Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 2:17
Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
17. when he led thee by the way ] If the text be right, the reference is to wilderness journeyings. But there can be little doubt that the words (omitted by LXX) have arisen from a scribe’s error in writing twice over the first four Hebrew words of Jer 2:18.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The way – Either, the journey through the wilderness, or the way of holiness.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Hast thou not procured this unto thyself? here God by his prophet shows that they may thank themselves for all that is hastening upon them. See Num 32:23.
In that thou hast forsaken the Lord: here he shows wherein, viz. in forsaking God: not that he left them, but they him, and that without any temptation or provocation; and therefore were the more inexcusable.
When he led thee by the way, viz. by the conduct of his providence in the wilderness, keeping thee in safety from all dangers, Exo 13:21,22; Isa 63:12,13; or in the way of his counsels, which the ways of their own carnal wisdom were so opposite unto.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. Literally, “Has not thyforsaking the Lord . . . procured this (calamity) to thee?” Sothe Septuagint: the Masoretic accents make “this”the subject of the verb, leaving the object to beunderstood. “Has not this procured (it, that is, theimpending calamity) unto thee, that hast forsaken?” &c. (Jer4:18).
led (De32:10).
the wayThe articleexpresses the right way, the way of the Lord:namely, the moral training which they enjoyed in the Mosaic covenant.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Hast thou not procured this unto thyself,…. All this desolation and destruction, both from the Egyptians and the Babylonians; their sin was the cause of it, their idolatry and forsaking the Lord their God, as follows: and so the Targum,
“is not this vengeance taken upon thee?”
that is, by the Lord, for their sins and transgressions; he suffered these nations to make them desolate on that account: to which agrees the Septuagint version, “hath not he done these things unto thee?” for what the Egyptians and Babylonians did were done by the will of the Lord, who suffered them for their correction: and the Arabic version renders it, “have not I done these things unto thee?” and the Syriac as a prophecy, as indeed so is the whole, “lo, so it shall be done to thee”; as is predicted in the foregoing verses, and that for the following reason:
in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God; as in Jer 2:13,
[See comments on Jer 2:13], that is, as the Targum interprets it, the worship of the Lord thy God, his service, his statutes, and his ordinances; and followed after idols, and the worship of them; which is aggravated by the circumstance of time in which this was done:
when he led thee by the way? who showed thee the right way, and thou walkedst not in it, as the Targum; the way in which they should have gone, the way of their duty, and his commandments; and which would have been pleasant and profitable to them, and secured them from ruin and destruction.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Now follows the cause; the Prophet, after having shewn that Israel were forsaken by God, now mentions the reason why it so happened, Has not this done it for thee? Some read in the second person, “Hast thou not done this for thee?” but the meaning is still nearly the same. More probable, however, is the rendering which others have given, “Has not this happened to thee, because thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God?” Jeremiah, in short, teaches us that the cause of all the evils was the defection of the people, as though he had said, “Thou hast concocted for thyself all this evil; then must thou swallow it, and know that the blame cannot be cast on God; for he would have been faithful to thee, except thine impiety had prevented him. God has not, indeed, chosen thee in vain, nor has he in vain preferred thee to other nations; but thou hast rejected his kindness. Thy condition then would have never been as it is, hadst thou not procured thine own ruin.” How so? “Because thou hast departed from thy God.”
And he further exaggerates this sin by saying, At the time when he led thee in the way To lead in the way, is rightly to govern, so as to make people happy. The Prophet then shews, that the people’s perfidy and defection were without excuse in rejecting the worship of their God, for they were happy during the time they served him. Had they been in various ways tempted, or tried, they might have reigned some pretense. “We thought ourselves deceived in hoping in the true God, for he concealed his favor from us; we were therefore compelled by necessity. There ought at least some indulgence to be shewn to our levity; for we could have formed no other conjecture but that God had removed far from us.” The Prophet meets this objection, as he does in the fifth verse, “What iniquity have your fathers found in me?” and, as it is done in another place,
“
My people, what have I done to thee, or in what have I been troublesome to thee?” (Mic 6:4)
for God in that passage shews that he was prepared to defend his own cause, and to clear himself from whatever the people might object to him. So also he does in this place, “I have led thee,” he says, “in the way;” that is, “Thou didst live happily under my government, and yet I could not retain thee by my goodness while I kindly treated thee; and thou knewest that nothing could be better for thee than to continue under my protection; but thou hast determined to go over into the service of idols. Now what excuse hast thou, or what pretense is left thee?” We hence see, that the sin of the people is greatly enhanced, for they were induced by no temptation or trial to forsake God, but through mere perfidy gave themselves up to idols: and a confirmation of this verse follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) Hast thou not procured this . . .?The secret cause of the calamities is brought to light. Jehovah was leading Israel, but Israel has chosen another path, and so has procured sorrow upon sorrow to himself. The way here is scarcely the literal path through the wilderness, but much rather the true way of life.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Hast thou not procured this This has come from forsaking the Lord thy God, when he led thee by the way No lions are in that way. It is not a way of servitude and sorrow. It may lead into a region of drought and death-shade, but it shall also be through it. To the eye of sense it may be devious and difficult, but to the eye of faith it leads directly to the promised land.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 2:17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
Ver. 17. Hast thou not procured this to thyself? ] The same may the Lord say to every sufferer: and further add, “Did not I warn you, saying, Sin not against the child?” Gen 42:22 Oh, do not this abominable thing! your iniquities will undoubtedly be your ruin, &c.
When he led thee by the way.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
He led thee. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 32:12).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Hast thou: Jer 2:19, Jer 4:18, Lev 26:15-46, Num 32:23, Deu 28:15-68, Job 4:8, Isa 1:4, Hos 13:9
in that: Jer 2:13, 1Ch 28:9, 2Ch 7:19, 2Ch 7:20
when he: Deu 32:19, Psa 77:20, Psa 78:53, Psa 78:54, Psa 107:7, Psa 136:16, Isa 63:11-14
Reciprocal: Gen 14:12 – who Gen 16:8 – whence Gen 42:21 – we saw 1Sa 28:15 – I am sore 2Ch 29:6 – have forsaken him Isa 27:8 – thou wilt Jer 1:16 – who have Jer 3:25 – for we have sinned Jer 5:6 – because Jer 5:25 – General Jer 7:19 – they provoke Jer 13:22 – the greatness Jer 14:16 – for Jer 15:6 – forsaken Jer 17:13 – forsaken Jer 19:4 – they have Jer 22:9 – General Jer 44:3 – of their Lam 5:16 – woe Eze 18:25 – are Eze 39:24 – General Mic 1:5 – the transgression of Jacob Zep 1:6 – turned Zep 1:17 – because Luk 15:13 – and took
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 2:17. This is a severe but just rebuke of the nation and lays the blame for the misfortunes of the people of Israel at their own door. They had been warned even as long ago as the days of Moses (Deuteronomy 28) that such experiences would come upon them if they went after false gods.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 2:17. Hast thou not procured this unto thyself? Are not all these calamities owing to thy sins, thy known and wilful sins? By their sinful confederacies with the nations, and especially their conformity to them in their idolatrous customs and usages, they had made themselves very mean and contemptible, as all those do that have made a profession of religion, and afterward throw it off. Nothing now appeared of that which, by their constitution, made them both honourable and formidable, and therefore the neighbouring nations neither respected nor feared them. But this was not all: they had provoked God to give them up into the hands of their enemies, who, after becoming a dreadful scourge to them, at last subdued them, and overturned their government. And thus they brought their miseries upon themselves, in forsaking the Lord their God, in revolting from their allegiance to him, and so throwing themselves out of his protection; for protection and allegiance go together. When he led thee, &c. Hebrew, , at the time, the very time, he was leading thee by the way. Then, when he was leading thee on to a happy peace and settlement, and thou wast arrived at the very borders of it, thou didst draw back, and forsake thy guide. We may observe here, that although Josiah was a very pious prince, and exerted himself to the utmost to restore the worship of God, breaking down the altars and groves, and beating the graven images into powder, &c., 2 Chronicles 34., 35., nevertheless, from the complaints of Jeremiah, and his reproofs of their idolatry, it sufficiently appears that the people were far from being reformed.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2:17 Hast thou not procured this to thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he {b} led thee by the way?
(b) Showing that God would have still led them correctly, if they would have followed him.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Now comes the answer to the question posed in Jer 2:14. The Israelites had brought these calamities on themselves by forsaking Yahweh, their God, who had led them so competently in the earlier years of their history.