Jeremiah 2:20-31

The Lord Expresses His Exasperation at Judah’s Persistent Idolatry

2:20 “Indeed, ¹  long ago you threw off my authority

and refused to be subject to me. ² 

You said, ‘I will not serve you.’ ³ 

Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill

and under every green tree,

like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers. ⁴ 

2:21 I planted you in the land

like a special vine of the very best stock.

Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine

that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes? ⁵ 

2:22 You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent.

You can use as much soap as you want.

But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,” ⁶ 

says the Lord God. ⁷ 

2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.

I have not paid allegiance to ⁸  the gods called Baal.’

Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! ⁹ 

Think about the things you have done there!

You are like a flighty, young female camel

that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path. ¹⁰ 

2:24 You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.

In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male. ¹¹ 

No one can hold her back when she is in heat.

None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.

At mating time she is easy to find. ¹² 

2:25 Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out

and your throats become dry. ¹³ 

But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me

because I love those foreign gods ¹⁴  and want to pursue them!’

2:26 Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught,

so the people of Israel ¹⁵  will suffer dishonor for what they have done. ¹⁶ 

So will their kings and officials,

their priests and their prophets.

2:27 They say to a wooden idol, ¹⁷  ‘You are my father.’

They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’ ¹⁸ 

Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. ¹⁹ 

Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’

2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them save you when you are in trouble.

The sad fact is that ²⁰  you have as many gods

as you have towns, Judah.

2:29 “Why do you try to refute me? ²¹ 

All of you have rebelled against me,”

says the Lord.

2:30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.

They did not respond to such correction.

You slaughtered your prophets

like a voracious lion.” ²² 

2:31 You people of this generation,

listen to what the Lord says.

“Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel?

Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you? ²³ 

Why then do you ²⁴  say, ‘We are free to wander. ²⁵ 

We will not come to you any more?’

[2:20]  ¹ tn Or “For.” The Hebrew particle (כִּי, ki) here introduces the evidence that they had no respect for him.

[2:20]  ² tn Heb “you broke your yoke…tore off your yoke ropes.” The metaphor is that of a recalcitrant ox or heifer which has broken free from its master.

[2:20]  ³ tc The MT of this verse has two examples of the old second feminine singular perfect, שָׁבַרְתִּי (shavarti) and נִתַּקְתִּי (nittaqti), which the Masoretes mistook for first singulars leading to the proposal to read אֶעֱבוֹר (’e’evor, “I will not transgress”) for אֶעֱבֹד (’e’evod, “I will not serve”). The latter understanding of the forms is accepted in KJV but rejected by almost all modern English versions as being less appropriate to the context than the reading accepted in the translation given here.

[2:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “you sprawled as a prostitute on….” The translation reflects the meaning of the metaphor.

[2:21]  ⁵ tc Heb “I planted you as a choice vine, all of it true seed. How then have you turned into a putrid thing to me, a strange [or wild] vine.” The question expresses surprise and consternation. The translation is based on a redivision of the Hebrew words סוּרֵי הַגֶּפֶן (sure haggefen) into סוֹרִיָּה גֶּפֶן (soriyyah gefen) and the recognition of a hapax legomenon סוֹרִיָּה (soriyyah) meaning “putrid, stinking thing.” See HALOT 707 s.v. סוֹרִי.

[2:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “Even if you wash with natron/lye, and use much soap, your sin is a stain before me.”

[2:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” For an explanation of this title see the study notes on 1:6.

[2:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “I have not gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for the meaning and usage of this idiom.

[2:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “Look at your way in the valley.” The valley is an obvious reference to the Valley of Hinnom where Baal and Molech were worshiped and child sacrifice was practiced.

[2:23]  ¹⁰ sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s lack of clear direction and purpose without the Lord’s control.

[2:24]  ¹¹ tn The words “to get the scent of a male” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:24]  ¹² sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s irrepressible desire to worship other gods.

[2:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “Refrain your feet from being bare and your throat from being dry/thirsty.”

[2:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “It is useless! No!” For this idiom, see Jer 18:12; NEB “No; I am desperate.”

[2:26]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

[2:26]  ¹⁶ tn The words “for what they have done” are implicit in the comparison and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “wood…stone…”

[2:27]  ¹⁸ sn The reference to wood and stone is, of course, a pejorative reference to idols made by human hands. See the next verse where reference is made to “the gods you have made.”

[2:27]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they have turned [their] backs to me, not [their] faces.”

[2:28]  ²⁰ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki, “for, indeed”) contextually.

[2:29]  ²¹ sn This is still part of the Lord’s case against Israel. See 2:9 for the use of the same Hebrew verb. The Lord here denies their counter claims that they do not deserve to be punished.

[2:30]  ²² tn Heb “Your sword devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.” However, the reference to the sword in this and many similar idioms is merely idiomatic for death by violent means.

[2:31]  ²³ tn Heb “a land of the darkness of Yah [= thick or deep darkness].” The idea of danger is an added connotation of the word in this context.

[2:31]  ²⁴ tn Heb “my people.”

[2:31]  ²⁵ tn Or more freely, “free to do as we please.” There is some debate about the meaning of this verb (רוּד, rud) because its usage is rare and its meaning is debated in the few passages where it does occur. The key to its meaning may rest in the emended text (reading וְרַדְתִּי [vÿradti] for וְיָרַדְתִּי [vÿyaradti]) in Judg 11:37 where it refers to the roaming of Jephthah’s daughter on the mountains of Israel.