Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 2
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Jeremiah 2
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Jeremiah 2
"And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying," — Jeremiah 2:1 (ASV)
The first chapter had given the narrative of the call which had impressed itself indelibly on the prophet’s mind. The next five run on as one continuous whole. Considering that the original record of his prophetic work during Josiah’s reign had been destroyed by Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 36:23) and was later rewritten from memory, it is probable that we have a kind of précis of what was then destroyed, with some additions (Jeremiah 36:32) and possibly some omissions. In Jeremiah 3:6, the name of Josiah is definitely mentioned.
"Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals; how thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown." — Jeremiah 2:2 (ASV)
Go and cry ... —The scene of the call, we may believe, was in his home at Anathoth. Now the prophet is sent to begin his work in Jerusalem.
I remember you. —Literally, I have remembered for you.
The love of your espousals. —The imagery was one derived, as we find so often in Jeremiah’s writings, from the older prophets. It was implied in the jealous God of Exodus 20:5, illustrated by an actual history, which was also a parable, in Hosea 1-3, and after its use by Jeremiah, expanded more fully by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 16).
The “espousals” are thought of as coinciding with the great covenant of Exodus 24:8, when the people solemnly entered into the relation to which God called them. Then the bride was ready to follow her lord and husband even in an unsown land—the waste howling wilderness of Deuteronomy 32:10. The faithfulness of the past is contrasted with the unfaithfulness of the present.
When you went after me. —Literally, your going after me.
"Israel [was] holiness unto Jehovah, the first-fruits of his increase: all that devour him shall be held guilty; evil shall come upon them, saith Jehovah." — Jeremiah 2:3 (ASV)
Holiness unto the Lord. —The thought was that expressed in the inscription on the gold plate worn on the high priest’s forehead (Exodus 28:36), and in the term “holy thing” (Leviticus 22:10; Matthew 7:6), applied to the consecrated gifts which were the portion of the priests. The prophet was taught that Israel, as a nation, had a priestly character, and was consecrated to the Lord as the “firstfruits” of the great harvest of the world. Compare the use of the same figure in James 1:18; Romans 11:16.
All that devour him shall offend.—The imagery of the firstfruits is continued. The Hebrew for the word “offend” is used for transgressions against the ceremonial law in Leviticus 5:5; Leviticus 5:19; Numbers 5:7. Here, however, it is probably better rendered, shall be condemned, or shall be made to suffer, as in Psalms 34:21-22, where the Authorized Version has shall be desolate. Those who devour Israel—the enemies and invaders, the tyrants and oppressors—are guilty as of a sacrilege that will not remain unpunished.
"thus saith Jehovah, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?" — Jeremiah 2:5 (ASV)
Vanity: In the special sense, as a synonym for idol-worship (Deuteronomy 32:21; 1 Kings 16:13). As in the character of a husband wronged by his wife’s desertion Jehovah pleads with His people, and asks whether He has failed in anything.
"Neither said they, Where is Jehovah that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that none passed through, and where no man dwelt?" — Jeremiah 2:6 (ASV)
Neither said they. — In somewhat of the same tone as in Deuteronomy 8:15 and Deuteronomy 32:10, the horrors of the wilderness are painted in vivid colors, to heighten the contrast with the land into which they had been brought. The picture was true in part, but not of the whole, of the region of the wanderings. But the people had forgotten this. There was no seeking the Lord who had then been so gracious. The question, “Where is He?” never crossed their minds.
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