Jeremiah 2

Jeremiah 2 is a chapter near the beginning of the Book of Jeremiah. It opens the first extended prophecy that Jeremiah delivers after his call in Jeremiah 1.

Outline

• Verses 1–3 The LORD sends Jeremiah to Jerusalem. The LORD says that he remembers how Israel followed him like a bride in the wilderness, and that Israel was then "the firstfruits of his increase."
• Verses 4–8 The fathers went far from the LORD and walked after vanity. The priests, those who handle the law, the rulers, and the prophets all failed to seek the LORD, and the prophets prophesied by Baal.
• Verses 9–13 The LORD declares, "I will yet plead with you." He says that though one search as far as Chittim and Kedar, no nation has ever changed its gods, and he identifies the two evils his people have committed.
• Verses 14–19 The land has been laid waste, and the people have been harmed by the men of Noph and Tahapanes, because they forsook the LORD. He rebukes them for seeking the waters of Egypt and Assyria.
• Verses 20–28 The people broke the yoke and served idols on the hills and under every green tree. The noble vine has become a degenerate plant, and their sin remains even if they wash with nitre and much soap. The people are then likened to a wild ass, and they are accused of calling a tree and a stone their father.
• Verses 29–37 The people killed the prophets with the sword, yet claim to be innocent. The LORD says they will be ashamed of Egypt just as they were ashamed of Assyria.

Key Verses

• Jeremiah 2:13, "they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns" — a metaphor that condenses the chapter's indictment into a single sentence.
• Jeremiah 2:2, "the love of thine espousals" — an expression that likens the relationship between the LORD and Israel to a marriage.
• Jeremiah 2:21, "I had planted thee a noble vine" — a verse that continues the Old Testament tradition of portraying Israel as a vine.

People and Places

• Jeremiah: the prophet who receives and proclaims the word.
• Chittim (Kittim): Cyprus, or more broadly the islands of the western Mediterranean.
• Kedar: a nomadic tribe that lived in the Arabian desert to the east.
• Noph: generally identified as the Egyptian city of Memphis.
• Tahapanes: an Egyptian town in the eastern Nile Delta.
• Sihor: understood to refer to the Nile or one of its branches.

Points for Reflection

• The word "plead" in verses 9 and 29 evokes the image of a lawsuit brought in court. For this reason, some scholars read the chapter as a "covenant lawsuit" in which the people who broke the covenant are formally charged.
• The imagery of marriage and harlotry parallels the Book of Hosea. Christian readers sometimes meditate on it in light of the relationship between Christ and the church, although the text itself refers directly to the people of Judah.
• The image of living water is read alongside the living water that Jesus gives in John 4 and 7. The vine metaphor connects with Isaiah 5:1–7 and John 15:1–8.

In the Korean Church

The contrast between "the fountain of living waters" and "broken cisterns" is a frequently cited sermon text, used to call believers to examine lives that rely on something other than God.