Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 2:20
For of old time I have broken thy yoke, [and] burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
20. I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands ] mg. thou hast is doubtless right. So LXX and Vulg. The identity of the archaic form of the pronominal ending for the 2nd person fem. with the ordinary 1st person sing. sufficiently accounts for the error. Israel’s rebellion is of long standing.
serve ] The other reading, transgress, is no doubt later and formed by a very slight change in one of the letters of the verb in the original, which was made probably in consequence of the preceding verbs being taken to be in the 1st person.
didst bow thyself ] The reference is to the rendering of idolatrous worship, renouncing of allegiance to the true God Who has espoused the people to Himself, and readiness to indulge in the gross immoralities of non-Israelitish cults. The passage appears to be an echo of Hos 4:13 f. (cp. Amo 2:7), and the charge made in the last part not to be merely a metaphor denoting unfaithfulness to their Divine Spouse. The danger involved in retaining the places of worship which the heathen inhabitants had used is indicated by the command in Deu 12:2 f.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Transgress – Rather, as in marg. If the yoke and bands refer to the slavery in Egypt from which Yahweh freed Israel, the sense is – For of old time I Yahweh broke thy yoke, I burst thy bands, not that thou mightest be free to do thy own will, but that thou mightest serve me: and thou saidst, I will not serve.
When … – For … under every leafy tree thou layest thyself down as a harlot. The verb indicates the eagerness with which she prostrates herself before the objects of her idolatrous worship.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. Of old time I have broken thy yoke] It is thought by able critics that the verbs should be read in the second person singular, THOU hast broken thy yoke, THOU hast burst thy bonds; and thus the Septuagint, , “thou hast broken thy yoke.” And the Vulgate, Confregisti jugum meum, rupisti, vincula mea; “Thou hast broken my yoke; thou hast burst my bonds;” and so the Arabic. But the Chaldee gives it a meaning which removes the difficulty: “I have broken the yoke of the people from thy neck; I have cut your bonds asunder.” And when this was done, they did promise fair: for “thou saidst, I will not transgress;” but still they played the harlot-committed idolatrous acts in the high places, where the heathen had built their altars, pretending that elevation of this kind assisted their devotion.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Of old time I have broken thy yoke, i.e. the bondage and tyranny that thou wert under in old time in Egypt, as also divers times besides, as appears through the Book of Judges. The Hebrew elam, that signifies everlasting, is sometimes used for a long time to come, and also for a long time past; so here, and Gen 6:4; Isa 57:11.
And burst thy bands; a double allusion, either to the bands and fetters with which prisoners are wont to be bound, Jer 40:4, or those bands wherewith the ends of the yoke of beasts were wont to be bound. See Poole “Isa 58:6“.
Thou saidst, I will not transgress; when the deliverance was fresh, thou didst put on good resolutions. Heb.
serve, i.e. serve or worship idols: the word is of the feminine gender, because God speaks of his people as of a woman promising faithfulness, but breaking covenant. Some understand thee; I will not serve time, q.d. which thou madest appear,
when upon every hill, & c. And thus he accuseth them of their ingratitude, who owed themselves to their Redeemer. But this doth not so well agree with their engagement, Exo 19:8. When; or, notwithstanding all thy promises.
Upon every high hill: idolaters were wont to sacrifice upon the tops of high hills, because there they thought themselves nearer heaven; nay, some have esteemed high hills to be gods, as the Indians of Peru at this day.
Under every green tree: under these shades idolaters thought there lay some hidden deity, with which they conversed.
Thou wanderest, viz. changing thy way to gad after idols, as one that hast broken covenant. See on Isa 57:8. The word properly signifies to go from ones place, as harlots use to do, instigated either by unbridled lust, or covetousness; i.e. making great haste from one tree to another, or from one idol to another. See Jer 2:23,24. Others, thou liest down, or, thou settest thyself.
Playing the harlot; committing idolatry, which is a spiritual harlotry, Jer 3:1,2. This is frequent. Some read the former part of the text otherwise, making it the daring boast of the people, Thou hast said, I have broken, &c. and saidst, I will not serve, i.e. I will not obey. But this will not suit well with the rest of the text.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. Ithe Hebrew shouldbe pointed as the second person feminine, a form common inJeremiah: “Thou hast broken,” c. So the Septuagint,and the sense requires it.
thy yoke . . . bandstheyoke and bands which I laid on thee, My laws (Jer5:5).
transgressso the Keri,and many manuscripts read. But the Septuagint and mostauthorities read, “I will not serve,” that is, obey. Thesense of English Version is, “I broke thy yoke (inEgypt),” &c., “and (at that time) thou saidst, I willnot transgress whereas thou hast (since then) wandered (from Me)”(Ex 19:8).
hill . . . green treethescene of idolatries (Deu 12:2;Isa 57:5; Isa 57:7).
wanderestrather, “thouhast bowed down thyself” (for the act of adultery:figurative of shameless idolatry, Exo 34:15;Exo 34:16; compare Job31:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands,…. The yoke of the people, as the Targum expresses it, that was upon their necks, and the bands in which they were bound by them; referring to the deliverance of them of old from Egyptian bondage by the hands of Moses, and out of their several captivities among their neighbours by the means of the judges, and in their time; though the Vulgate Latin version renders it, “of old thou hast broken my yoke, and burst my bands”; or “thy yoke”, and “thy bands”, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions; the yoke of the law that the Lord put upon them, and the bands of statutes and ordinances which he enjoined them; but the former sense is best:
and thou saidst, I will not transgress; here is a double reading; the Cetib or writing is , “I will not serve”; which is followed by the Vulgate Latin, which so renders it; and by the Septuagint version, “I will not serve thee”; and which is the sense of the Arabic version, “I will not subject myself”, that is, to the law and will of God; and so the Syriac version, though to a quite different sense, “I will serve no other god any more”: which agrees with the Keri or reading, which is
, “I will not transgress”; and this is confirmed by the Targum, which paraphrases the words thus,
“and ye said, we will not add any more to transgress thy word;”
and by Jarchi and Kimchi, who interpret it of transgressing the words and commands of God; both have one and the same sense. For whether it be read, “I will not serve”; the meaning is, as Kimchi observes, “I will not serve idols”; or no other god, as the Syriac version: or whether, “I will not transgress”; that is, the command of the Lord, by serving other gods. Hillerus p reconciles the writing and reading after this manner, rendering , “I will not serve”, and
, “I will not pass”, to servitude; though, in another place q “I will not pass over”, that is, the rivers of Tigris and Euphrates with the captives; and refers to Mic 1:11, but doubtless reference is had to the promise of obedience and service, which the Israelites made at Mount Sinai quickly after their deliverance out of Egypt, Ex 19:8, but this promise they did not keep: “when”, or “for”, or “but”, or “although” r,
upon every high hill, and under every green tree, thou wanderest, playing the harlot; that is, committing spiritual whoredom or idolatry with idols, set on high hills and mountains, and under green trees, groves, and shady places; going from one idol to another, as harlots go from one stew to another; or as whoremongers go from harlot to harlot.
p De Arcano Kethib Keri, p. 27, 28. q Ib. p. 89, 90. r “nam”, Vatablus, Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius “atqui”, Calvin, Gataker; “quamvis”, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
All along Israel has been refractory; it cannot and will not cease from idolatry. Jer 2:20. “ For of old time thou hast broken thy yoke, torn off thy bands; and hast said: I will not serve; but upon every high hill, and under every green tree, thou stretchedst thyself as a harlot. Jer 2:21. And I have planted thee a noble vine, all of genuine stock: and how hast thou changed thyself to me into the bastards of a strange vine? Jer 2:22. Even though thou washedst thee with natron and tookest much soap, filthy remains thy guilt before me, saith the Lord Jahveh. Jer 2:23. How canst thou say, I have not defiled me, after the Baals have I not gone? See thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done-thou lightfooted camel filly, entangling her says. Jer 2:24. A wild she-ass used to the wilderness, that in her lust panteth for air; her heat, who shall restrain it? all that seek her run themselves weary; in her month they will find her. Jer 2:25. Keep thy foot from going barefoot, and thy throat from thirst; but thou sayest, It is useless; no; for I have loved strangers, and after them I go.” Jer 2:20. , from eternity, i.e., from immemorial antiquity, has Israel broken the yoke of the divine law laid on it, and torn asunder the bands of decency and order which the commands of God, the ordinances of the Torah, put on, to nurture it to be a holy people of the Lord; torn them as an untamed bullock (Jer 31:18) or a stubborn cow, Hos 4:16. , bands, are not the bands or cords of love with which God drew Israel, Hos 11:4 (Graf), but the commands of God whose part it was to keep life within the bounds of purity, and to hold the people back from running riot in idolatry. On this head see Jer 5:5; and for the expression, Psa 2:3. The Masoretes have taken and for the 1st person, pointing accordingly, and for , as unsuitable to this, they have substituted . Ewald has decided in favour of these readings; but he is thus compelled to tear the verse to pieces and to hold the text to be defective, since the words from onwards are not in keeping with what precedes. Even if we translate: I offend transgress not, the thought does not adapt itself well to the preceding; I have of old time broken thy yoke, etc.; nor can we easily reconcile with it the grounding clause; for on every high hill,…thou layest a whoring, where Ew. is compelled to force on the adversative sig. Most commentators, following the example of the lxx and Vulg., have taken the two verbs for 2nd person; and thus is maintained the simple and natural thought that Israel has broken the yoke laid on it by God, renounced allegiance to Him, and practised idolatry on every hand. The spelling , , i.e., the formation of the 2nd pers. perf. with y, is frequently found in Jer.; cf. Jer 2:33; Jer 3:4; Jer 4:19; Jer 13:21, etc. It is really the fuller original spelling tiy which has been preserved in Aramaic, though seldom found in Hebrew; in Jer. it must be accounted an Aramaism; cf. Ew. 190, c; Gesen. 44, 2, Rem. 4. With the last clause, on every high hill, etc., cf. Hos 4:13 and Eze 6:13 with the comm. on Deu 12:2. Stretchest thyself as a harlot or a whoring, is a vivid description of idolatry. , bend oneself, lie down ad coitum , like , inclinari .
Jer 2:21 In this whoring with the false gods, Israel shows its utter corruption. I have planted thee a noble vine; not, with noble vines, as we translate in Isa 5:2, where Israel is compared to a vineyard. Here Israel is compared to the vine itself, a vine which Jahveh has planted; cf. Psa 80:9; Hos 10:1. This vine was all ( , in its entirety, referred to , as collect.) genuine seed; a proper shoot which could bear good grapes (cf. Eze 17:5); children of Abraham, as they are described in Gen 18:19. But how has this Israel changed itself to me ( , dativ. incommodi) into bastards! is accus., dependent on ; for this constr. cf. Lev 13:25; Psa 114:8. sig. not shoots or twigs, but degenerate sprouts or suckers. The article in is generic: wild shoots of the species of the wild vine; but this is not the first determining word; cf. for this exposition of the article Jer 13:4; 2Sa 12:30, etc., Ew. 290, a 3); and for the omission of the article with , cf. Ew. 293, a. Thus are removed the grammatical difficulties that led Hitz. to take ‘ quite unnaturally as vocative, and Graf to alter the text. “A strange vine” is an interloping vine, not of the true, genuine stock planted by Jahveh (Jer 2:10), and which bears poisonous berries of gall. Deu 32:32.
Jer 2:22 Though thou adoptedst the most powerful means of purification, yet couldst thou not purify thyself from the defilement of thy sins. , natron, is mineral, and vegetable alkali. introduces the apodosis; and by the participle a lasting condition is expressed. This word, occurring only here in the O.T., sig. in Aram. to be stained, filthy, a sense here very suitable. , before me, i.e., before my eyes, the defilement of thy sins cannot be wiped out. On this head see Isa 1:18; Psa 51:4, Psa 51:9.
Jer 2:23 And yet Judah professes to be pure and upright before God. This plea Jeremiah meets by pointing to the open practising of idolatrous worship. The people of Judah personified as a woman – in Jer 2:20 – is addressed. is a question expressing astonishment. , of defilement by idolatry, as is shown by the next explanatory clause: the Baals I have not followed. is used generically for strange gods, Jer 1:16. The public worship of Baal had been practised in the kingdom of Judah under Joram, Ahaziah, and Athaliah only, and had been extirpated by Jehu, 2Ki 10:18. Idolatry became again rampant under Ahaz (by his instigation), Manasseh, and Amon, and in the first year of Josiah’s reign. Josiah began to restore the worship of Jahveh in the twelfth year of his reign; but it was not till the eighteenth that he was able to complete the reformation of the public services. There is then no difficulty in the way of our assuming that there was yet public worship of idols in Judah during the first five years of Jeremiah’s labours. We must not, however, refer the prophet’s words to this alone. The following of Baal by the people was not put an end to when the altars and images were demolished; for this was sufficient neither to banish from the hearts of the people the proneness to idolatry, nor utterly to suppress the secret practising of it. The answer to the protestation of the people, blinded in self-righteousness, shows, further, that the grosser publicly practised forms had not yet disappeared. “See thy way in the valley.” Way, i.e., doing and practising. with the article must be some valley known for superstitions cultivated there; most commentators suggest rightly the valley of Ben or Bne-Hinnom to the south of Jerusalem, where children were offered to Moloch; see on Jer 7:31. The next words, “and know what thou hast done,” do not, taken by themselves, imply that this form of idol-worship was yet to be met with, but only that the people had not yet purified themselves from it. If, however, we take them in connection with what follows, they certainly do imply the continued existence of practices of that sort. The prophet remonstrates with the people for its passionate devotion to idolatry by comparing it to irrational animals, which in their season of heat yield themselves to their instinct. The comparison gains in pointedness by his addressing the people as a camel-filly and a wild she-ass. ‘ is vocative, co-ordinate with the subject of address, and means the young filly of the camel. , running lightly, nimbly, swiftly. ‘ , intertwining, i.e., crossing her says; rushing right and left on the paths during the season of heat. Thus Israel ran now after one god, now after another, deviating to the right and to the left from the path prescribed by the law, Deu 28:14. To delineate yet more sharply the unruly passionateness with which the people rioted in idolatry, there is added the figure of a wild ass running herself weary in her heat. Hitz. holds the comparison to be so managed that the figure of the she-camel is adhered to, and that this creature is compared to a wild ass only in respect of its panting for air. But this view could be well founded only if the Keri were the original reading. Then we might read the words thus: (like) a wild ass used to the wilderness she (the she-camel) pants in the heat of her soul for air. But this is incompatible with the Cheth. , since the suffix points back to , and requires to be joined with ‘ , so that must be spoken of the latter. Besides, taken on its own account, it is a very unnatural hypothesis that the behaviour of the she-camel should be itself compared to the gasping of the wild ass for breath; for the camel is only a figure of the people, and Jer 2:24 is meant to exhibit the unbridled ardour, not of the camel, but of the people. So that with the rest of the comm. we take the wild ass to be a second figure for the people. differs only orthographically from , the usual form of the word, and which many codd. have here. This is the wood ass, or rather wild ass, since the creature lives on steppes, not in woods. It is of a yellowish colour, with a white belly, and forms a kind of link between the deer species and the ass; by reason of its arrow-like speed not easily caught, and untameable. Thus it is used as an emblem of boundless love of freedom, Gen 16:12, and of unbridled licentiousness, see on Job 24:5 and Job 39:5. as nom. epicaen . has the adj. next it, ,ti t , in the masc., and so too in the apposition ; the fem. appears first in the statement as to its behaviour, : she pants for air to cool the glow of heat within. sig. neither copulation, from , approach (Dietr.), nor aestus libidinosus (Schroed., Ros.). The sig. approach, meet, attributed to , Dietr. grounds upon the Ags. gelimpan , to be convenient, opportune; and the sig. slow is derived from the fact that Arab. ny is used of the boiling of water. The root meaning of , Arab. ny , is, according to Fleischer, tempestivus fuit , and the root indicates generally any effort after the attainment of the aim of a thing, or impulse; from which come all the meanings ascribed to the word, and for in the text before us the sig. heat, i.e., the animal instinct impelling to the satisfaction of sexual cravings.
Jer 2:24-25 In Jer 2:24 is variously interpreted. Thus much is beyond all doubt, that the words are still a part of the figure, i.e., of the comparison between the idolatrous people and the wild ass. The use of the 3rd person stands in the way of the direct reference of the words to Israel, since in what precedes and in what follows Israel is addressed (in 2nd pers.). can thus mean neither the new moon as a feast (L. de Dieu, Chr. B. Mich.), still less tempus menstruum (Jerome, etc.), but month; and the suffix in is to be referred, not with Hitz. to , but to . The suffixes in and absolutely demand this. “Her month” is the month appointed for the gratification of the wild ass’s natural impulse, i.e., as Bochart rightly explains it (Hieroz. ii. p. 230, ed. Ros.) mensis quo solent sylvestres asinae maris appetitu fervere . The meaning of the comparison is this: the false gods do not need anxiously to court the favour of the people; in its unbridled desires it gives itself up to them; cf. Jer 3:2; Hos 2:7, Hos 2:15. With this is suitably coupled the warning of Jer 2:25: hold back, i.e., keep thy foot from getting bare ( is subst. not adjective, which would have had to be fem., since is fem.), and thy throat from thirst, viz., by reason of the fever of running after the idols. This admonition God addresses by the prophet to the people. It is not to wear the sandals off its feet by running after amours, nor so to heat its throat as to become thirsty. Hitz. proposes unsuitably, because in the face of the context, to connect the going barefoot with the visiting of the sanctuary, and the thirsting of the throat (1Ki 18:26) with incessant calling on the gods. The answer of the people to this admonition shows clearly that it has been receiving an advice against running after the gods. The Chet. is evidently a copyists’s error for . The people replies: , desperatum ( est), i.e., hopeless; thy advice of all in vain; cf. Jer 18:12, and on Isa 57:10. The meaning is made clearer by : no; for I love the aliens, etc. are not merely strange gods, but also strange peoples. Although idolatry is the matter chiefly in hand, yet it was so bound up with intriguing for the favour of the heathen nations that we cannot exclude from the words some reference to this also.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Expostulations with Israel. | B. C. 629. |
20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. 21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? 22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. 23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; 24 A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. 25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go. 26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, 27 Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. 28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
In these verses the prophet goes on with his charge against this backsliding people. Observe here,
I. The sin itself that he charges them with–idolatry, that great provocation which they were so notoriously guilty of. 1. They frequented the places of idol-worship (v. 20): “Upon every high hill and under every green tree, in the high places and the groves, such as the heathen had a foolish fondness and veneration for, thou wanderest, first to one and then to another, like one unsettled, and still uneasy and unsatisfied; but in all playing the harlot,” worshipping false gods, which is spiritual whoredom, and was commonly accompanied with corporal whoredom too. Note, Those that leave God wander endlessly, and a vagrant lust is insatiable. 2. They made images for themselves, and gave divine honour to them (Jer 2:26; Jer 2:27); not only the common people, but even the kings and princes, who should have restrained the people from doing ill, and the priests and prophets, who should have taught them to do well, were themselves so wretchedly sottish and stupid, and under the power of such a strong delusion, as to say to a stock, “Thou art my father (that is, Thou art my god, the author of my being, to whom I owe duty and on whom I have a dependence),” and to a stone, to an idol made of stone, “Thou hast begotten me, or brought me forth; therefore protect me, provide for me, and bring me up.” What greater affront could men put upon God, who is our Father that has made us? It was a downright disowning of their obligations to him. What greater affront could men put upon themselves and their own reason than to acknowledge that which is in itself absurd and impossible, and, by making stocks and stones their parents, to make themselves no better than stocks and stones? When these were first made the objects of worship they were supposed to be animated by some celestial power or spirit; but by degrees the thought of this was lost, and so vain did idolaters become in their imagination, even the princes and priests themselves, that the very idol, though made of wood and stone, was supposed to be their father, and adored accordingly. 3. They multiplied these dunghill deities endlessly (v. 28): According to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah! When they had forsaken that God who is one, and all-sufficient for all, (1.) They were not satisfied with any gods they had, but still desired more, that idolatry being in this respect of the same nature with covetousness, which is spiritual idolatry (for the more men have the more they would have), which is a plain evidence that what men make an idol of they find to be insufficient and unsatisfying, and that it cannot make the comers thereunto perfect. (2.) They could not agree in the same god. Having left the centre of unity, they fell into endless discord; one city fancied one deity and another another, and each was anxious to have one of its own to be near them and to take special care of them. Thus did they in vain seek that in many gods which is to be found in one God only.
II. The proof of this. No witnesses need be called; it is proved by the notorious evidence of the facts. 1. They went about to deny it, and were ready to plead, Not guilty. They pretended that they would acquit themselves from this guilt, they washed themselves with nitre, and took much soap, offered many things in excuse and extenuation of it, v. 22. They pretended that they did not worship these as gods, but as demons, and mediators between the immortal God and mortal men, or that it was not divine honour that they gave them, but civil respect; thus they sought to evade the convictions of God’s word and to screen themselves from the dread of his wrath. Nay, some of them had the impudence to deny the thing itself; they said, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim, v. 23. Because it was done secretly, and industriously concealed (Ezek. viii. 12), they thought it could never be proved upon them, and they had impudence enough to deny it. In this, as in other things, their way was like that of the adulterous woman, that says, I have done no wickedness, Prov. xxx. 20. 2. Notwithstanding all their evasions, they are convicted of it and found guilty: “How canst thou deny the fact, and say, I have not gone after Baalim? How canst thou deny the fault, and say, I am not polluted?” The prophet speaks with wonder at their impudence: “How canst thou put on a face to say so, when it is certain?” (1.) “God’s omniscience is a witness against thee: Thy iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God; it is laid up and hidden, to be produced against thee in the day of judgment, sealed up among his treasures,” Deu 32:34; Job 21:19; Hos 13:12. “It is imprinted deeply and stained before me;” so some read it. “Though thou endeavour to wash it out, as murderers to get the stain of the blood of the person slain out of their clothes, yet it will never be got out.” God’s eye is upon it, and we are sure that his judgment is according to truth. (2.) “Thy own conscience is a witness against thee. See thy way in the valley” (they had worshipped idols, not only on the high hills, but in the valleys, Isa 57:5; Isa 57:6), in the valley over-against Beth-peor (so some), where they worshipped Baal-peor (Deu 34:6; Num 25:3), as if the prophet looked as far back as the iniquity of Peor; but, if it mean any particular valley, surely it is the valley of the son of Hinnom, for that was the place where they sacrificed their children to Moloch and which therefore witnessed against them more than any other: “look into that valley, and thou canst not but know what thou hast done.“
III. The aggravations of this sin with which they are charged, which made it exceedingly sinful.
1. God had done great things for them, and yet they revolted from him and rebelled against him (v. 20): Of old time I have broken thy yoke and burst thy bonds; this refers to the bringing of them out of the land of Egypt and the house of bondage, which they would not remember (v. 6), but God did; for, when he told them that they should have no other gods before him, he prefixed this as a reason: I am the Lord thy God that brought thee out of the land of Egypt! These bonds of theirs which God had loosed should have bound them for ever to him; but they had ungratefully broken the bonds of duty to that God who had broken the bonds of their slavery.
2. They had promised fair, but had not made good their promise: “Thou saidst, I will not transgress; then, when the mercy of thy deliverance was fresh, thou wast so sensible of it that thou wast willing to lay thyself under the most sacred ties to continue faithful to thy God and never to forsake him.” Then they said, Nay, but we will serve the Lord, Josh. xxiv. 21. How often have we said that we would not transgress, we would not offend any more, and yet we have started aside, like a deceitful bow, and repeated and multiplied our transgressions!
3. They had wretchedly degenerated from what they were when God first formed them into a people (v. 21). I had planted thee a noble vine. The constitution of their government both in church and state was excellent, their laws were righteous, and all the ordinances instructive and very significant; and a generation of good men there was among them when they first settled in Canaan. Israel served the Lord, and kept close to him all the days of Joshua, and the elders that out-lived Joshua, Josh. xxiv. 31. They were then wholly a right seed, likely to replenish the vineyard they were planted in with choice vines. But it proved otherwise; they very next generation knew not the Lord, nor the works which he had done (Judg. ii. 10), and so they were worse and worse till they became the degenerate plants of a strange vine. They were now the reverse of what they were at first. Their constitution was quite broken, and there was nothing in them of that good which one might have expected from a people so happily formed, nothing of the purity and piety of their ancestors. Their vine is as the vine of Sodom, Deut. xxxii. 32. This may fitly be applied to the nature of man; it was planted by its great author a noble vine, a right seed (God made man upright); but it is so universally corrupt that it has become the degenerate plant of a strange vine, that bears gall and wormwood, and it is so to God, it is highly distasteful and offensive to him.
4. They were violent and eager in the pursuit of their idolatries, doted on their idols, and were fond of new ones, and they would not be restrained form them either by the word of God or by his providence, so strong was the impetus with which they were carried out after this sin. They are here compared to a swift dromedary traversing her ways, a female of that species of creatures hunting about for a male (v. 23), and, to the same purport, a wild ass used to the wilderness (v. 24), not tamed by labour, and therefore very wanton, snuffing up the wind at her pleasure when she comes near the he-ass, and on such an occasion who can turn her away? Who can hinder her from that which she lusts after? Those that seek her then will not weary themselves for her, for they know it is to no purpose; but will have a little patience till she is big with young, till that month comes which is the last of the months that she fulfils (Job xxxix. 2), when she is heavy and unwieldy, and then they shall find her, and she cannot out-run them. Note, (1.) Eager lust is a brutish thing, and those that will not be turned away from the gratifying and indulging of it by reason, and conscience, and honour, are to be reckoned as brute-beasts and no better, such as were born, and still are, like the wild ass’s colt; let them not be looked upon as rational creatures. (2.) Idolatry is strangely intoxicating, and those that are addicted to it will with great difficulty be cured of it. That lust is as headstrong as any. (3.) There are some so violently set upon the prosecution of their lusts that it is to no purpose to attempt to give check to them: those that do so weary themselves in vain. Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone. (4.) The time will come when the most fierce will be tamed and the most wanton will be manageable; when distress and anguish come upon them, then their ears will be open to discipline, that is the month in which you may find them, Psa 141:5; Psa 141:6.
5. They were obstinate in their sin, and, as they could not be restrained, so they would not be reformed, v. 25. Here is, (1.) Fair warning given them of the ruin that this wicked course of life would certainly bring them to at last, with a caution therefore not to persist in it, but to break off from it. He would certainly bring them into a miserable captivity, when their feet should be unshod, and they should be forced to travel barefoot, and when they would be denied fair water by their oppressors, so that their throat should be dried with thirst; this will be in the end hereof. Those that affect strange gods, and strange ways of worship, will justly be made prisoners to a strange king in a strange land. “Take up in time therefore; thy running after thy idols will run the shoes off thy feet, and thy panting after them will bring thy throat to thirst; withhold therefore thy foot from these violent pursuits, and thy throat from these violent desires.” One would think that it should effectually check us in the career of sin to consider what it will bring us to at last. (2.) Their rejecting this fair warning. They said to those that would have persuaded them to repent and reform, “There is no hope; no, never expect to work upon us, or prevail with us to cast away our idols, for we have loved strangers, and after them we will go; we are resolved we will, and therefore trouble not yourselves nor us any more with your admonitions; it is to no purpose. There is no hope that we should ever break the corrupt habit and disposition we have got, and therefore we may as well yield to it as go about to get the mastery of it.” Note, Their case is very miserable who have brought themselves to such a pass that their corruptions triumph over their convictions; they know they should reform, but own they cannot, and therefore resolve they will not. But, as we must not despair of the mercy of God, but believe that sufficient for the pardon of our sins, though ever so heinous, if we repent and sue for that mercy, so neither must we despair of the grace of God, but believe that able to subdue our corruptions, though ever so strong, if we pray for and improve that grace. A man must never say There is no hope, as long as he is on this side hell.
6. They had shamed themselves by their sin, in putting confidence in that which would certainly deceive them in the day of their distress, and putting him away that would have helped them, v. 26-28. As the thief is ashamed when, notwithstanding all his arts and tricks to conceal his theft, he is found, and brought to punishment, so are the house of Israel ashamed, not with a penitent shame for the sin they had been guilty of, but with a penal shame for the disappointment they met with in that sin. They will be ashamed when they find, (1.) That they are forced to cry to the God whom they had put contempt upon. In their prosperity they had turned the back to God and not the face; they had slighted him, acted as if they had forgotten him, or did what they could to forget him, would not look towards him, but looked another way; they went from him as fast and as far as they could; but in the time of their trouble they will find no satisfaction but in applying to him; then they will say, Arise, and save us. Their fathers had many a time taken this shame to themselves (Jdg 3:9; Jdg 4:3; Jdg 10:10), yet they would not be persuaded to cleave to God, that they might come to him in their trouble with the more confidence. (2.) That they have no relief from the gods they have made their court to. They will be ashamed when they perceive that the gods they have made cannot serve them, and that the God who made them will not serve them. To bring them to this shame, if so be they might hereby be brought to repentance, they are here sent to the gods whom they served, Judg. x. 14. They cried to God, Arise, and save us. God says of the idols, “Let them arise, and save thee, for thou hast no reason to expect that I should Let them arise, if they can, from the places where they are fixed; let them try whether they can save thee: but thou wilt be ashamed when thou findest that they can do thee no good, for, though thou hadst a god for every city, yet thy cities are burnt without inhabitant,” v. 15. Thus it is the folly of sinners to please themselves with that which will certainly be their grief, and pride themselves in that which will certainly be their shame.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Vs. 20-28: HYPOCRITICAL ABANDONMENT TO IDOLATRY
1. Spotlighting the atrociousness of Judah’s sin, Jeremiah employs six figures to illustrate her infidelity to Jehovah, (vs. 20-25).
a. She is likened to an unyoked oxen, (vs. 20).
1) God broke the yoke of Egypt – liberating her from bondage there, (Lev 26:13);
2) In spite of His liberating grace, she has refused to serve Him, (Jer 17:1-2; comp. Deu 12:1-3; Isa 57:5-8).
3) Like a harlot, she has, rather, enslaved herself to the fertility-deities of Canaan, (Isa 57:5-8).
b. Judah was a “sorek vine” – a red grape of excellent quality, (vs. 21; Exo 15:17; Psa 44:2; Psa 80:8-11).
1) The divine husbandman planted His vineyard with the choicest of vines; He made them noble, (comp. Isa 5:1-7).
2) But Judah soon degenerated to such a state of wildness that she brought forth not fruit to the glory of God – only wild grapes! (Eze 17:5-10).
c. Next, Judah is said to have an indelible stain; so deeply ingrained was her perversity before the Lord that it could not be scrubbed away with the strongest of soaps, (vs. 22-23a).
1) Of course, Judah denied having polluted herself by going after Baal -the fertility god of Canaan, (comp. Pro 30:12).
2) But one had only look to the valley (possibly that of BenHinnom – just south of Jerusalem) to see where heathen rites were performed by Judah just prior to the days of Josiah, (Jer 7:21; Jer 9:13-14; 2Ki 23:10).
d. Judah is then likened to a swift she-camel which, with no driver, runs here and there – with no sense of purpose, (vs. 24a; comp. vs. 33, 36; Jer 31:22).
e. Like a wild she-ass, passionately controlled by the heat of physical lust, Judah is pictured as offering herself to ANY false deity, (vs. 24b; Jer 14:6).
f. Completing the vicious circle, she is finally pictured as enslaved to her idols, (vs. 25).
1) Ironically, God warns them against chasing their idollovers until their shoes wear out and their throats are parched with thirst!
2) But, the reply He receives is that “It. is no use to try; I have loved strangers, and after them will I go!” (Jer 18:12; Jer 14:10; Deu 32:15-21).
3) Judah has turned her back to Jehovah (vs. 27b; comp. Jer 18:17; Jer 32:32-35).
2. The utter stupidity of idolatry is clearly set forth in verses 2628, (compare Jer 10:1-16).
a. As a thief is ashamed when caught in the act of his sin; so do the leaders of Judah (kings, princes, priests and prophets) blush when the spotlight of God’s word reveals the perversity of their foolish ways.
b. How ridiculous for men to bow before a “stock” or “stone” and say: “You are MY FATHER! You have begotten me!”
c. Yet, when trouble comes, they will inevitably cry out for Jehovah to: “Get up! Deliver us!” – assuming Him to be both obligated and glad to help them, immediately! (vs. 28; comp. Isa 26:16).
d. But, with a touch of sarcasm, the Lord suggests that they collect their dues from the many gods of their own making, and upon whom they have lavished their love; if these are truly gods, then let THEM meet the needs OF THEIR OWN DEVOTEES! (vs. 28; Jer 11:12-13; comp. Deu 32:37-38; Isa 45:20).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
As there are two readings in Hebrew, two meanings are given; for some think the verb to be, עבד ob e d, and others, עבר ob e r, the two letters being very similar. If we read, “I will not pass over,” or, I will not transgress, the sense is, “When I broke thy yoke;” that is, “When I delivered thee from the tyranny of Egypt, then thou didst pledge thy faith to me.” The covenant then made between God and the Israelites was mutual; for as God received them under his protection, when he became, as it were, their patron, so they, on the other hand, promised to submit to his authority. If we take this reading, the passage is an expostulation; as though God condemned here the people, for their ingratitude and perfidy. But the Prophet seems to mean another thing; and therefore I prefer the other reading, “I will not serve:” and yet I reject what interpreters have alleged; for this passage, I have no doubt, has been perverted. The prevailing exposition has been this, “I will not serve idols;” and they who seemed endued with some judgment did not see that this sense is unsuitable, and strained, or too far — fetched: and it may have been, and it seems to me probable, that for this reason the letter has been changed; for all gave this explanation, “Thou hast said, I will not serve idols:” but it is wholly a strained comment.
Now, on the contrary, I think that God here complains that the liberty which he had given to his people was turned into licentiousness: and this view is exactly suitable, as it is evident from the context, — For from old time have I broken thy yoke and burst thy bonds: therefore thou hast said, (the ו here is an illative,) I will not serve; that is, “When thou oughtest to have devoted thyself to me, who had become thy Redeemer, thou thoughtest that liberty to do thine own will was granted thee.” And then the proof given of this is in every way appropriate, for on every high hill, and under every shady tree, didst thou run here and there like a harlot Then God shews that his redemption had been ill bestowed on the ungodly, who made a bad use of their privilege; for hence it was that they gave themselves up to all kinds of lasciviousness.
If any one prefers the other reading, I will not contend with him; and then the sense is, “I have long ago shaken off thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou hast said, (he speaks of the people as of a woman, for the feminine gender is used; and this is done, because God sustained the character of a husband towards that people; and whenever he accused them of defection, it was as though a husband charged an unchaste wife with the crime of adultery,) thou hast then said to me, that is, promised to me that thou wouldest not transgress;” or, in other words, “thou hast promised to be faithful to me, and pledged mutual chastity.” Then the particle, כי, ki, which is commonly a causative, is to be taken here, according to its meaning in some other parts of Scripture, as an adversative, Yet on every high hill and under every shady tree, thou didst run here and there like harlots, who are seeking lovers.
But as I have already said, it seems to me more probable that God is here expostulating with the people, because they availed themselves of the favor of liberty as an occasion for licentiousness and wantonness: and thus the whole passage reads well, and every clause is most suitable, consistent the one with the other.
What God says, that he had broken the yoke and burst the bands, is confined by some to their first redemption: but I approve of what others say, — that the Prophet speaks here of many deliverances. We indeed know that the people were brought out of Egypt but once; but when they were afterwards oppressed, he stretched forth his hand to deliver them: God then had from old time, but at various periods, shaken off the yoke of the people; for this is evident from the book of Judges. As, then, the people were not made free, except through God’s kindness, who redeemed them, ought they not to have devoted themselves to the service of their Redeemer? For on this condition, and for this end, they were redeemed by God, — that they might consecrate themselves wholly to him. God then now condemns the people for their ingratitude, because they thought that the yoke was shaken off, that they might be, as we shall hereafter find, like untamable wild beasts.
That what the Prophet means may be more evident to us, let us remember what Paul teaches us in the sixth chapter of his Epistle to the Romans (Rom 6:0), — that while we serve sin we are free from righteousness; for we go astray after our lusts, and are restrained by no bridle: but when God really sets us free from the miserable bondage of sin, we begin to be his servants, and the servants of righteousness; for being freed from sin we become the servants of righteousness: and this is the end of our redemption. But many turn the favor of God into an occasion for licentiousness, and thus abandon themselves, as though there was no law and no rule for a holy and upright life. God complains that this was the case with the people of Israel: Thou hast said, I will not serve “It is base ingratitude, that thou hast not in the first place regarded me as thy Redeemer; and that in the second place thou hast not considered that I dealt so kindly with thee for this very purpose — that thou mightest be mine: for he who has been redeemed by another’s kindness is no longer his own.” God had redeemed that people; and redemption brought with it an obligation, by which the people were bound willingly to submit to God as their Ruler and King. Thou hast then said, I will not serve Thus God complains that his favor had been ill bestowed on the people, because they had abused their liberty, and turned it into lasciviousness. (49)
And the reason that is subjoined more fully explains the meaning, for thou didst run here and there as a harlot, on every high hill and under every shady tree For we know that the Israelites, whenever they departed from God, had some particular places, on hills and under trees, as though greater sanctity were there than anywhere else. And at this day the case is the same with the Papists; for the devotion, or rather the diabolical madness, by which they are carried away, is of a similar kind. “O! this place, they say, “is more favorable to devotion than another; there is in it more sanctity.” Of the same opinion were the Israelites: for they thought that they were nearer heaven when they went up to a mountain; they also thought that they had a more familiar intercourse with God when concealed under shady trees. And we see that the same folly has ever bewitched all heathen nations: for they imagined that God was nigher them on hills, and thought that there was some hidden divinity in fountains and under the shades of trees. As, then, this superstition had long prevailed among the Israelites, God here reproves them, because they ran here and there
But we must further notice the comparison: he says, that they were like harlots, who, having cast off all shame, run here and there, not only because they burn with insane lust, but are also carried away by their own avariciousness. Thou, harlot, he says, didst run here and there on all the high hills, and under all the shady trees; as though he had said, “This is what I have effected in delivering thee! thou thinkest that unbridled liberty has been granted thee! Hence, then, it is that thou art become so wanton as to follow thy base lusts.” It follows —
(49) The received Text has עבד, to serve, and the Keri, עבר, to transgress. In favor of the latter there are about 30 MSS., while the rest of those examined by Kennicott (in all 198, 71 examined throughout, and 127 on particular parts) retain the former verb, and also all the early versions, the Septuagint, the Syriac, the Arabic, and the Vulgate The Targum only has the latter. Piscator, Jun and Trem , Capellus, Blarney, and Horsley decide with Calvin in favor of the former; while Munster and Gataker side with our version and that of Geneva, in which the latter has been adopted. Clearly the former has the weight of authority: and the contrast, too, is striking, “I have broken thy bonds of slavery; but thou hast refused to serve or obey me.” The former part of this verse is of the same purport with Jer 2:6, and the latter with Jer 2:25. The verse begins with כי, rendered “for” in our version, by Calvin, and many others, but “surely” by Blarney, and “verily” by Horsley It is omitted in the Vulgate. Were it rendered “though,” the meaning would be more evident, —
Though from old time I had broken thy yoke, I had burst thy bands asunder; Yet thou hast said, “I will not obey:” For on every high hill and under every green tree Thou ramblest, playing the strumpet.
—
Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
D. Pointed Accusation Jer. 2:20-28
TRANSLATION
(20) For from of old you have broken your yoke, you have burst your bands and you said, I will not serve. For upon every high hill and under every green tree you reclined, committing harlotry. (21) But as for Me, I planted you a choice vine of wholly reliable stock. How sad it is that you have become a degenerate, strange vine unto Me! (22) But if you scrub with lye and multiply to yourself soap your iniquity is a permanent stain before Me (oracle of the lord GOD). (23) How sad it is that you say, I have not defiled myself; after the Baalim I have not gone. Look at your conduct in the Valley! Understand what you have done! A swift camel running hither and yon! (24) A wild ass accustomed to the wilderness, in her desire, snuffs at the wind; in her occasion who can restrain her; all who seek her will not become weary; in her month they shall find her. (25) Withhold your foot from bareness and your throat from thirst. But you say, It is no use! No! for I love strangers and after them I will continue to go. (26) As the shame of a thief that is found thus the house of Israel shall be put to shamethey, their kings, their primes, their priests and their prophets(27) who say to a tree, You are my father, and to a stone, you brought me forth! For they turn unto Me the back and not the face; but in the time of their calamity they shall say, Rise up, Save us! (28) But where are your gods which you have made for yourself? Let them arise if they can save you in the time of your calamity; for according to the number of your cities are your gods O Judah.
COMMENTS
In a series of brilliant metaphors Jeremiah sharpens his accusation against Judah. The nation is compared to (I) an ox that breaks his yoke (Jer. 2:20); (2) a vine that bears strange fruit (Jer. 2:21); (3) a stain that will wash off (Jer. 2:22); (4) a roving dromedary (Jer. 2:23); (5) a wild ass in heat (Jer. 2:24); (6) a persistent paramour (Jer. 2:25); and (7) a thief caught in the act (Jer. 2:26-28).
1. An ox that breaks his yoke (Jer. 2:20)
Jer. 2:20 presents some difficult textual problems and consequently the differences between English translations of the verse are considerable. The Hebrew permits and the ancient Greek and Latin versions support the reading you have broken . you have burst. This is also the marginal reading in the American Standard Version. Like a stubborn ox Israel refused to submit to the yoke of divine restraint and the bands of ethical obligation. Israel categorically declared, I will not serve. The Greek and Syriac versions support the reading serve rather than the alternate translation transgress. Having demanded freedom from the Lord, Israel became the slave to the passion and lust of idolatrous worship. On the bare treeless heights Israel offered sacrifices to the Baalim. The groves and leafy trees provided the necessary privacy for the lewd rites of Asherah and Ashtoreth. Sacred prostitution was part of the rites of these fertility cults and thus Jeremiah likens the national apostasy to harlotry and adultery.
2. A vine that bears strange fruit (Jer. 2:21)
To produce choice grapes takes many years of patient and tender care of the vines. The divine Horticulturist had planted a choice[141] seed in the soil of human history. Over the years He had trained the temperamental vine, pruned it, and had given it the tender and loving care it required. But when the vine reached the age of productivity it bore strange fruit of inferior quality. The vintage was not commensurate with the time and effort and care expended by the One who had planted the vine. It was a degenerate plant worthy only of destruction. In this brief but brilliant metaphor Jeremiah surveys Gods dealings with Israel. Abraham, the father of the faithful, was the choice seed. During the years of the Patriarchal journeying, the Egyptian bondage and the wilderness wandering God had patiently and lovingly watched over the tender young plant. When the people reached Canaan they refused to yield the fruit of service and obedience to the Lord but on the contrary rendered their allegiance to other gods. How sad it is,[142] says the prophet, as he shakes his head in amazement at what has become of that noble vine.
[141] The Hebrew says God planted a Sorek vine, the choicest kind of Oriental vine. The word Sorek refers to the deep-red color of the grapes which this type of vine produced.
[142] The Hebrew interjection used here is one of the distinctive words in the vocabulary of lamentation as can be seen in Eze. 26:17; Jer. 48:39; 2Sa. 1:19; 2Sa. 1:26-27. English translations have failed to capture the spirit of the word by rendering it how. The translation how sad it is better conveys the melancholy force of the word.
3. A stain that will not wash off (Jer. 2:22)
The iniquity of Israel is clearly visible to the Holy One of Israel. It is an indelible stain which cannot be removed through human effort. The best cleansing agents of the day are not sufficient to eliminate that blot. Lye (Hebrew, neter) is a mineral alkali deposited on the shores and on the bed of certain lakes in Egypt. This substance was collected for making lye for washing purposes (see Pro. 25:20). Soap (Hebrew, borit) is the corresponding vegetable alkali (m Isa. 1:25). Though the outward man may be scrubbed clean yet the ugly blot of iniquity remains upon the heart and the soul. Only God can wipe it away. What joy it is for the Christian to know that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin (1Jn. 1:7).
4. A roving dromedary (Jer. 2:23)
The people who were secretly worshiping Baal apparently did not regard this as apostasy as long as they went through the formal acts of worshiping the Lord. Perhaps they even went so far as to claim that the rites of Baal were performed in the service of God. Jeremiah calls their attention to what was taking place in the Valley of Hinnom. From the days of Ahaz this valley had been used for the rites of Molech, a god who demanded human sacrifice. The prophet compares their conduct to that of a swift young camel running hither and yen. Most commentators have interpreted this figure to be that of a female camel in heat, driven by lust, pacing to and fro. Kenneth Bailey, who spent seventeen years in the Middle East, argues that this is not the point of comparison in Jer. 2:23. As a matter of fact, says Bailey, the female camel does not come into heat; rather it is the male camel that experiences rut. It is true that the word camel in this verse is feminine, but all references since Jer. 2:16 have been feminine singular. It is not the femaleness that is being stressed in this verse, but rather the youthfulness of the camel. On the basis of his personal observation Bailey writes:
The young camel is the perfect illustration for all that is skittery and unreliable. It is ungainly in the extreme and runs off in any direction at the slightest provocation, much to the fury of the cameldriver.[143]
[143] Kenneth E. Bailey and William L. Holladay, The Young Camel and Wild Ass in Jer. II. 2325, Vetus Testamentum XVIII (April, 19681, 256260.
5. A wild ass in heat (Jer. 2:24)
In Jer. 2:24 the prophet compares the apostasy of Israel to the dramatic and vulgar actions of a female ass in heat. In the month of mating, sires need not weary themselves in seeking out the female ass; on the contrary she will eagerly seek them out. So Israel eagerly turns to the lewd rites of Baalism. The impact of this metaphor becomes even more forceful when one studies it in detail. Bailey from his own personal observation has thrown considerable light on the phrase in her desire, (she) snuffs at the wind.
She sniffs the path in front of her trying to pick up the scent of a male (from his urine). When she finds it, she rubs her nose in the dust and then straightens her neck and, with head high, closes her nostrils and sniffs the wind. What she really is doing is snuffing the dust which is soaked with the urine of the male ass. With her neck stretched to the utmost she slowly draws in a long, deep breath, then lets out an earthshaking bray and doubles her pace, racing down the road in search of the male.[144]
[144] Ibid.
6. A persistent paramour (Jer. 2:25)
In Jer. 2:25 the divine Husband pleads with his adulterous wife, Israel, to cease from her wild pursuit of illicit lovers. The difficult first part of the verse might allude to the fatiguing practices of the Baal cultthe barefoot dances and endless repetition of the name Baal (see 1Ki. 18:26). In a more general sense the admonition might be taken to be: Do not run till your sandals wear out and you faint with thirst chasing your gods. In any case Israel rejects this earnest appeal. She cannot be turned from the paths of apostasy. The lure of false worship was too great to be resisted. It is no use, she cries, I love the strange gods and I will continue to go after them.
7. A thief caught in the act (Jer. 2:26-28)
A thief caught in the act is embarrassed and ashamed. Under the Mosaic law a thief if apprehended in the act had to restore what he had stolen and pay a stiff fine (Exo. 22:1; Exo. 22:4). In addition to the shame of public exposure he would then experience the shame of disappointment in having his anticipated gain result in a substantial loss. All segments of the Israelite population would experience the shame of embarrassment and the shame of disappointment when the folly of their ways became manifest (Jer. 2:26). In times of peace and prosperity the Israelites turned their back upon God to experiment with idolatry. They bowed down before a tree, a sacred pole or idol made of wood and piously confessed, You are my father, i.e., my guardian, my protector. Before the cold and lifeless stone pillar or idol made of stone they bowed and said, You brought me forth, i.e., you are my mother, my creator. But in the hour of national or personal calamity when their idols of wood and stone proved utterly worthless they would cry out to the living God in their desperation (Jer. 2:27). With Elijah-like sarcasm Jeremiah taunts the idolaters in Jer. 2:28 : Your gods are as numerous as the cities of your land![145] Surely among the multiplicity of the gods you have made for yourselves there is one deity who can aid you in the day of your calamity!
[145] The famous Ras Shamra texts indicate that the Canaanites venerated fifty gods and half as many goddesses. No doubt many if not most of these native gods were adopted by the Israelites during the wicked reign of Manasseh.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(20) I have broken thy yoke.Better, with the LXX. and Vulg., thou hast broken thy yokei.e., cast off all allegiance and restraint. The Authorised Version, which follows the received Hebrew reading, may, however, be understood as referring to the deliverance of Israel from their Egyptian bondage.
Thou saidst, I will not transgressPerhaps, following a various reading adopted by the LXX., Vulg., and Luther, I will not serve. The words so taken paint vividly the wilful defiance of the rebellious nation. It threw off its allegiance. If we retain the Authorised version rendering, it would be better to take the verb in the present, I transgress not, as expressing a like defiance.
When.Better, for, as giving an illustration of the rebellious temper. The high hill and the green tree point to the localities of idol-worshipthe high places that meet us so frequently in 1 and 2 Kings, the tops of the mountains, and the oaks and poplars and elms of Hos. 4:13. Tree-worship in Juda, as elsewhere, appears to have exercised a wonderful power of fascination, and though the word translated grove (Asherah) has not that meaning, it was probably connected with the same cultus.
Playing the harlot.Literally, laying thyself down. The idolatrous prostration was as an act of spiritual prostitution, often, as in the orgiastic worship of Baal and Ashtaroth, united with actual impurity.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
GROSSNESS OF ISRAEL’S IDOLATRY, Jer 2:20-28.
20. Of old time From immemorial antiquity. The exact thing implied is, that no limit comes into view, either because none is seen or because there is none. For rhetorical purposes this term, eternity, in Hebrew more than in English, is used in an accommodated sense. The text should not read, I have broken, though in this the English follows both the Chaldee and Syriac, but thou hast broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands. The term “bands” is used in the sense of commandments of God which restrain men from rushing into ruin, (see Psa 2:3,) and so the two phrases have substantially the same import.
High hill green tree In these expressions there is a double allusion to the idolatrous shrines so numerous in the land, and also to terrible and common facts of individual vileness.
The union of these in this passage is probably in perfect accord with the actual facts in the case. The connexion between the sin of idolatry and of impurity has always been most intimate.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
They Had Broken Free From YHWH To Worship False Gods And Had Thereby Become Defiled With A Defilement And A Degeneracy That They Could Not Remove, While Still Incredibly Claiming That They Had Not Broken Free At All. But Now The Truth Was Out In The Open As A Result Of Their Behaviour And They Were Discovering That They Had Made A Poor Choice ( Jer 2:20-28 ).
In a series of vivid illustrations YHWH brings out Judah’s folly. Even though it was He Who had of old delivered them from bondage, they had rejected His service and ‘played the harlot’ (indulged in ritual sexual activities) at Baal/Asherah shrines throughout the countryside. So although He had planted them as a choice vine, they had become a degenerate wild vine with the result that all that they produced was iniquity which could not be washed away. Yet in spite of it they still looked at Him innocently and claimed that what He claimed was simply not true, when all the time they were actually acting like a female camel or ass on heat, persistently sinning and easily available, and admitting that she was unable to restrain herself from following her lovers. All were involved in this, kings, princes, priests and prophets, bowing down to trees and stones and turning their back on YHWH. They had multiplied gods, with a new one to be found in every city. Well, where were these newfangled gods in the situation in which they now found themselves?
Judah’s Rebellion Against YHWH.
Jer 2:20
“For of old time I have broken your yoke,
And burst your bonds,
And you said, ‘I will not serve,’
For on every high hill and under every green tree,
You bowed (literally ‘laid’) yourself down,
Playing the harlot.
YHWH again reminds them that it was He Who had redeemed them from bondage and had broken the heavy yoke under which they had served in Egypt, and had set them free from their bonds. And what had been their reply? They had declared that they would not serve Him. And in consequence they had instead bowed themselves down before stone pillars and images, in sanctuaries established ‘on every high hill and under very green tree’, and had there indulged in perverse sexual rites with sacred prostitutes and with each other.
Sanctuaries were erected on ‘high hills’ because high hills were seen as bringing them ‘closer to the gods’, and under ‘green trees’ because green trees were seen as containing ‘life-force’. And their aim was, by sexual activity played out before the gods, to persuade them to imitate them and supply similar fertility to their fields. We can easily see the sensual attractiveness of this new religion, which was also as old as the hills, and it was additionally attractive because it freed them from being bound by YHWH’s strict requirements. They could do what they liked and still attain their ends, but, of course, only if it worked.
Judah Have Changed From Being A Noble Vine To Being A Degenerate One And Should Be Ashamed At Their Behaviour.
Jer 2:21
“Yet I had planted you a noble vine,
Wholly a right seed,
How then are you turned into the degenerate branches,
Of a foreign vine to me?”
What a contrast this was to what YHWH had desired for them. He had planted them in the land as a choice vine, a noble vine, from precisely the right kind of seed (from the Patriarchs), with the intention of producing pure fruits, and of their being a holy people, a people with ideas like Himself, but they had become degenerate branches of a foreign, wild, uncultivated vine, producing only degeneracy and wickedness.
Jer 2:22
“For though you wash yourself with lye,
And take for yourself much soap,
Yet your iniquity is marked before me,
The word of the Lord YHWH.”
Indeed their iniquity was so marked before Him that even though they washed themselves with nitre (lye), and used a great deal of soap, they would be unable to erase it. The idea was that no kind of detergent would be of any use. And this was the word of the Sovereign Lord YHWH Himself. It is a reminder that we cannot ‘soft-soap’ God, because God sees what is underneath.
‘Nitre’ (nether) was an alkali obtainable for lakes in Egypt. ‘Soap’ was a solution of potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate (potash and soda) in water which can act as a simple detergent. These chemicals were obtained by filtering water through vegetable ashes producing various alkaline salts of which potassium carbonate was the main one.
Jer 2:23-24
“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,
I have not gone after the Baalim?
See your way in the valley,
Know what you have done,
You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways,
A wild ass used to the wilderness,
Who sniffs up the wind in her desire,
In her occasion, who can turn her away?
All those who seek her will not weary themselves,
In her month they will find her.”
Yet they looked at Him innocently and claimed that they were not defiled and had not gone after the Baalim, coming to the Temple at their feasts and ‘worshipping’ as though their only desire was to please YHWH. Had not Josiah purified the cult? But YHWH was not to be deceived, and called on them to look at the way in which they behaved when they went back to their valleys, and recognise what they were really like. It was there that they really felt at home, like a dromedary (a one humped camel) in heat, going swiftly on its way, looking for a mate, and like a wild she-ass which is used to the wilderness, similarly filled with heat, and sniffing up the wind so as to find herself a mate, so determined in her quest that none can turn her away. The male asses do not need to weary themselves by seeking her out, because when it is her month it is she who will find them. And that is how Judah behaved with their gods and in their immoral worship.
Jer 2:25
“Withhold your foot from being unshod,
And your throat from thirst,
But you said, ‘It is in vain,
No, for I have loved strangers,
And after them will I go.”
He informs them that if only they would withhold themselves and look to Him He would ensure that their feet were shod, and that they were never thirsty, but their reply was that they preferred the way of the wild, uncared-for ass on heat, because they loved strange gods, and were set on following them.
Alternately the thought may be of the way in which they took their shoes off when entering a mountain shrine (compare Exo 3:5), and thirsted after wine offerings offered to Baal, this being a command to refrain from such things.
Others have seen in it the picture of the harlot who, having enticed them into her home, and betraying her husband (Pro 7:10 ff.), liked nothing better than to take off her shoes and drink with her lovers (compare Hos 2:5-7).
Jer 2:26-27
“As the thief is ashamed when he is found,
So is the house of Israel ashamed,
They, their kings, their princes,
And their priests, and their prophets,
Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father’,
And to a stone, ‘You have brought me forth’,
For they have turned their back to me,
And not their face,
But in the time of their trouble they will say,
‘Arise, and save us.’ ”
They are like a thief caught in the act, and desperately ashamed, and this includes their kings, princes, priests and prophets, for all are involved in the degeneracy from the greatest to the least (presumably in the time of Jehoiakim). Absurdly they claim a tree as their father, and a stone as their mother, because, having turned their backs on YHWH instead of turning their face towards Him, they are left with no alternative, for their gods are in reality precisely that, only trees and stones. And yet as soon as trouble comes they go running back to YHWH and cry, ‘Arise and save us’.
Jer 2:28
“But where are your gods that you have made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble,
For according to the number of your cities are your gods,
O Judah.
But YHWH was having none of that. They had made gods for themselves, let those gods arise and save them (the idea is intended to be ludicrous, salvation through home-made gods!! Think how many they could have on their side). That should surely present no problem to them. Look at all the gods they had, one for every city. Surely together they would be sufficient to save them. The Canaanite pantheon included a multiplicity of gods.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Sin of Idolatry
v. 20. For of old time I have broken thy yoke and burst thy bands, v. 21. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, v. 22. For though thou wash thee with niter, v. 23. How canst thou say, I am not polluted, v. 24. a wild ass used to the wilderness, v. 25. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, v. 26. As the thief is ashamed when he is found, v. 27. saying to a stock, v. 28. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? Let them arise it they can save thee in the time of thy trouble; for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah!
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Jer 2:20. For of old time, &c. I indeed long since have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bonds; but thou saidst, I will not serve: upon every high hill, and under every green tree, I will lay myself down, and play the harlot. Houbigant. From this translation, which seems very just and unexceptionable, the meaning of the passage is extremely clear; that the Jews had been guilty of the utmost ingratitude in breaking the divine law and covenant, against idolatry in particular, even after they had been freed by God from their Egyptian bondage, and admitted into an immediate covenant and alliance with him. There is a variety of metaphors and references in this and the subsequent prophets, similar to those which have occurred in the book of Isaiah, and which, being explained there, will be no farther taken notice of in the subsequent observations.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 2:20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, [and] burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
Ver. 20. For of old time I have broken thy yoke. ] Or, For when of old I broke thy yoke, &c. – sc., in Egypt; Psa 81:5-6 ; Psa 81:10 while the deliverance was fresh, thou hadst very good resolutions.
And thou saidst, I will not transgress.
When upon every high hill, and under every green tree, &c.
Thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 2:20-25
20For long ago I broke your yoke
And tore off your bonds;
But you said, ‘I will not serve!’
For on every high hill
And under every green tree
You have lain down as a harlot.
21Yet I planted you a choice vine,
A completely faithful seed.
How then have you turned yourself before Me
Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?
22Although you wash yourself with lye
And use much soap,
The stain of your iniquity is before Me, declares the Lord GOD.
23How can you say, ‘I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley!
Know what you have done!
You are a swift young camel entangling her ways,
24A wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,
That sniffs the wind in her passion.
In the time of her heat who can turn her away?
All who seek her will not become weary;
In her month they will find her.
25Keep your feet from being unshod
And your throat from thirst;
But you said, ‘It is hopeless!
No! For I have loved strangers,
And after them I will walk.’
Jer 2:20-25 The UBS Handbook on Jeremiah lists the metaphors used to describe Israel’s apostasy (p. 69).
1. a rebellious animal, Jer 2:20 a
2. a prostitute, Jer 2:20 b
3. a worthless vine from good stock, Jer 2:21
4. a guilty person who cannot be washed, Jer 2:22
5. a wild camel in heat, Jer 2:23-24
6. a fool bent on self-destruction, Jer 2:25
7. a thief, Jer 2:26
Jer 2:20 The first two parallel lines speak of the Exodus, where God formed Israel into a nation (cf. planted in Jer 2:21) as He promised in Gen 15:13-16. There are several other texts that use slavery imagery (cf. Lev 26:13; Isa 52:2-3; Jer 30:8; Eze 34:27). Israel traded the slavery of Egypt for the slavery of Mesopotamia!
Lines 4-6 refer to the pervasiveness of the fertility cult of Ba’al and Asherah (cf. Jer 3:2; Jer 3:6; Jer 17:2; Deu 16:21; Hos 4:11-14).
SPECIAL TOPIC: Fertility Worship of the Ancient Near East
Jer 2:21 choice vine This is sorek (BDB 977 I), which means red grape. This was one of the best varieties of grapes (cf. Isa 5:1-7). But Israel became idolatrous and turned yourself (Niphal PERFECT, BDB 245, KB 253) into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine.
Jer 2:22 God’s people needed a spiritual cleaning (cf. Jer 4:14; Jer 13:27).
1. lye (BDB 684) refers to a mineral alkali
2. soap (BDB 141) refers to an alkali potash soap (cf. Mal 3:2)
This, of course, is figurative language for repentance.
SPECIAL TOPIC: REPENTANCE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Lord GOD This is the common title for Deity using Adon and YHWH in combination. See Special Topic: Names for Deity .
Jer 2:23 How can you say, ‘I am not defiled’ Here is the real problem (cf. Jer 2:35). They thought
1. they were religious
2. they were worshiping YHWH
Self-deception is the worst possible blindness (cf. Pro 16:2; Pro 30:12; Luk 16:15; Luk 18:9-14).
the Baals This was the male fertility god of Canaan. See Special Topic: Fertility Worship of the Ancient Near East .
the valley This is possibly a reference to Ben Hinnom (cf. Jer 7:31-32; Jer 19:2-6; Jer 32:35; 2Ch 28:3; 2Ch 33:6). It was where Molech, the fertility fire god, was worshiped by child sacrifice (cf. Lev 18:21).
SPECIAL TOPIC: MOLECH
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
I will not transgress. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 19:8).
transgress. Hebrew. ‘abar. A Homonym. Here = serve; else where = transgress. Not the same word as in verses: Jer 8:29.
high hill . . . green tree. The places where the Asherah was worshipped. App-42.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jer 2:20-26. For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go. As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets,
And there are many people whose repentance is of no more value than the shame of a thief, when he is found out. Oh, for something better and deeper than this!
Jer 2:26-27. So is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
Some men never pray except in stormy weather. Their religion is wholly dependent upon their condition and circumstances. If all is going well with them, they bend not their knees before the Lord, but when they are in sore distress, and especially if they think they are likely soon to die, then they cry unto God, Arise, and save us, with no more true faith than these idolaters had when they cried to their powerless idols.
Jer 2:28-30. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD. In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
So far from accepting Gods rebukes in the right spirit, and forsaking their idol gods, they even turned upon the Lords messengers and put his prophets to death.
Jer 2:31. O generation, see ye the word of the LORD.
If you will not hear it, see it.
Jer 2:31. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?
Do you not see, says the Lord to these rebellious people, how much I have done for you? Have you forgotten the numberless mercies I have lavished upon you? I have kept from you nothing that was really good for you. When you worshipped me in sincerity and in truth, you prospered exceedingly; but when you turned away from me, you made a sad mistake. See, then, the sermons which providence itself preached to you if ye will not hear what my prophets say to you in my name.
Jer 2:32. Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
The very beauty of a believer his glorious dress is his God. Then can we ever forget him; or all the precious things of the covenant of grace which he so freely bestows upon us? Can we can we have fallen so low as to forget the God to whom we owe so much? Alas, he can still say, My people have forgotten me days without number.
Jer 2:33-34. Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.
Gods ancient people had so completely turned away from him, and wandered so far from him, that they had practiced all manner of evil in order to prove their love for other gods. They even went among the heathen, and taught them to sin yet worse than they had sinned before. This was most shameful backsliding, a horrible evil in the sight of God.
Jer 2:35. Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me.
The most guilty people are often the most self-righteous. The sinful nation, which ought to have pleaded guilty, here says, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me.
Jer 2:35. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.
That is the great abuse of quarrel between God and men. Many a man still says, I have not sinned, although Gods law condemns him, and the very office of the Saviour proves that the guilty one needed to be saved by One who was almighty. Self-righteousness is a thing which God utterly abhors.
Jer 2:36. Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
First they trusted to Assyria to save them; and when that broken reed failed them, then they trusted to Egypt; and in a similar fashion, we go from one false hope to another, from one carnal confidence to another, gadding about to change our way; yet, all the while, refusing to turn unto the Lord.
Jer 2:37. Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head:
Thou shalt go forth as a captive, with thine hands bound above thy head; or, like one in great pain or sorrow, thou shalt hold thine hands to thy head.
Jer 2:37. For the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.
May God, in his mercy, save all of us from false confidences, both now and throughout our whole lives!
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Jer 2:20-25
Jer 2:20-25
“For of old time I have broken thy yoke and burst thy bonds; and thou saidst, I will not serve; for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the harlot. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine unto me? For though thou wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord Jehovah. How canst thou say, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind in her desire; in her occasion, who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst. But thou saidst, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.”
The change to the first person in Jer 2:20 should not be confusing. This type of abrupt change of persons is common in most of the Biblical writings. The Anchor Bible gives the true meaning of the passage thus:
“Long ago you snapped your yoke,
Shook off your lines.
And said, “I will not serve!”
Nay, on every high hill,
Under every green tree,
There you sprawled a-whoring.
Even more explicit is the rendition of Thompson who rendered the last two lines here as:
“And under every green tree
You sprawled in sexual vice.
All are familiar with the usual scholarly emphasis that harlotry and adultery in the Bible are actually metaphors for turning from the worship of God to any form of false worship; but the raw facts of human lust and depravity were basic factors involved in such “spiritual adultery”. “The reference in Jer 2:20 is to the fertility cults of ancient Canaan, whose rites included so-called sacred prostitution and the ritual self-dedication of young women to the god of fertility.
As Feinberg put it, “It must not be forgotten that sexual immorality of the lowest order was always a part of this so-called worship. There can be no doubt whatever that the basic attraction to the Hebrews of the Baalim cults was precisely this: they provided abundant gratification of sexual lust upon the payment of the usual fee of a cake of raisins. As Ash expressed it, “The harlotry, or whoredom, was both literal in the sexually oriented worship of Baal, and spiritual in the people’s abandonment of Jehovah for other gods.
These verses, and through Jer 2:29, furnish a list of seven similes illustrating Israel’s apostasy: (1) She is like an ox that throws off the yoke and refuses to work; (2) She is like a prostitute. (3) She is like the choice grapevine that became a corrupt vine yielding poisonous berries. (4) Israel’s guilt is a stain that neither lye nor soap can remove. (5) She is like a she-camel in @@rut, running around in all directions seeking a mate. (6) She is like a she-ass in heat, crazed by desire, seeking a male partner. (7) The shame of Israel is like that of a thief who has been caught. All of these analogies are developed by Hyatt.
Jer 2:21 gives Jeremiah’s version of the “corrupt vine” a passage with the same essential message as that of Isa 5:1-7. The message is that the promising nation of Israel had degenerated beyond all hope of its being preserved. “The noble or choice vine which God planted, in the Hebrew is literally `Sorek vine,’ a high-quality red grape grown between Jerusalem and the Mediterranean.”
Jer 2:22 points out that Israel’s uncleanness was of a type that soap and water, even with lye, could in no manner cleanse. This is the fourth simile describing the wickedness of the Once Chosen People: (1) the ox that threw off her yoke, (2) the unfaithful wife who became a whore, (3) the noble vine that degenerated into a corrupt plant; and (4) their person so filthy that lye and soap were powerless to cleanse her!
“How canst thou say, I am not defiled …” (Jer 2:23)? Keil identified the “valley” mentioned here as “Ben-Hinnom, to the south of Jerusalem, where children were offered to Molech, … and taken in connection with what follows, the words certainly imply the continued existence of practices of that sort.”
In Jer 2:23-24, we have two more of the similes regarding Israel’s guilt, (5) that of the young camel filly and (6) that of the she-ass, the behavior of either of them in heat being regarded as a description of the crazed, lustful search of Israel for illegal lovers. Those particular animals, when their time is upon them, search frantically for the male counterpart, not waiting to be sought by them. This was the manner of Israel’s shameless pursuit of gratification in the shrines and “high places” of the pagan cults.
“Withhold thy foot from being unshod …” (Jer 2:25). This is a plea by the prophet that Israel should stop running barefooted after lovers, forcing herself into a state of thirst, in her mad, lustful pursuit of false lovers, “Like a shameless adulteress, running after strangers.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
For of: Jer 30:8, Exo 3:8, Lev 26:13, Deu 4:20, Deu 4:34, Deu 15:15, Isa 9:4, Isa 10:27, Isa 14:25, Nah 1:13
and thou saidst: Exo 19:8, Exo 24:3, Deu 5:27, Deu 26:17, Jos 1:16, Jos 24:16-24, 1Sa 12:10
transgress: or, serve
when upon: Jer 3:6, Deu 12:2, 1Ki 12:32, Psa 78:58, Isa 57:5-7, Eze 16:24, Eze 16:25, Eze 16:31, Eze 20:28
playing: Jer 3:1, Jer 3:6-8, Exo 34:14-16, Deu 12:2, Isa 1:21, Eze 16:15, Eze 16:16, Eze 16:28, Eze 16:41, Eze 23:5, Hos 2:5, Hos 3:3
Reciprocal: Gen 38:24 – played the harlot 2Ki 12:3 – General Pro 7:12 – General Ecc 6:9 – wandering of the desire Isa 1:29 – the gardens Isa 57:7 – General Jer 3:2 – unto Jer 3:13 – and hast scattered Jer 13:27 – thine adulteries Jer 17:2 – their altars Jer 28:4 – I will break Jer 50:6 – on the Lam 4:13 – that Eze 6:3 – to the mountains Eze 6:13 – upon Eze 11:21 – their detestable Eze 34:27 – when I Hos 12:11 – their altars
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 2:20. The weakness of inconstancy was nowhere more evident than in the conduct of Israel through the long history of the nation. Time after time in the journey through the wilderness the people did wrong, felt sorry and promised to do better, then fell back into sin again. After reaching the promised land and heing established in it as a nation of the Lord, the same old tendency to forget God showed up from time to time. The most outstanding sin was idolatry, and the evident explanation is that it was the most prevalent iniquity in sight. Man Is inclined to be affected most by that which is nearest him. All of the nations near Israel were idolaters and produced a strong influence over the people of God. Trees in themselves are not evil things but are among the noble objects of God’s creation. But the heathen nations had connected their idol worship so generally with the groves that the mere sight of even one green (living) tree suggested the erecting of an idol. If no means were available for making the Idol, the devoted idolater would fall down before the tree and offer his worship. This practice led God to make laws regarding the planting of groves, especially near any altar of the true services. Playing the harlot is using the corruption in the moral world to illustrate unfaithfulness in the reli-gious. The comparison is logical and not just a strict notion of God as his enemies might think. If a married person has intimate relations with some one besides the lawful partner, it is recognized by everyone as being wrong and receives the name of adultery. On the same principle, if a person who professes to be married or joined to the true God should have intimate religious relations with some other god, it is like the unfaithfulness of the married partner. That is why God associated jealousy with the sin of idolatry in his law on the tables of the ten commandments (Exodus 20; Exodus 5).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 2:20-21. For of old time I have broken thy yoke That is, I have delivered thee from the bondage and tyranny that thou wast under, of old time, in Egypt; as also divers times besides. See the book of Judges. And burst thy bands Alluding either to the bands and fetters with which prisoners were wont to be bound, Jer 40:4, or those bands wherewith yokes were usually fastened upon the necks of beasts. And thou saidst, I will not transgress When the deliverance was fresh, thou didst form good resolutions. This translation is according to the marginal reading of the Masoretes; but in the Hebrew text, confirmed by the LXX., Syriac, and Vulgate, we read , I will not serve, namely, Jehovah. According to this reading, which seems very just and unexceptionable, and is approved by Houbigant and Dr. Waterland, the meaning of the passage is, that even after the Jews had been freed, by God, from their Egyptian bondage, and admitted into an immediate covenant and alliance with him, they had been guilty of the utmost ingratitude in refusing obedience to the divine law, and particularly in respect to the prohibition of idolatry. When upon every high hill, and under every green tree, &c. Alluding to their worshipping their idols upon the hills, and under the trees; thou wanderest, playing the harlot Worshipping false gods. As idolatry is frequently called whoredom in the Scripture language, so the prophet describes the Israelites under the image of a strolling harlot, seeking for lovers wherever she can, without any shame. Yet I planted thee a noble vine Hebrew, the vine of Sorek; concerning which see note on Isa 5:2. Israel is here compared to a shoot, or branch, taken from a generous or good vine, and transferred to another soil, where it degenerates. Wholly a right seed Without any mixture; the offspring of those true believers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: and the laws which I gave thee, and the means of grace which I afforded thee, were sufficient to have made thee fruitful in every good work. How then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine? That is, one which has degenerated from the nature of the vine whence it was taken, and bears worse fruit than that did. The constitution of the Israelitish government, both in church and state, was excellent; their laws righteous, and all their ordinances instructive, and very significant; and there was a generation of good men among them, when they first settled in Canaan. For we learn, Jos 24:31, that Israel served the Lord, and kept close to him, all the days of Joshua, and of the elders that outlived Joshua. They were then wholly a right seed, likely to replenish the vineyard they were planted in with choice vines: but it proved otherwise; the very next generation knew not the Lord, nor the works that he had done, Jdg 2:10, and they grew worse and worse, till they became the degenerate plant of a strange vine The very reverse of what they were at first. Their constitution was now quite broken, and there was nothing in them of that good which one might have expected from a people so happily formed; nothing of the purity or piety of their ancestors; but their vine was, according to Mosess prediction, as the vine of Sodom.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2:20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, [and] burst thy bands; and thou saidst, {f} I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
(f) When I delivered you out of Egypt, Exo 19:8, De 5:27, Jos 24:16, Ezr 10:12, Heb 8:6 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Evidences of Israel’s ingratitude 2:20-25
Baal worship fascinated the Israelites, but it was futile.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord had broken the yoke of Egypt off His people at the Exodus and had set them free, but, being ungrateful, they refused to yield to Him in covenant faithfulness. [Note: The Septuagint and Vulgate translations have "you" instead of "I broke your yoke." The translators interpreted this verse to mean that Israel had long ago thrown off all restraint. But the Hebrew text is probably correct here.] Rather, the Israelites had prostituted themselves to the gods of Canaan, worshipping idols at their hilltop and grove shrines.
". . . the ’sexual revolution’ introduced in the 1960s is not only permissive: it has its own propaganda to create a view of sex as virtually life’s chief concern and most authoritative voice-certainly one that can override the voice of God." [Note: Kidner, p. 33.]