Bible Commentary

For though thou wash thee with niter, and take thee much soap, [yet] thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. 22. lye ] the same as washing-soda. “It occurs as an incrustation on the ground in Egypt, Persia and elsewhere, and is also a constituent in the water of certain saline lakes. … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 2:22”

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? 21. The fault did not lie in Jehovah’s planting, but in Israel’s perversity. Hos 10:1 has the same illustration. Jeremiah has probably a reminiscence also of Isa 5:1 … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 2:21”

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 … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 2:20”

Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that [it is] an evil [thing] and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear [is] not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. 19. Thine own wickedness shall correct thee ] Thy … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 2:19”

And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? 18. what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt ] The thought is the same as that … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 2:18”

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) … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 2:17”

Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head. 16. also ] even. The sense is, those in whom thou most trustedst. Noph ] Memphis, formerly the capital of Lower (i.e. Northern) Egypt, the word Noph representing some colloquial Semitic or Egyptian pronunciation of the name. Its site was near … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 2:16”

The young lions roared upon him, [and] yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant. 15. The young lions have roared upon him, and yelled ] referring to the frequent Assyrian invasions. The lion was the symbol of Assyria (Nah 2:12 f.). Cp. Isa 5:29 (of an attacking host). burned … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 2:15”

[Is] Israel a servant? [is] he a homeborn [slave]? why is he spoiled? 14. Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave?] An emphatic negative is the reply expected, as in Jer 2:31. Israel is not a slave but a son. Why then is he spoiled? If (which is however doubtful) the early legislation, … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 2:14”

For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, [and] hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 13. “Jehovah is a fountain of living water, having life in Himself, giving life to all.” (Co.) Israel has preferred cisterns, the contents of which, vapid and … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 2:13”