Jeremiah 2

— traversing her ways;] That is, winding or crossing her way or path: running up and down in a disorderly manner. Parkhurst. 24. — all they that seek her will not weary themselves; &c.] The animal is described in the season of her lust, when “all they that seek her,” that is, the males, “will not weary themselves,” but on the contrary will find her eager to meet them. Calmet.

polluted?] See Deut. xxiv. 4; and the note there. 2. — In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; That is, thou hast waited for opportunities of practising thine idolatries, as the Arabian waits for a prey in the wilderness. Bp. Hall. The Arabs wait for caravans with the most violent avidity,

Jeremiah 2:3

3. Israel was holiness unto the Lord, &c.] Israel was then consecrated to the Lord, and set apart for his service; as the first-fruits are wont to be sequestered and devoted to God, so that all who devour them bring evil upon themselves. Bp. Hall.

Jeremiah 2:5

5. — walked after vanity.] That is, after the idolatrous worship of the heathens. Idols are commonly styled “vanities,” chap. x. 15; xiv. 22; xvi. 19; and “things of nought,” chap. xiv. 14; because “an idol is nothing in the world,” as St. Paul speaks, 1 Cor. viii. 4. W. Lowth.

6. — a land—of pits. Irwin describes the wilderness, through which God led his chosen people, as presenting in various parts a wild confusion of hanging precipices, disjointed rocks, and hideous and horrid chasms, which appear very alarming and tremendous to travellers. Harmer.

— the shadow of death.] This image was borrowed from those dusky caverns and holes among the rocks, which the Jews ordinarily chose for their burying-places; where death seemed to hover continually, casting over them his broad shadow. Dr. Blayney.

Before CHRIST about 629. Or, for thy sake. a Ezek. 16. 8. b Chap. 12. 14. c Isa. 63. 9. 11. 13. Hos. 13. 4. The Jews are the causes of their own calamities. Before CHRIST about 679. d Ps. 76. 58. & 106. 38. e Rom. 2. 20. ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

Jeremiah 2:8

8. The priests said not, Where is the Lord? &c.] The priests, whose office it was to instruct others in their duty, Mal. ii. 6, 7, were ignorant or regardless of it themselves. This was the principal reason of that degeneracy of manners which prevailed among the people. See Hos. iv. 6. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 2:9

9. — I will yet plead with you.] That is, I will maintain by arguments the equity of my proceedings, and the iniquity of yours. Dr. Blayney.

10. — the isles of Chittim. See the note on Gen. x. 5. “The isles of Chittim” are Italy, and the adjacent provinces of Europe which lie along the Mediterranean sea. And as these were to the west of Judea, and Kedar in Arabia to the east, the plain purport of this passage is, Look about you to the west and to the east. Dr. Blayney.

11. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? Men are very tenacious of the religion of their forefathers, and with difficulty prevailed on to renounce it, though the change be never so reasonable. Whereas the Jews have changed the worship of the true God for idols and vanities. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 2:12

12. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, &c.] See the note on Isa. i. 2.

Jeremiah 2:13

13. — they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, &c.] God is the Author and Giver of all blessings, both spiritual and temporal; and from Him all good gifts are derived, as from an inexhaustible spring or fountain: see Ps. xxxvi. 9. And wherever else men place their happiness, whether in false religions, or in the uncertain comforts of worldly blessings, they will find themselves disappointed, just as they that expect to find water at broken cisterns or conduits. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 2:14

14. Is Israel a servant? &c.] God redeemed Israel from the bondage of Egypt, and adopted him for his son, Exod. iv. 22: so that his present servitude, and his being made a prey to so many foreign enemies, cannot be ascribed to his birth or primitive condition, but must be imputed to his sins, of which his slavery is the consequence. Compare Isa. l. 1; iii. 3. W. Lowth.

them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Jeremiah 2:15

15. The young lions roared upon him.] In the figurative style of prophecy, “lions” denote “powerful princes and conquerors.” Such were Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon: whose successive hostilities against the kingdom of Judah seem here to be foretold.

It may be observed, that the verbs in this verse express the time past; but the context shews that they must be understood of the future. Nor is it unusual for the Prophets thus to speak of events foreseen by them, as if they had been already accomplished. W. Lowth, Dr. Blayney. See the note on Deut. xxxii. 15.

Jeremiah 2:16

16. Also the children of Noph &c.] This alludes to the severe blow which the nation received in a capital part, when the good king Josiah was defeated by the Egyptians, and slam in battle: or when afterwards, upon the deposition of Jehoahaz, the glory of the monarchy was debased, by its being changed into a tributary and dependent kingdom, 2 Kings xxiii. 33, 34. Noph and Tahapanes were two principal cities of Egypt, otherwise called Memphis, and Daphnee Pelusiacae. Dr. Blayney.

— have broken the crown of thy head.] The Prophet here pursues the metaphor of the lions, ver. 15, whose custom it is “to tear the arm with the crown of the head,” Deut. xxxiii. 20. The margin reads, “feed upon thy crown;” that is, destroy and devour the principal or best parts of the country. So the best spices are called “the head of spices,” in the original, Exod. xxx. 23; Cant. iv. 14. W. Lowth.

18. — to drink the waters of Sihor? At ver. 13 it is said, that the people had “forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters;” by a like figure they are here reproved for proceeding, after the manner of the Egyptians and Assyrians, “to drink the waters of their rivers;” that is, to have recourse for help to the gods, on whom those nations placed their dependence. Sihor is a name given to the Nile, Isa. xxiii. 3; and the Euphrates is called “the river” by way of eminence. Dr. Blayney. See note on Gen. xv. 18.

Jeremiah 2:19

19. — it is an evil thing and bitter, &c.] This is ap- The sins of Judah. Before CHRIST 629.

Jeremiah 2:22

22. For though thou wash thee with nitre, &c.] Though thou endeavourest to wash away thy sins by the rites of equation prescribed by the law, or practised by idolaters; though thou insistest upon thy own innocence and justification, (ver. 23,) yet the “marks” or stains of thy sins will always appear in the sight of God, till they are cleansed by a sincere repentance and reformation. W. Lowth. — nitre.] Natron, (which is here meant by nitre,) whether native or purified, dissolves in a very small quantity of water; and this solution is in many parts of Asia used for washing: it is made into soap by mixing it with oil. Parkhurst. See note at Prov. xxv. 20.

Jeremiah 2:23

23. — see thy way in the valley.] See how thou hast prostituted thyself, and practised the grossest idolatry in the valley; alluding to those idolatrous acts which were practised in the valley of Hinnom. See chap. vii. 31; Isa. lvii. 5, 6. Dr. Blayney. The horrible practice of the Jewish idolaters, in burning their sons and their daughters in the fire, effectually confuted their pretences to innocence, since this way of worship had been expressly forbidden by God, Lev. xx. 2, &c. W. Lowth. — thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;] The impossibility of restraining one of these fleet animals, when hurried away by the impetuous call of nature, is represented as a parallel to that unbridled lust and eagerness, with which the people of Judah ran after the gratification of their passion for idolatry, which is called spiritual whoredom. Dr. Blayney.

Jeremiah 2:25

25. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, &c.] This is probably a warning to beware of the consequences of pursuing the courses they were addicted to; as if it had been said, Take care that thou dost not expose thyself by thy wicked ways to the wretched condition of going into captivity unshod, as the manner is represented, chap. xx. 4; and of serving thine enemies in hunger, and in thirst, and in want of the necessaries of life, Deut. xxviii. 48. Dr. Blayney. — but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; &c.] But thou continuest obstinate, and sayest secretly, There is no hope of my reclaiming: no; I have taken a deep affection to the strange gods of the Gentiles, and I will go after them. Bp. Hall. They are the words of desperate sinners, who are resolved to continue in their wickedness, in spite of all the reason that can be offered to the contrary. Compare chap. xviii. 12. W. Lowth. 28. — according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. The Israelites had now contracted all the habits of the Egyptians. It had been long peculiar to their superstition, for every city of that empire to have its tutelary deity, besides those which were worshipped in common. Jeremiah here tells us, that the people of Judah bore part with them in that extravagance. Bp. Warburton.

Jeremiah 2:30

30. In vain have I smitten your children; &c.] The Before CHRIST

Jeremiah 2:31

31. O generation, see ye the word of the Lord, &c.] O ye unthankful generation, attend to this word of the Lord. Have I been barren of my favours to you? Have I yielded you no variety of comfortable fruits? Have I not enlightened you with the knowledge of my name and my laws? and now, when I have brought you into your promised land, and settled you there, ye are ready to say in your presumption, We are lords, and have gotten to ourselves these dominions; we will regard Thee no more. Bp. Hall.

Jeremiah 2:33

33. Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love?] The Prophet alludes, as before ver. 20, to the practices of a common harlot, who decks herself, and uses all the inveigling arts that may recommend her. Thus has Judea tried all methods to gain the friendship of foreign idolaters, who are called her lovers. See chap. iii. 1; iv. 30; xxii. 22. W. Lowth. — therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.] Thou hast by these means not only confirmed those nations in their idolatrous practices, but hast also taught them to practise new idolatries, to which they were not accustomed. W. Lowth. 34. Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents.] Thou art plainly found guilty of the blood of my Prophets. Bp. Hall. Or, of the children offered in sacrifice to Moloch: see ver. 23; chap. xiv. 4; Ps. evi. 38. The guilt of that innocent blood was as evident upon them, as if they had murdered them with their own hands, and the stains of blood had been found upon their clothes. W. Lowth. The “skirts” may signify both the skirts of a garment and the outskirts or borders of a city or country; both which senses are probably here intended, the former being the metaphorical, the latter the literal, sense. Dr. Blayney. — I have not found it by secret search.] “I have not found it (that is, the blood) by digging,” as in the margin; or, according to the Greek and Latin versions, “in a digged hole or pit.” Compare Ezek. xxiv. 7. Parkhurst.

Jeremiah 2:36

36. — thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, &c.] The people of Judah seem to have courted the assistance of foreign nations by a sinful compliance with their idolatrous customs. This measure had failed them. Ahas made himself tributary to the king of Assyria, but it turned to his disgrace and ruin: see 2 Chron. xxviii. 21. In like manner, the Prophet says, they shall be disappointed in their expectations of succour from Egypt: see chap. xxxvii. 5. 7; Lam. iv. 17; 2 Kings xxiv. 7. Dr. Blayney, W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 2:37

37. — thine hands upon thine head.] To cover the head was a mark of great affliction. See chap. xiv. 3;