John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 2:25

"Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go." — Jeremiah 2:25 (ASV)

Withhold your foot from being unshod That it may not be unshod, be naked and bare. The sense is, either, as some, do not take long journeys into foreign countries for help, as into Assyria and Egypt, whither they used to go barefoot; or wore out their shoes by their long journeys, and so returned without; or refrain from idolatry, as Jarchi interprets it, that you may not go naked into captivity; or this is an euphemism, as others think, forbidding adulterous actions, showing the naked foot, the putting off of the shoes, in order to lie upon the bed, and prostitute herself to her lovers; and is to be understood of idolatry:

and your throat from thirst ; after wine, which excites lust; abstain from eager and burning lust after adulterous, that is, idolatrous practices; so the Targum, ``refrain your feet from being joined with the people, and your mouth from worshipping the idols of the people.''

The words are paraphrased in the Talmud ^F5 thus, ``withhold yourself from sinning, that your foot may not become naked; (the gloss is, "when you go into captivity") refrain your tongue from idle words, that your throat may not thirst:'' this was said by the Lord, or by the prophets of the Lord sent unto them, to which the following is an answer:

but you said, there is no hope ; of ever being prevailed upon to relinquish those idolatrous practices, or of being received into the favour of God after such provocations: no; I will never refrain from them; I will not be persuaded to leave them:

for I have loved strangers ; the strange gods of the nations:

and after them will I go ; and worship them; so the Targum, ``I love to he joined to the people, and after the Worship of their idols will I go.''

---

FOOTNOTES:

• F5: T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 77. 1.