Jeremiah 2:17-18

2:17 You have brought all this on yourself, Israel, ¹ 

by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path. ² 

2:18 What good will it do you ³  then ⁴  to go down to Egypt

to seek help from the Egyptians? ⁵ 

What good will it do you ⁶  to go over to Assyria

to seek help from the Assyrians? ⁷ 

[2:17]  ¹ tn Heb “Are you not bringing this on yourself.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[2:17]  ² tn Heb “at the time of leading you in the way.”

[2:18]  ³ tn Heb “What to you to the way.”

[2:18]  ⁴ tn The introductory particle וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah, “and now”) carries a logical, not temporal, connotation here (cf. BDB 274 s.v. עַתָּה 2.b).

[2:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “to drink water from the Shihor [a branch of the Nile].” The reference is to seeking help through political alliance with Egypt as opposed to trusting in God for help. This is an extension of the figure in 2:13.

[2:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “What to you to the way.”

[2:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “to drink water from the River [a common designation in biblical Hebrew for the Euphrates River].” This refers to seeking help through political alliance. See the preceding note.