by the hand and led them out.”

¹¹ tn Or “I was their master.” See the study note on 3:14.

¹² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

¹³ tn The names Oholah and Oholibah are both derived from the word meaning “tent.” The meaning of Oholah is “her tent,” while Oholibah means “my tent is in her.”

¹⁴ sn In this allegory the Lord is depicted as being the husband of two wives. The OT law prohibited a man from marrying sisters (Lev 18:18), but the practice is attested in the OT (cf. Jacob). The metaphor is utilized here for illustrative purposes and does not mean that the Lord condoned such a practice or bigamy in general.