Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 2:4
Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
4. all the families of the house of Israel ] addressed not to the ten tribes only, but to the nation as a whole.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Jer 2:4-8
What iniquity have your fathers found in Me.
The evil nature of sin committed after conversion
I. Violation of solemn vows and covenant engagements. At that time we took Christs cause for our cause, His people for ours, His will for our law, His glory for our end, and Himself for our portion. Did we love Him too well then?
II. Without any provocation whatever on Gods part.
1. Was He wanting in forbearance when we were in rebellion?
2. Did He act unfeelingly when we were ruined, in that He gave His own Son to die for us?
3. Has He been a hard master since we entered His service?
4. Has He ever been a churlish father to us?
5. When we have returned to Him with our whole heart, has He not always been ready to receive us, and bury all in forgetfulness? (Dan 9:7.)
III. Peculiar and horrible ingratitude.
1. He has given, not Egypt or Ethiopia for our ransom, but His own blood.
2. He has redeemed us, not from Egyptian thraldom, but from the Power of darkness, etc.
3. We never were supported by miracles in lonesome deserts of Arabia, but having obtained help of God, we continue.
4. We did not possess Canaan, but God hath provided some better thing for us.
IV. Extreme and singular folly.
1. It is a foolish exchange–of liberty for drudgery, peace for remorse, joyfulness for anguish, abundance for penury and misery.
2. It is singular folly. The people of the only true God alone prove untrue! (Andrew Fuller.)
Heavens appeal to the sinner
1. The sinner is divinely described.
1. Sin is departure from God. Alienation of sympathy and soul.
2. Sin is a progress of vanity. A going from the real to the unreal.
(1) The pleasures he seeks are unsatisfactory; all empty, and outside him.
(2) The honours he aspires to are unreal; neither enrich nor ennoble the soul.
II. The sinner is divinely challenged.
1. If iniquity were found in God, there would be some justification for apostasy.
2. The discovery of such iniquity is an absolute impossibility. (Homilist.)
Gods mercies should evoke gratitude
Selim, a poor Turk, had been brought up from his youth with care and kindness by his master, Mustapha. When the latter lay at the point of death Selim was tempted by his fellow servants to join them in stealing a part of Mustaphas treasures. No, said he, Selim is no robber! I fear not to offend my master for the evil he can do me now, but for the good he has done me all my life long. May not many Christians learn a lesson from Selim?
Neither said they, Where is the Lord, that brought us up?—
Three shameful possibilities in human life
I. The possibility of dishonouring the great memories of life. Neither said they, Where is the Lord? etc. The dark night was forgotten, and Israel did not know who had lifted upon it the brightness and hope of morning.
1. The great memories of life are dishonoured–
(1) When the vividness of their recollection fades.
(2) When their moral purpose is over looked or misunderstood.
(3) When their strengthening and stimulating function is suspended.
2. What would human life be without its hallowed memories? Man must have facts as well as hopes,–something to which he can go back with confidence; back to some place where he met God. There is, however, a possibility of forgetting sacred scenes, and of cheating the soul of reminiscences which ought be a perpetual inspiration. Let each man find the proofs in his own history: Sickness, poverty, danger, etc.
II. The possibility of underestimating the interpositions of God.
1. Look at the case in the text,–through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt. Viewed prospectively, men shrink from such difficulties; viewed retrospectively, a good many of the terrors are forgotten. Granted that we have not the same outward difficulties, will any man deny that his moral pilgrimage is beset by many perils, and that the grave is constantly open at his feet? Not only was the dark side of history forgotten, but the bright side was overlooked. I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof. What was the result? Did they erect the altar, and bow in long-continued prayer, and unite in the loud, sweet psalm of thankfulness? Ye defiled My land, and made Mine heritage an abomination.
2. If we try our own lives by these historical disclosures, shall we shame Israel by our purity and love? Remember the Deliverer! Remember the Giver!
III. The possibility of the leading minds of the Church being darkened and perverted (Jer 2:8). The priests, the pastors, and the prophets, all out of the way!
1. In all ages there have, of necessity, been foremost men; men whose capacity, culture, and Divine election have entitled them to leadership; men whom God Himself has acknowledged as the guides of the people. How easy it is for such men to succumb in periods of general corruption is too evident from universal history. What then?
(1) Such men should watch themselves with constant jealousy.
(2) Such men should never be forgotten by those who pray.
2. The most affecting of all subjects to contemplate is,–God grieved, God complaining! Would He complain without reason? Would He startle the universe for some trifling cause? It is as the cry of one whose heart is breaking; His great deliverances have been forgotten; His heritage has been defiled; His power has been despised, and His mercy been treated as an empty sentiment; what if the throb of His great sorrow should send a shudder of distress through the heavens and the earth! Look at Calvary for the full expression of all this Divine emotion. Seeing that such pain was inflicted by sin, let us avoid it as the abominable thing which God hates. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The priests said not, Where is the Lord?. . .the rulers also transgressed . . . and the prophets, etc.
The three ruling classes accused
1. The priests, part of whose duty was to handle the law, i.e., explain the Torah, to instruct the people in the requirements of Jehovah, by oral tradition and out of the sacred law books, gave no sign of spiritual aspiration; like the reprobate sons of Eli, they knew not Jehovah, that is to say, paid no heed to Him and His will as revealed in the book of the law.
2. The secular authorities, the king and his counsellors, not only sinned thus negatively, but positively revolted against the King of kings, and resisted His will.
3. The prophets went further yet in the path of guilt, apostatising altogether from the God of Israel, and seeking inspiration from the Phoenician Baal, and following worthless idols that could give no help. (C. J. Ball, M. A.)
The corruption and ignorance of the priests and prophets
Two centuries ago the religious state of the English-speaking world was bad, and was rapidly becoming worse. Infidelity was fast spreading among the people, and, consequently, there was an open and professed disregard of religion and morals. The secret of this sad state was simple. The clergy, though their lives in general might not be scandalous, were, as a rule, ignorant of all spiritual truth, and in too many cases even devoid of a sound intellectual apprehension of scriptural teaching. As Cowper, referring to those clergy, tersely put it–
Except a few with Elis spirit blest,
Hophni and Phinehas may describe the rest.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
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 delivers Gods 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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. Jacob . . . Israelthewhole nation.
families(See on Jer1:15). Hear God’s word not only collectively, but individually(Zec 12:12-14).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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.
Jer 2:4-5 “Hear the word of Jahveh, house of Jacob, and all families of the house of Israel. Jer 2:5. Thus saith Jahveh, What have your fathers found in me of wrongfulness, that they are gone far from me, and have gone after vanity, and are become vain? Jer 2:6. And they said not, Where is Jahveh that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us in the wilderness, in the land of steppes and of pits, in the land of drought and of the shadow of death, in a land that no one passes through and where no man dwells? Jer 2:7. And I brought you into a land of fruitful fields, to eat its fruit and its goodness: and ye came and defiled my land, and my heritage ye have made an abomination. Jer 2:8. The priests said not, Where is Jahveh? and they that handled the law knew me not: the shepherds fell away from me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and after them that profit not are they gone.” The rebuke for ungrateful, faithless apostasy is directed against the whole people. The “house of Jacob” is the people of the twelve tribes, and the parallel member, “all families of the house of Israel,” is an elucidative apposition. The “fathers” in Jer 2:5 are the ancestors of the now living race onwards from the days of the Judges, when the generation arising after the death of Joshua and his contemporaries forsook the Lord and served the Baals (Jdg 2:10.). , perversity, wrongfulness, used also of a single wicked deed in Psa 7:4, the opposite to acting in truth and good faith. Jahveh is a God of faithfulness ( ); in Him is no iniquity ( ), Deu 32:4. The question, what have they found…? is answered in the negative by Jer 2:6. To remove far from me and follow after vanity, is tantamount to forsaking Jahveh and serving the false gods (Baals), Jdg 2:11. , lit., breath, thence emptiness, vanity, is applied so early as the song of Moses, Deu 32:21, to the false gods, as being nonentities. Here, however, the word means not the gods, but the worship of them, as being groundless and vain; bringing no return to him who devotes himself to it, but making him foolish and useless in thought and deed. By the apostle in Rom 1:21 is expressed by . Cf. 2Ki 17:15, where the second hemistich of our verse is applied to the ten tribes.
Jer 2:6 They said not, Where is Jahveh? i.e., they have no longer taken any thought of Jahveh; have not recalled His benefits, though they owed to Him all they had become and all they possessed. He has brought them out of Egypt, freed them from the house of bondage (Mic 6:4), and saved them from the oppression of the Pharaohs, meant to extirpate them (Exo 3:7.). He has led them through pathless and inhospitable deserts, miraculously furnished them with bread and water, and protected them from all dangers (Deu 8:15). To show the greatness of His benefits, the wilderness is described as parched unfruitful land, as a land of deadly terrors and dangers. , land of steppes or heaths, corresponds to the land unsown of Jer 2:2. “And of pits,” i.e., full of dangerous pits and chasms into which one may stumble unawares. Land of drought, where one may have to pine through thirst. And of the shadow of death: so Sheol is named in Job 10:21 as being a place of deep darkness; here, the wilderness, as a land of the terrors of death, which surround the traveller with darkness as of death: Isa 8:22; Isa 9:1; Job 16:16. A land through which no one passes, etc., i.e., which offers the traveller neither path nor shelter. Through his frightful desert God has brought His people in safety.
Jer 2:7-8 And He has done yet more. He has brought them into a fruitful and well-cultivated land. , fruitful fields, the opposite of wilderness, Jer 4:26; Isa 29:17. To eat up its fruit and its good; cf. the enumeration of the fruits and useful products of the land of Canaan, Deu 8:7-9. And this rich and splendid land the ungrateful people have defiled by their sins and vices (cf. Lev 18:24), and idolatry (cf. Eze 36:18); and the heritage of Jahveh they have thus made an abomination, an object of horror. The land of Canaan is called “my heritage,” the especial domain of Jahveh, inasmuch as, being the Lord of the earth, He is the possessor of the land and has given it to the Israelites for a possession, yet dwells in the midst of it as its real lord, Num. 25:34. – In Jer 2:8 the complaint briefly given in Jer 2:6 is expanded by an account of the conduct of the higher classes, those who gave its tone to the spirit of the people. The priests, whom God had chosen to be the ministers of His sanctuary, asked not after Him, i.e., sought neither Him nor His sanctuary. They who occupy themselves with the law, who administer the law: these too are the priests as teachers of the law (Mic 3:11), who should instruct the people as to the Lord’s claims on them and commandments (Lev 10:11; Deu 33:10). They knew not Jahveh, i.e., they took no note of Him, did not seek to discover what His will and just claims were, so as to instruct the people therein, and press them to keep the law. The shepherds are the civil authorities, princes and kings (cf. Jer 23:1.): those who by their lives set the example to the people, fell away from the Lord; and the prophets, who should have preached God’s word, prophesied , by Baal, i.e., inspired by Baal. Baal is here a generic name for all false gods; cf. Jer 23:13. , those who profit not, are the Baals as unreal gods; cf. Isa 44:9; 1Sa 12:21. The utterances as to the various ranks form a climax, as Hitz. rightly remarks. The ministers of public worship manifested no desire towards me; those learned in the law took no knowledge of me, of my will, of the contents of the book of the law; the civil powers went the length of rising up against my law; and the prophets fairly fell away to false gods, took inspiration from Baal, the incarnation of the lying spirit.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
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.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
B. Present Apostasy Jer. 2:4-8
TRANSLATION
(4) Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. (5) This is what the LORD has said: What fault did your fathers find in Me that they went far from Me and have walked after vain things and have themselves become vain? (6) They did not say, Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who guided us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought and deep darkness, a land which no man traverses and in which no human being dwells. (7) I brought you unto a Carmel-land to eat of her fruit and her goodness. But you came and polluted My land and My inheritance you made an abomination. (8) The priests did not say, Where is the LORD? They that handle the law do not know Me; the shepherds transgressed against Me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after the useless ones.
COMMENTS
Hear the word of the Lord is a characteristic introduction to a prophetic oracle, This formula occurs at least twenty-three times in Jeremiah with slight variation. Note that Jeremiah calls upon all families of the house of Israel to hear his message (Jer. 2:4). He apparently regarded Judah as the representative of the entire covenant nation. It may be that the prophet is also addressing the exiles of the northern kingdom as well as some Israelite families who were still left in Samaria. In pointing out the present apostasy of the people Jeremiah makes three points: the apostasy is (1) unjustified (Jer. 2:5); (2) ungrateful (Jer. 2:6-7) and (3) universal (Jer. 2:8).
1. Unjustified apostasy (Jer. 2:5)
In verse five God asks a question and that question implies an emphatic negative answer: What fault did your fathers find in Me? There is no reason or fault on Gods part which can account for the infidelity of the nation. Yet they have forsaken Him and gone after idols, vain things (lit., a breath, a vapor). With all of its pomp and pageantry idolatry in the eyes of Israels prophets was mere nothingness, utterly futile, useless and vain. Following after these vain deities, the men of Israel became vain.[131] The thought that men become like the object of their worship can be traced back to Hosea. Concerning the initial apostasy of the nation Hosea declares: They came to Baal-peer, and consecrated themselves unto the shameful thing (i.e., the idol) and became abominable like that which they loved (Hos. 9:10). A man is no better than the god that he worships.
[131] 2Ki. 17:15 uses the same wording as the present verse. Bright sees a word play here: They think that they are following habbaal. The Baal, but in reality they are following hahebel the wind, emptiness.
2. Ungrateful apostasy (Jer. 2:6-7)
Once the great apostasy set in, Israel seemed to forget about the God who had led them through the barren desert wastes. The word rendered wilderness in this verse may have the connotation pastureland or it may refer to a barren and inhospitable region. Several phrases are added to the word wilderness to paint a picture of the Sinaitic peninsula through which the Israelites had passed so many years before. It was a land of drought, deserts, and darkness. The word darkness in the Old Testament frequently connotes distress or extreme danger (cf. Psa. 23:4). A trackless desert can be every bit as bewildering as Stygian darkness. But God had brought Israel through that hostile land of pits, holes, rents and fissures in the soil to a beautiful land (Jer. 2:7). The Hebrew uses the word Carmel to describe this land. A Carmel-land is a land planted with vines and other choice plants.[132] Bright translates the phrase a land like a garden while Freedman renders it a land of fruitful fields. Yet the Israelites were still unappreciative. They took that holy land that God had consecrated to His own purposes and defiled it by their idolatry. With their pagan rites they made the holy land an abomination to God.
[132] Cf. Jer. 4:26; Isa. 29:17; Isa. 37:24.
3. Universal apostasy (Jer. 2:8)
The apostasy extended even to the political and spiritual leaders of the nation. Even the priests and those who handle, i.e., were skillful in, the law were guilty. One can know the Book but not really know the Lord of the Book! The shepherds[133] or rulers of the nation did not restrain the apostasy but in fact they too transgressed against the Lord. Many prophets began to walk after idol gods and prophesy by Baal. The reference is not to the band of the prophets which appears in 1 Samuel 10, 19 or to the sons of the prophets which appear in connection to Elijah and Elisha. The Scriptures no where link these early prophets to Baal worship. Rather the reference is to prophets like those in the court of Ahab who actually had gone over to the cult of Baal (1Ki. 18:19). Since Jeremiah himself was both a priest and a prophet it must have particularly grieved his heart to point out that apostasy had infected both orders. The entire nation had ceased to follow the Lord who brought them to Canaan and had begun to follow useless things, gods which had not done nor could do anything for them.
[133] The term shepherds in the Old Testament generally refers to civil, not spiritual, leaders. See Jer. 3:15; Jer. 10:21; Jer. 22:22; Jer. 25:34; Zec. 10:3; Zec. 11:5; Zec. 11:8; Zec. 11:16; Isa. 44:28.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
JEHOVAH’S FAITHFULNESS AND ISRAEL’S APOSTASY, Jer 2:4-13.
4. Hear O house of Jacob God’s reproof for their ungrateful and wicked apostasy is directed against the whole nation.
All the families of the house of Israel Though the kingdoms of Judah and Israel were separated and alienated from each other, they are joined in a direful unity of apostasy and ruin.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
YHWH Reminds Them Of Their Salvation History And Brings Out The Ingratitude Of Their Response ( Jer 2:4-8 ).
YHWH’s initial complaint is that in spite of all that He has done for them in delivering them from Egypt and guiding them through the wilderness to a pleasant and fruitful land, they have turned away from Him. They had once loved Him, but now it seemed that incomprehensibly they had forgotten Him, so that even His appointed priests, rulers and prophets had gone astray after idolatry.
Jer 2:4-5
“Hear you the word of YHWH, O house of Jacob,
And all the families of the house of Israel,
Thus says YHWH,
‘What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me,
That they are gone far from me,
And have walked after vanity,
And are become vain?’ ”
In this initial opening to the main message of the book Jeremiah calls on the whole of Israel (‘the house of Jacob, even all the families of the house of Israel’), to consider what He was now saying. This reminds us that neither God nor the prophets ever lost sight of Israel as a whole, and in truth the ‘people of Judah’ included many Israelites who had come to live among them, fleeing from the north as it had faced different invasions.
Furthermore Judah was now a multinational society, not only made up of many from all the tribes of Israel, but also from many from all nations, who had come to live among them and had been circumcised into the covenant. This had been so right from the very beginning, for initially the foreign servants of the households of the patriarchs had become a part of ‘Israel’ (Gen 17:11-13; Gen 17:23), and then the mixed multitude of Exo 12:43, had all come to be seen as ‘children of Abraham’, a situation sealed at Sinai. (The myth that all Jews are literally descended from Abraham is wishful thinking and totally inaccurate. Anyone could become a genuine Israelite by submitting to YHWH’s covenant and being circumcised. This would also be true when Jesus Christ as the true Vine (the true Israel) formed the new remnant of Israel, with whom Gentiles united by submitting to the new covenant and being circumcised in the circumcision of Christ through being united with Him in His crucifixion – Col 2:11).
So YHWH now challenged Israel by asking them to explain in what way He had failed them. They had initially been so eager to follow Him. What unrighteousness then had their fathers found in Him that they had gone so far from Him and had become caught up in vain and useless things? How had He failed them? Let them produce their defence. Let them explain their ways. Let them give an explanation as to why their love for Him had ceased? It appeared to be inexplicable. But the answer was really quite clear. It was because of the wickedness of their hearts.
This is a question that we must all face up to when our love for God and for our Lord Jesus Christ begins to grow dim. When we think of what He has done for us what positive reason can we have for not loving Him and following Him with all our hearts?
‘Have walked after vanity.’ ‘Vanity’ is literally ‘breath, puff of wind’, indicating emptiness and hollowness. The word is found as early as Deu 32:21, as indicating that false gods were mere nonentities. But here the idea is rather of the groundless worship of them which brings no return to their devotees, but instead makes them ‘vain’, that is, foolish and useless in thought and deed. They become like what they worship.
Jer 2:6
“Nor did they say,
‘Where is YHWH who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and of pits,
Through a land of drought and of the shadow of death,
Through a land which none passed through,
And where no man dwelt?’ ”
In pursuing false gods they had so far forgotten Him that they had failed to ask, ‘Where is YHWH who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness’ with all its problems and difficulties? He had done so much for them, but they had forgotten it. Here then was a reminder that it was YHWH, and YHWH alone, Who had delivered them from bondage in Egypt, and had seen them safely through the wilderness with all its difficulties and pitfalls. The description of the wilderness is vivid. It was a land of deserts and pits. It was a land of drought. It was a land where death lurked. It was a land which no one passed through. It was a land where no one dwelt. In the words of Deu 32:10 it was a ‘waste, howling wilderness’. And yet YHWH had brought the whole people safely through it all. How was it then that they had forgotten Him and had gone after other gods? This was YHWH’s complaint against the people of Jeremiah’s day. It is often His complaint concerning many of us today. When the good times come we virtually forget the One Who led us through the dark times.
Jer 2:7
“And I brought you into a plentiful land,
To eat its fruit and its goodness,
But when you entered, you defiled my land,
And made my heritage an abomination.
The list of complaints continues. He had brought Israel into a plentiful land, so that they were able to eat of its fruit and its goodness. And what had they done? Having entered the land they had defiled it by breaking the covenant and ignoring its requirements, by indulging in false religion, and by setting up false gods. Note that this had been done to ‘My land’ and ‘My heritage’, which they had from Him under sufferance, which was why He was now considering ejecting them. It had been a direct insult in the face of YHWH. And it had begun early on, almost as soon as they were settled in the land. ‘The children of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH, and served the Baalim. They forsook YHWH the God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, the gods of the peoples round about them, and bowed themselves down to them, and provoked YHWH to anger’ (Jdg 2:11-12). And the people in Jeremiah’s day were no different.
Jer 2:8
“The priests did not say, Where is YHWH?
And those who handle the law did not know me,
The rulers also transgressed against me,
And the prophets prophesied by Baal,
And walked after things which do not profit.”
Even the priests, rulers and prophets, those who should have known better, had failed Him. The Priests, who were supposed to be ‘handlers of the Law’ (Deu 33:10), ensuring commitment to the covenant, had not sought YHWH by genuinely seeking His face, and they had failed to acknowledge (‘know’) Him by true worship and by responding to His known will through the covenant. We can compare how some of Jesus’ strongest opponents were those who claimed to be experts in the Law. The Rulers (literally ‘the shepherds’, compare Psa 78:70-71; 1Ki 22:17), who were appointed to prevent transgressions of the Law, had themselves been transgressors against Him. (It is evident from inscriptions that many great rulers depicted themselves as shepherds of their people). The Prophets, who should have prophesied in the Name of YHWH, were instead doing it ‘by Baal’. And they were all following after things which were of no value to His people and did not benefit them. This then was the catalogue of Judah’s awful failure.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Subsection 1. YHWH’s Complaint Against His People ( Jer 2:4 to Jer 3:5 ).
YHWH commences by presenting His complaint against Israel/Judah. This was because, having responded avidly to the love and faithfulness that He had demonstrated to them in the arid wilderness, where they had earnestly sought Him, they had afterwards, once He had brought them into a fruitful land, turned against Him (Jer 2:4-8). He then continues by expressing bafflement and horror at the way that they have rejected Him as the well-spring of living water, preferring broken waterless cisterns which can hold no water, and have become a degenerate vine, incapable of being cleansed. This was in consequence of their having followed the pathway of idolatry, rejecting His prophets and cosying up to foreign nations, something which He points out could only result in their own destruction (Jer 2:9-37). And He finishes by pointing out that that is why they have had no rain and calls on them to repent and look to Him, with the assurance that if they do He will receive them (Jer 3:1-5).
This is not necessarily to be seen as one address, but as covering the main elements of Jeremiah’s teaching during the reigns of Josiah and Jehoiakim. That the latter’s reign is included is suggested by the apparent references to Josiah’s death and Judah’s subjection to Egypt.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
SECTION 1. An Overall Description Of Jeremiah’s Teaching Given In A Series Of Accumulated, Mainly Undated, Prophecies, Concluding With Jeremiah’s Own Summary Of His Ministry ( Jer 2:4 to Jer 25:38 ).
From this point onwards up to chapter 25 we have a new major section (a section in which MT and LXX are mainly similar) which records the overall teaching of Jeremiah, probably given mainly during the reigns of Josiah (Jer 3:6) and Jehoiakim, although leading up to the days of Zedekiah (Jer 21:1). While there are good reasons for not seeing these chapters as containing a series of specific discourses as some have suggested, nevertheless they can safely be seen as giving a general overall view of Jeremiah’s teaching over that period, and as having on the whole been put together earlier rather than later. The whole commences with the statement, ‘Hear you the word of YHWH O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel, thus says YHWH —.’ It is therefore directed to Israel as a whole, mainly as now contained in the land of Judah to which many northerners had fled for refuge. We may divide up the main subsections as follows, based partly on content, and partly on the opening introductory phrases:
1. ‘Hear you the word of YHWH, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel —’ (Jer 2:4). YHWH commences by presenting His complaint against Israel/Judah because they have failed to continue to respond to the love and faithfulness that He had demonstrated to them in the wilderness and in the years that followed, resulting by their fervent addiction to idolatry in their losing the water of life in exchange for empty cisterns. It ends with a plea for them to turn back to Him like an unfaithful wife returning to her husband. This would appear to be mainly his initial teaching in his earliest days, indicating even at that stage how far, in spite of Josiah’s reformation, the people as a whole were from truly obeying the covenant, but it also appears to contain teaching given in the days of Jehoiakim, for which see commentary (Jer 2:4 to Jer 3:5).
2. ‘Moreover YHWH said to me in the days of King Josiah –’ (Jer 3:6). This section follows up on section 1 with later teaching given in the days of Josiah, and some apparently in the days of Jehoiakim. He gives a solemn warning to Judah based on what had happened to the northern tribes (‘the ten tribes’) as a result of their behaviour towards YHWH, facing Judah up to the certainty of similar coming judgment if they do not amend their ways, a judgment that would come in the form of a ravaged land and exile for its people. This is, however, intermingled with a promise of final blessing and further pleas for them to return to YHWH, for that in the end is YHWH’s overall purpose. But the subsection at this time ends under a threat of soon coming judgment (Jer 3:6 to Jer 6:30).
3. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 7:1). In this subsection Jeremiah admonishes the people about the false confidence that they have in the inviolability of the Temple, and in their sacrificial ritual, and warned that like Shiloh they could be destroyed. He accompanies his words with warnings that if they continued in their present disobedience, Judah would be dispersed and the country would be despoiled (Jer 7:1 to Jer 8:3). He therefore chides the people for their obstinacy in the face of all attempts at reformation (Jer 8:4 to Jer 9:21), and seeks to demonstrate to them what the path of true wisdom is, that they understand and know YHWH in His covenant love, justice and righteousness. In a fourfold comparison he then vividly brings out the folly of idolatry when contrasted with the greatness of YHWH. The section ends with the people knowing that they must be chastised, but hoping that YHWH’s full wrath will rather be poured out on their oppressors (Jer 9:22 to Jer 10:25).
4. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 11:1). He now deprecates their disloyalty to the covenant, and demonstrates from examples the total corruption of the people, revealing that as a consequence their doom is irrevocably determined (Jer 11:1 to Jer 12:17). The section closes with a symbolic action which reveals the certainty of their expulsion from the land (13).
5. ‘The word that came from YHWH to Jeremiah –’ (Jer 14:1). “The word concerning the drought,” gives illustrative evidence confirming that the impending judgment of Judah cannot be turned aside by any prayers or entreaties, and that because of their sins Judah will be driven into exile. A promise of hope for the future when they will be restored to the land is, however, once more incorporated (Jer 16:14-15) although only with a view to stressing the general judgment (Jer 14:1 to Jer 17:4). The passage then closes with general explanations of what is at the root of the problem, and lays out cursings and blessings and demonstrates the way by which punishment might be avoided by a full response to the covenant as evidenced by observing the Sabbath (Jer 17:5-27).
6. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 18:1). Chapters 18-19 then contain two oracles from God illustrated in terms of the Potter and his handiwork, which bring out on the one hand God’s willingness to offer mercy, and on the other the judgment that is about to come on Judah because of their continuance in sin and their refusal to respond to that offer. The consequence of this for Jeremiah, in chapter 20, is severe persecution, including physical blows and harsh imprisonment. This results in him complaining to YHWH in his distress, and cursing the day of his birth.
7. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 21:1). This subsection, which is a kind of appendix to what has gone before, finally confirming the hopelessness of Jerusalem’s situation under Zedekiah. In response to an appeal from King Zedekiah concerning Judah’s hopes for the future Jeremiah warns that it is YHWH’s purpose that Judah be subject to Babylon (Jer 21:1-10). Meanwhile, having sent out a general call to the house of David to rule righteously and deal with oppression, he has stressed that no hope was to be nurtured of the restoration of either Shallum, the son of Josiah who had been carried off to Egypt, nor of Jehoiachin (Coniah), the son of Jehoiakim who had been carried off to Babylon. In fact no direct heir of Jehoiachin would sit upon the throne. And the reason that this was so was because all the current sons of David had refused to respond to his call to rule with justice and to stamp down on oppression. What had been required was to put right what was wrong in Judah, and reign in accordance with the requirements of the covenant. In this had lain any hope for the continuation of the Davidic monarchy. But because they had refused to do so only judgment could await them. Note in all this the emphasis on the monarchy as ‘sons of David’ (Jer 21:12; Jer 22:2-3). This is preparatory to the mention of the coming glorious son of David Who would one day come and reign in righteousness (Jer 23:3-8).
Jeremiah then heartily castigates the false shepherds of Judah who have brought Judah to the position that they are in and explains that for the present Judah’s sinful condition is such that all that they can expect is everlasting reproach and shame (Jer 23:9 ff). The subsection then closes (chapter 24) with the parable of the good and bad figs, the good representing the righteous remnant in exile who will one day return, the bad the people who have been left in Judah to await sword, pestilence, famine and exile.
8. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah –’ (Jer 25:1). This subsection contains Jeremiah’s own summary, given to the people in a sermon, describing what has gone before during the previous twenty three years of his ministry. It is also in preparation for what is to follow. He warns them that because they have not listened to YHWH’s voice the land must suffer for ‘seventy years’ in subjection to Babylon, and goes on to bring out that YHWH’s wrath will subsequently be visited on Babylon, and not only on them, but on ‘the whole world’. For YHWH will be dealing with the nations in judgment, something which will be expanded on in chapters 46-51. There is at this stage no mention of restoration, (except as hinted at in the seventy year limit to Babylon’s supremacy), and the chapter closes with a picture of the final desolation which is to come on Judah as a consequence of YHWH’s anger.
While the opening phrase ‘the word that came from YHWH to Jeremiah’ will appear again in Jer 30:1; Jer 32:1; Jer 34:8; Jer 35:1; Jer 40:1 it will only be after the sequence has been broken by other introductory phrases which link the word of YHWH with the activities of a particular king (e.g. Jer 25:1; Jer 26:1; Jer 27:1; Jer 28:1) where in each case the message that follows is limited in length. See also Jer 29:1 which introduces a letter from Jeremiah to the early exiles in Babylon. Looking at chapter 25 as the concluding chapter to the first part, this confirms a new approach from Jer 26:1 onwards, (apparent also in its content), while at the same time demonstrating that the prophecy must be seen as an overall unity.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
DISCOURSE: 1026
THE INGRATITUDE OF MEN
Jer 2:4-6. Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? Neither said they, Where is the Lord, that brought us up out of the land of Egypt?
HOW marvellous is the condescension of Almighty God! There is not in the universe a man that would bear with his fellow-man as God beareth with his people. Amidst all the indignities that they offer him, he follows them with entreaties, reasonings, expostulations, if by any means he may prevail upon them to turn to him, and thus to avert from themselves his merited displeasure. In my text, all Israel are challenged by him to assign a reason for their contemptuous treatment of him. As by the Prophet Micah he says, O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me [Note: Mic 6:3.]: so here he challenges them all to say, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me?
Here we are called to consider,
I.
The complaint he makes
Grievous, indeed, had been the departure of Gods people from him, and their insuperable attachment to idols. Jeremiah says of them: It is the land of graven images: they are mad upon their idols [Note: Jer 50:38.]. And this was the more wonderful, because they believed that Jehovah had brought them out of Egypt, and led them through the wilderness, and established them in Canaan; and yet they did not, as one might have supposed, desire to know and serve Him, but turned their backs upon him, and sought in preference the vanities of the Heathen [Note: Deu 32:21. Jer 14:22.], even their idols of wood and stone.
But if God utters this complaint against his ancient people, how much more justly may he urge it against us. For there is in us, alas!
1.
The same folly
[What has been the uniform tenour of our lives, but one constant state of departure from God, and a preferring of every vanity before him? True, we have not bowed down to idols of wood and stone: but we have cared for nothing, yea, and thought of nothing, but the pleasures, or riches, or honours of this vain world. Look at persons in early youth; see them growing up to manhood; see them in full maturity of mind and body; yea, look at them when grey hairs are come upon them, aye, and when bowed down with the infirmities of age; what is it they are seeking after? and what is it to which they look for satisfaction? It is the world, in some shape or other. Though they have found all that they ever enjoyed to be, in fact, nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit, yet they go on in the same infatuated course from year to year, withholding their hearts from God, who alone can make them happy, and setting their affections upon things which never did, nor ever can, administer to their comfort. In a word, they forsake God, the fountain of living waters, and hew out to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water [Note: ver. 13] ]
2.
The same ingratitude
[If their ingratitude was base, who inquired not after Him who had redeemed them from Egypt, what must ours be, who have been redeemed from death and hell; and redeemed, too, not as Israel, by a mere act of power, but by the blood and righteousness of our incarnate God! Consider, in reference to the points specified in the passage before us, from what bondage we have been delivered; what provision God has made for us in the way; and what a rest he has prepared for us at the end [Note: ver. 6, 7.]! What were the afflictions of Egypt, in comparison of the miseries of hell? And what were the cloudy pillar for their direction, and the manna and water for their support, in comparison of the in-dwelling of the Spirit of God in our souls, as our Guide, our Sanctifier, and our Comforter? And what was a short possession of Canaan, in comparison of an eternal inheritance in heaven? What the Jews enjoyed was a mere shadow only, of which we possess the substance: and all this bought for us by the precious blood of Christ, who laid down his life for us?
Now, it might well be supposed that we should be continually inquiring after this Saviour; and that we should not have so much as a wish but to know him, love him, serve him, glorify him, and enjoy him. But has this been the case with us? Have we not, on the contrary, passed days, weeks, months, and years, without any anxious desire after him, or any diligent pursuit of him? Look back, I pray you, and see what has been the state of your souls, from your youth up even to the present moment. Compare your feelings about the things of this world, its cares, pleasures, vanities; and say whether they have not engrossed your minds far more than the Lord Jesus, and all the wonders of redeeming love. Tell me, then, What can exceed your ingratitude? and how justly may God be filled with indignation against you! ]
From this complaint, we pass on to notice,
II.
His challenge in relation to it
What iniquity have your fathers found in me, to justify such conduct towards me? This was altogether unanswerable by them: but how much more so by us!
I now, in Gods name, challenge every one of you to say, What have you ever found in the Lord Jesus Christ that merits such treatment at your hands?
1.
Have you ever found him a hard Master?
[The Jews might have said, that God imposed a yoke upon them, which neither they nor their fathers were ever able to bear: but can you speak thus of Christs yoke? Has he not declared, and do not your consciences attest, that his yoke is easy, and his burthen light? Verily, there is not one of his commandments that is grievous; not one in the keeping of which you will not receive a present, as well as an eternal, great reward.]
2.
Have you found him, in any one respect, less gracious or merciful than he professed to be?
[Where is there a truly penitent soul that he ever spurned from his footstool? Where is there one who ever cried to him for help, and did not find his grace sufficient for him? Who ever delighted himself in him, and did not experience a reciprocation of his love? And whom did he ever leave or forsake, provided he, on his part, cleaved with full purpose of heart unto him? May he not address every one of you in the words nearly following my text; O generation! Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? Wherefore then say ye, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee [Note: ver. 31.]? Yes, Brethren, I challenge you, and God himself invites the whole world to sit in judgment, and decide the controversy between us: O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard: What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes [Note: Isa 5:3-4.]?]
Tell me then,
1.
What will ye say in justification of yourselves?
[Are ye not guilty? and have ye so much as a shadow of an excuse for your base conduct? When the Lord Jesus, at the Last Day, shall call you to account, and say, Why did you prefer every vanity before me? Why did not all the wonders which I had wrought for you, in bearing your sins and expiating your guilt, find a place in your minds, and constrain you to surrender up yourselves to me? Tell me, will not your mouth be shut? Will you not then be amazed at the iniquity that was in you? I pray you, then, put aside all your self-vindicating delusions, and cast yourselves at the feet of Jesus, crying, Save, Lord, or I perish! ]
2.
What line of conduct will ye henceforth pursue?
[Will ye go on in your neglect of God and his Christ, and in a determined pursuit of earthly vanities? I trust ye will not. I do hope that you will see how unreasonable such conduct is, and will from this time turn unto God with your whole hearts. And see, for your encouragement, how rich are the offers of his grace! He says concerning you, Thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense; but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, and wearied me with thine iniquities, I, even I, am he that (What? will pour out my judgments upon thee? No: but that) blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins, Put me in remembrance (of this promise): let us plead together: declare thou (thine affiance in it), that thou mayest be justified [Note: Isa 43:22-26.]. Verily, it seems incredible that God, that God whom we have so offended, should address us in such terms as these. But these are the very words of God, addressed even to the most rebellious of the human race. Apply them, then, to your own souls, my Brethren, and seek now the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Then shall you, notwithstanding all your past wickedness, find favour with God, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son shall cleanse you from all sin.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Having put his people in mind of what had passed; and given them to understand that the Lord had not forgotten the smallest tendencies of their affection towards him; he now begins to remonstrate with them for all their ingratitude and rebellion. And in order to give the greater force to his complaint, he challengeth them to show cause, if anything in him could have left them the least apology. Reader think what an aggravation it is to all our transgressions, that they are against the best of all friends, the kindest of all relations. I know not what you feel in the review; but for myself, I scruple not to say, that the self-loathing, I sometimes experience, in the recollection of what passeth in a fallen nature, is to me abundantly increased, from the consideration, that our offences are all directed against God. It would be impossible to offend in any single instance, had we not first, for the time, lost all reverence and affection also for the person of Jesus. Every expostulation therefore seemeth to speak in the words before us, as though Jesus stood and said; what iniquity have you found in me, that you are gone far from me? If Jesus thus speaks, surely it cuts to the heart.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 2:4 Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
Ver. 4. Hear ye the word of the Lord. ] This is often inculcated in both Testaments, to procure attention. “I received of the Lord, that which also I delivered unto you.” 1Co 11:23 “This we say unto you by the word of the Lord.” 1Th 4:15 Thus to preach, is to preach cum privilegio, with authority.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 2:4-8
4Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.
5Thus says the LORD,
What injustice did your fathers find in Me,
That they went far from Me
And walked after emptiness and became empty?
6They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD
Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and of pits,
Through a land of drought and of deep darkness,
Through a land that no one crossed
And where no man dwelt?’
7I brought you into the fruitful land
To eat its fruit and its good things.
But you came and defiled My land,
And My inheritance you made an abomination.
8The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’
And those who handle the law did not know Me;
The rulers also transgressed against Me,
And the prophets prophesied by Baal
And walked after things that did not profit.
Jer 2:4 Hear This is the theologically significant VERB Shema (Qal IMPERATIVE, BDB 1033, KB 1570). Its basic meaning is to hear, so as to do. It has great importance in Deu 4:1; Deu 5:1; Deu 6:3-4. Jeremiah was deeply influenced by Deuteronomy.
O house of Jacob. . .families of the house of Israel These are parallel phrases used of all the seed of Abraham, after the split of the United Monarchy (Saul, David, Solomon) in 922 B.C. The northern ten tribes are called Israel, Ephraim, or Samaria. This has caused great confusion in the use of the term Israel (see Special Topic: Israel [the name] ).
Jer 2:5 What injustice did your fathers find in Me This is the literary imagery of a court scene (cf. Jer 2:4-8). YHWH’s true nature is expressed in Deu 32:4. YHWH asked this same question in Mic 6:3. He was not the problem, they were!
they went far from Me The VERB (Qal PERFECT, BDB 934, KB 1221) is in direct contradiction to follow after Me in Jer 2:2.
Also notice the personal element. Not just follow my laws but follow Me! Biblical faith is a personal faith, in a personal God, on a daily moment-by-moment basis. It is a faith relationship, but it is personal (i.e., prayer, daily trust, and obedience to the known will of God).
walked This (BDB 229, KB 246) is a biblical metaphor of lifestyle choices and actions.
emptiness and became empty The NOUN (BDB 210 I) and VERB (Qal IMPERFECT, BDB 211, KB 236) are put together for emphasis. This refers to idolatry (cf. Jer 8:19; Jer 10:3-5; Jer 10:8-10; Jer 10:14-15; Jer 16:19-20; Jer 51:17-18).
Jer 2:6-7 These verses refer to the exodus and wilderness wandering period.
Notice the things YHWH did for them as He fulfilled His promise/prophecy to Abraham (cf. Gen 15:12-21).
1. brought us up out of the land of Egypt
2. led us through the wilderness
a. a land of deserts and pits (natural holes or steep ravines)
b. a land no one crossed (hyperbole)
c. a land of drought and deep darkness (i.e., shadow of death, cf. Jer 13:16; Psa 23:4)
d. a land where no one dwelt (symbol of a curse)
3. brought you into the fruitful land (i.e., Palestine/Canaan)
The exact date, route, and number of the Exodus is uncertain. See Special Topic: The Exodus (uncertainties) .
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE DATE OF THE EXODUS
Jer 2:7 Palestine of this period was a very fertile place (cf. Num 13:23-24; Num 13:27; Deu 8:1-9; Deu 11:10-12).
defiled My land The VERB (Piel IMPERFECT, BDB 379, KB 375) is used of
1. sexual defilement – Eze 18:6; Eze 18:11; Eze 18:15
2. murder – Num 35:29-34; Deu 21:22-23
3. idolatry – Lev 20:3; Eze 23:38; Eze 36:17-18
4. ceremonial uncleanness – Lev 15:31; Num 19:13; Num 19:20
Notice this is God’s land and He will not tolerate those who live inappropriately (cf. Lev 18:24-30). As He removed the Canaanites (cf. Gen 15:16) He will remove Abraham’s seed if they reject Him (cf. Jer 2:6 a, 8a).
abomination This term (BDB 1072) appears often in Jeremiah (cf. Jer 2:7; Jer 6:15; Jer 7:10; Jer 8:12; Jer 16:18; Jer 32:35; Jer 44:4; Jer 44:22). See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: ABOMINATION
Jer 2:8 What a terrible condemnation of the leadership of God’s covenant people.
1. priests (BDB 463) – those who administrate the temple and sacrificial system
2. those who handle the law – this would refer to Levites who taught and interpreted the law of Moses to the people (i.e., Nehemiah 9, later scribes, cf. Jer 8:8)
3. the rulers (lit. shepherds, BDB 944 I) – this refers to leadership, civil or religious (cf. Num 27:17; 1Ki 22:17; Isa 44:28; Isa 56:11; Jer 3:15; Jer 23:4; Ezekiel 34)
4. the prophets
Notice their sins.
1. questioned the presence of YHWH with them (lit. where is the YHWH, cf. Jer 2:6 a)
2. did not have a personal faith relationship with YHWH (lit. did not know Me, see Special Topic at Jer 1:5)
3. they transgressed His law
4. prophesied by Ba’al (i.e., fertility worship, cf. Jer 2:20; Jer 23:13)
5. walked after things that did not profit (i.e., adultery, cf. Jer 16:19; Hab 2:18)
things that did not profit In Hebrew poetry one looks for several markers.
1. Hebrew parallelism
2. Hebrew imagery
3. Hebrew sound plays
4. parallel passage from Israel’s history/wisdom literature, or other prophets
It is surely possible that an intended sound play is here (Jer 2:8).
1. profitless –
2. Ba’al –
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
house of Jacob. Occurs only here, and Jer 5:20, where it is “in the house of Jacob”. The only other passage is Amo 3:13.
the house of Israel. The Massorah (App-30), records that this expression occurs twenty times in Jeremiah (here; Jer 2:26; Jer 3:18, Jer 3:20; Jer 5:11, Jer 5:15; Jer 9:26; Jer 10:1; Jer 11:10, Jer 11:17; Jer 13:11; Jer 18:6, Jer 18:6; Jer 23:8; Jer 31:27, Jer 31:31, Jer 31:33; Jer 33:14, Jer 33:17; Jer 48:13).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jer 2:4-8
Jer 2:4-8
“Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: Thus saith Jehovah, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? Neither said they, Where is Jehovah that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that none passed through, and where no man dwelt? And I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. The priests said not, Where is Jehovah? and they that handle the law knew me not: the rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.”
The gross stupidity and sinfulness of the whole nation are dramatically stated here. Israel, once the Chosen People, enjoying the exalted position as the wife of Jehovah himself, protected from every enemy, and moved into Canaan to replace its ancient pagan inhabitants, had themselves become worse than the people they replaced, and had “walked after worthlessness.” RKH tells us that the word “worthlessness,” through a play on words (paronomasia) is a reference to Baal. He also stated that, in those Near Eastern international treaties, `To go after’ (or walk after) meant to serve as a vassal.
In Israel’s pursuit of worthlessness in their going after Baal, they had themselves become worthless, because men invariably become like what they love and worship. This immortal truth was allegorized by Nathaniel Hawthorne in his Legend of the Great Stone Face.
“Land of deserts and pits … etc.” (Jer 2:6).
“The desert between Mount Sinai and Palestine abounds in chasms and pits, in which beasts of burden may sink down to their knees. `Shadow of death’ refers to the darkness of the caverns amidst the rocky precipices (Deu 8:15).”
God indeed had tenderly led Israel safely through countless difficulties and dangers; so what had gone wrong? Jer 2:8 cites four classes of the leadership of the nation as extremely culpable, these being, (1) the priests, (2) the Levites, (3) the rulers (shepherds), and (4) the prophets.
The priests were complacent and indifferent; the Levites knew not God; the shepherds (rulers) were disobedient; and the prophets were working for Baal rather than for the Lord, money and sensual indulgence probably being the inducements that took them away from their duty. The text states that they walked after things that do not profit. Ash tells us that, “The Hebrew word rendered `do not profit’ comes from the same root as `worthlessness’ in Jer 2:5,” and it is therefore connected with Baal. This is a terrible summary of the incompetence and inability of Israel’s leadership. They were a stupid group of blind, selfish, and apostate leaders. With that type of leadership, the people hardly had a chance. As Jesus stated it, “They were as sheep not having a shepherd” (Mar 6:34).
Hear the word of the Lord is a characteristic introduction to a prophetic oracle, This formula occurs at least twenty-three times in Jeremiah with slight variation. Note that Jeremiah calls upon all families of the house of Israel to hear his message (Jer 2:4). He apparently regarded Judah as the representative of the entire covenant nation. It may be that the prophet is also addressing the exiles of the northern kingdom as well as some Israelite families who were still left in Samaria. In pointing out the present apostasy of the people Jeremiah makes three points: the apostasy is (1) unjustified (Jer 2:5); (2) ungrateful (Jer 2:6-7) and (3) universal (Jer 2:8).
1. Unjustified apostasy (Jer 2:5)
In verse five God asks a question and that question implies an emphatic negative answer: What fault did your fathers find in Me? There is no reason or fault on Gods part which can account for the infidelity of the nation. Yet they have forsaken Him and gone after idols, vain things (lit., a breath, a vapor). With all of its pomp and pageantry idolatry in the eyes of Israels prophets was mere nothingness, utterly futile, useless and vain. Following after these vain deities, the men of Israel became vain. 2Ki 17:15 uses the same wording as the present verse. Bright sees a word play here: They think that they are following habbaal. The Baal, but in reality they are following hahebel the wind, emptiness. The thought that men become like the object of their worship can be traced back to Hosea. Concerning the initial apostasy of the nation Hosea declares: They came to Baal-peer, and consecrated themselves unto the shameful thing (i.e., the idol) and became abominable like that which they loved (Hos 9:10). A man is no better than the god that he worships.
2. Ungrateful apostasy (Jer 2:6-7)
Once the great apostasy set in, Israel seemed to forget about the God who had led them through the barren desert wastes. The word rendered wilderness in this verse may have the connotation pastureland or it may refer to a barren and inhospitable region. Several phrases are added to the word wilderness to paint a picture of the Sinaitic peninsula through which the Israelites had passed so many years before. It was a land of drought, deserts, and darkness. The word darkness in the Old Testament frequently connotes distress or extreme danger (cf. Psa 23:4). A trackless desert can be every bit as bewildering as Stygian darkness. But God had brought Israel through that hostile land of pits, holes, rents and fissures in the soil to a beautiful land (Jer 2:7). The Hebrew uses the word Carmel to describe this land. A Carmel-land is a land planted with vines and other choice plants. Cf. Jer 4:26; Isa 29:17; Isa 37:24. Bright translates the phrase a land like a garden while Freedman renders it a land of fruitful fields. Yet the Israelites were still unappreciative. They took that holy land that God had consecrated to His own purposes and defiled it by their idolatry. With their pagan rites they made the holy land an abomination to God.
3. Universal apostasy (Jer 2:8)
The apostasy extended even to the political and spiritual leaders of the nation. Even the priests and those who handle, i.e., were skillful in, the law were guilty. One can know the Book but not really know the Lord of the Book! The shepherds or rulers of the nation did not restrain the apostasy but in fact they too transgressed against the Lord. The term shepherds in the Old Testament generally refers to civil, not spiritual, leaders. See Jer 3:15; Jer 10:21; Jer 22:22; Jer 25:34; Zec 10:3; Zec 11:5; Zec 11:8; Zec 11:16; Isa 44:28. Many prophets began to walk after idol gods and prophesy by Baal. The reference is not to the band of the prophets which appears in 1 Samuel 10, 19 or to the sons of the prophets which appear in connection to Elijah and Elisha. The Scriptures no where link these early prophets to Baal worship. Rather the reference is to prophets like those in the court of Ahab who actually had gone over to the cult of Baal (1Ki 18:19). Since Jeremiah himself was both a priest and a prophet it must have particularly grieved his heart to point out that apostasy had infected both orders. The entire nation had ceased to follow the Lord who brought them to Canaan and had begun to follow useless things, gods which had not done nor could do anything for them.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
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
Reciprocal: 1Ki 22:19 – Hear thou 2Ch 18:18 – hear the word Psa 50:7 – Hear Isa 5:3 – judge Jer 10:1 – General Jer 36:2 – against Israel Mic 2:7 – named Act 2:36 – all
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 2:4. Jacob and Israel refer to the same people, the former (whose name was changed to Israel, Gen 32:28) being an ancestor of the latter. This people is now called upon to hear the word of the Lord as delivered by the inspired prophet.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 2:4-6. Hear, O house of Jacob, &c. The prophet here directs his discourse to the twelve tribes, as he does afterward, Jer 3:14, &c. For the captivity of the ten tribes was not so total but that there were some Israelites still remaining in the land among the Assyrian colonists. What iniquity have your fathers found in me? That is, what injustice or unfaithfulness in not performing my part of the Sinai covenant? That they are gone far from me Far from the love and fear of me, and from obedience to my laws; far from my worship and service; and have walked after vanity Have followed after vain idols, incapable of affording them either protection or help. And are become vain In their imaginations, Rom 1:21-22; fools, as senseless as the stocks or stones, of which they made their idols. Neither said they, Where is the Lord? They made no inquiry after him, took no thought about their duty to him, nor expressed any desire to recover his favour; that brought us up out of the land of Egypt? Working such a deliverance for us as had never been wrought for any people. That led us through the wilderness Conducting and sustaining our whole nation in that barren desert for the space of forty years, by almost incessant miracles; through a land of deserts and pits Through desolate and dangerous places; through a land of drought Where we had no water but by a miracle; and of the shadow of death Houbigant renders it, where death threatened us. A barren and deadly land, where no man could live; bringing forth nothing that could support life, and therefore where nothing but death could be expected; and, besides, possessed by great numbers of venomous and destructive creatures, such as scorpions, serpents, &c., and where we were exposed to the attacks of many enemies. A land that no man passed through As having in it no accommodation for travellers, much less for habitation.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 2:4-13. Yahwehs Reproaches.Yahweh asks why His redeeming acts are forgotten and His (true) worship abandoned; other nations do not abandon their gods, though these are worthless, but Yahwehs people have forsaken the one true God. Jeremiah here treats all other gods as worthless, though explicit monotheism is not found until the next century (Deutero-Isaiah). When Israel entered Canaan under its desert-God, Yahweh, it was natural to worship the local Baalim (p. 87), as well, since they were regarded as the gods of agriculture and fertility. But when the land came to be regarded as Yahwehs heritage, there was a strong tendency for Him to be worshipped as the Baalim had been, and under the name of Baal (Lord). Both the worship and the name are here treated as heathenism.
Jer 2:5. vanity: lit. breath; cf. Jer 8:19.
Jer 2:10. Kittim: the people of Kition in Cyprus (Num 24:23 f.*); Kedar (Gen 25:13, Jer 49:28, Psa 120:5*): an Arabian tribe; thus, W. and E. are here graphically indicated.
Jer 2:12. be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate: read, with LXX, shudder exceedingly.
Jer 2:13. For the contrast between the fountain, or spring, and the cistern, see Thomson, op. cit., p. 287; the latter, though hewn in rock, is said to crack easily, and its water, collected from the roof, is in any case inferior.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Yahweh’s claims to having dealt justly with His people 2:4-8
The general flow of thought in this early part of Jeremiah’s message is: from Israel’s early devotion to Yahweh (Jer 2:2-3), to her departure from Him (Jer 2:4-13), to the tragic results of her unfaithfulness (Jer 2:14-19). In this second pericope, the irrationality of Israel’s apostasy stands out.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Jeremiah appealed to all the Israelites in his audience to hear what God had to say to them. Some scholars believe that attention-getting devices such as this one, and other clues in the text, indicate the beginning of a new oracle. [Note: Craigie, pp. 20-21, for example, found evidence of six separate oracles in chapter 2.] These students of the sources of our present canonical text believe that Jeremiah, or some other editor, arranged a number of shorter oracles into the sermon we have in chapter 2 for literary purposes. This is possible, I think, but not absolutely certain.