Jeremiah 2 Study Notes

2:1-20 In this section God recalled the “honeymoon” he had enjoyed with Israel from the time of the exodus to the events at Mount Sinai (Ex 3-24). During that time the people believed the Lord and worshiped him (Ex 4:29-31; 12:22-28; 14:31; see also Hs 2:15; 9:10). However, Israel soon murmured, grumbled, and complained (Ex 14:11; 15:24; 16:2; 17:2). These early “gripe sessions” illustrated a lack of faith, but full-fledged rebellion and apostasy were often the marks of Israel in the years following the establishment of the covenant at Mount Sinai (known as the Sinaitic covenant).

2:2 The loyalty of your youth uses the beautiful Hebrew word chesed for “loyalty” (see Ps 136). It occurs 248 times in the OT and speaks of the “loving-kindness” or “unfailing devotion” Israel (depicted as a bride) initially showed to her bridegroom, the Lord.

2:3 That Israel will be the firstfruits of his harvest, rather than the only fruits, anticipates other peoples and nations coming to the Lord. Israel was holy to the Lord in the same way that certain offerings were called “holy” or “hallowed.” They were set aside from common or ordinary use to be reserved for the Lord (Nm 18:8-19,26-29). Israel was also called God’s “firstborn” (Ex 4:22; Jr 31:9), meaning first in preeminence and rank.

2:5 The rhetorical what fault did your fathers find in me uses the language of divorce proceedings (Dt 24:1), as if God had proven to be an unworthy marital partner. But God was not to blame for Israel’s apostasy. God had remained faithful, but Israel departed from the covenant to follow worthless idols. The word for “worthless” is the same term used in Ecclesiastes for “vanity.” These idols were mere fictions, the products of human imagination.

2:6 Forgetting the story of redemption, Israel soon forgot about God (they stopped asking, “Where is the Lord . . . ?”).

2:7 The words fertile land are literally “land of Carmel.” Mount Carmel was renowned for its luxurious vegetation and crops (Am 1:2; Mc 7:14).

2:8 Four types of leaders are charged for failing to carry out their responsibilities and for allowing apostasy and unfaithfulness to take over in Israel: priests . . . experts in the law . . . rulers (lit “the shepherds,” used metaphorically of political leaders in the OT), and false prophets who prophesied by Baal.

2:9 Therefore introduces a prophetic announcement about coming judgment. God will take his nation to court, and he will act as both plaintiff and judge.

2:10-12 Here is God’s courtroom accusation: Israel had behaved ludicrously. They exchanged their Glory for useless idols. Though they alone among the nations knew the one true and living God, they left him to worship mute objects of stone and wood. Look from Cyprus to Kedar in the desert east of Transjordan, God says, and nowhere will you find another nation making such a foolish exchange, for no other nation had the privilege of knowing the living God. What a privilege Israel had forsaken!

2:13 As the fountain of living water, or a flowing spring, God is the source of everlasting life (17:13; Is 55:1; Zch 13:1; Jn 4:10-14; 7:37-39). In defiance of God as the source of life, Judah had dug her own wells (metaphorically speaking) in the earth and plastered their sides to hold in stale rainwater, only to have the plaster crack, the cisterns fail, and the water escape. Such is the futility of false religion.

2:14-19 God asks six rhetorical questions. In contrast to the safety they enjoyed in their honeymoon days with the Lord, now the nations attack Israel at will. She was not born a slave, so how did she become everyone else’s prey? God says the discipline was a result of Israel’s own evil (v. 19).

2:15 The young lions figuratively designate Israel’s enemies, especially the Assyrians (see notes at Ps 7:1-2; Nah 2:11-13).

2:16 Memphis was the capital of Lower Egypt, approximately thirteen miles south of Cairo. Tahpanhes was a fortress close to the northeastern boundary of Egypt. The Egyptians would become allies with the Assyrians in the destruction of Judah.

2:18 The Hebrew word translated Nile is shichor, meaning “blackness.” Referring to the Nile River in this way denigrates its status as a god among the Egyptians. Hence, it was futile for Judah to trust Assyria or Egypt to rescue them from the coming threat.

2:19 Again and again Jeremiah pleaded with Judah “to turn back” (Hb shuv) to the Lord. Instead, Judah’s ongoing apostasies (Hb meshuvah, from the same root as shuv) earned her reprimand from God. Apostasies are characterized as backsliding or rebellion (3:6-8,11-12,14-22; 5:6; 8:5; 14:7; 31:22).

2:20-28 Five images in this section describe Judah’s breaking the covenant with God: (1) a beast that has broken loose from its yoke, (2) choice grapes that have gone wild, (3) a stain that will not wash off, (4) a young female camel that cannot walk straight, and (5) a wild donkey in heat, sniffing the wind for a male companion.

2:21 The Sorek vine (a choice vine) grew in the Wadi al-Sarar and yielded a much-prized red wine. Israel was once this vine, but turned degenerate and yielded inferior grapes.

2:22 Lye is probably a reference to niter, a mineral alkali deposited on the shores of some lakes in Egypt. Bleach was a vegetable alkali, made by pouring water through wood ashes (Theodore Laetsch).

2:23 A swift young camel could cause a lot of damage if turned loose in a crowded place, for it would be reckless in its direction and unsteady in its gait.

2:24 This female wild donkey was frantic for a male in the time of her heat. She could not be diverted from her sexual goal. This image depicts Judah mindlessly lusting after foreign gods.

2:26-28 God satirically mocked his people’s adoption of Canaanite worship by reversing the genders of the pagan gods. He depicts Judah saying to a tree (representing the goddess Asherah in the form of a standing pole), You are my father, and to a stone (probably the stone pillars representing the male Canaanite deity), You gave birth to me.

2:29-30 Judah was complaining about God’s treatment of them. But they were in rebellion against him, so he had struck down their children; even that failed to get their attention.

2:31 Following the exodus from Egypt, God guided Israel through the wilderness, but now the people declared, We will go where we want, which signifies the rejection of divine guidance.

2:32 No bride would forget her treasured wedding sash (bride’s gown) or bridal jewelry, but faithless Judah had forgotten her marriage vows to the Lord (v. 2).

2:33 Even prostitutes could learn a thing or two from Judah, so skilled was the nation at pursuing other lovers.

2:34-35 In the Mosaic law there was no guilt on someone who beat to death a thief caught breaking into his house (Ex 22:2).

2:36 Judah will be put to shame by Egypt, just as they had been by Assyria. Pharaoh Psammetich II (663-610 BC) had gained Egypt’s independence from Assyria while King Ashurbanipal of Assyria was fending off revolutionaries. Judah thought the time was right to form an alliance with Egypt against Assyria, but this was doomed to failure. Instead of seeking human alliances to gain security, they should have sought a right relationship with God.