A plentiful country . "A Carmel land," as it were (so Payne Smith). "Carmel" is strictly an appellative noun, meaning" garden-land," i.e; land planted with vines and other choice plants. So Jeremiah 4:26 ; Isaiah 29:17 ; Isaiah 37:24 . read more
The priests , etc. The blame principally falls on the three leading classes (as in Jeremiah 2:26 ; Micah 3:11 ). First on the priests who "handle the Law ," i . e . who have a traditional knowledge of the details of the Law, and teach the people accordingly ( Deuteronomy 17:9-11 ; Deuteronomy 33:10 ; Jeremiah 18:18 ; see also on Jeremiah 8:8 ); next on the "pastors," or "shepherds" (in the Homeric sense), the civil and not the spiritual authorities; so generally in the... read more
Wickedness in leading men. The great indictment of Israel reaches its climax in the accusation of the leaders of the people. Even they who should have been the guardians of truth and the vindicators of right have turned aside to evil ways. After this the defection of the whole nation appears utter and hopeless. We have here an instance of the terrible condition into which a country has fallen when its leaders, its teachers, its responsible civil and religious authorities, are unfaithful to... read more
I will yet plead , etc. Repeated acts of rebellion call forth repeated abjurations and punishments. With your children's children . For God "visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children" ( Exodus 20:5 ). read more
Justification of Jehovah's judicial action towards Judah. Consider the heinousness of the offence. Pass over —rather, pass over to— the isles of Chittim ; i.e. the islands and maritime countries of the West, represented by Cyprus (see on Genesis 10:4 ). For the wide use of Chittim, comp. Numbers 24:24 ; Daniel 11:30 ). Kedar , in the narrower sense, is a large tribe of Arabian origin, whose haunts were between Arabia Petraea and Babylonia. Here, however, it is used in a wider... read more
Heathendom gives an unconscious rebuke to apostate Israel. From humiliating contrast of the present conduct of Israel with what might have been reasonably expected from the peculiar experiences of the past, God now turns to make a contrast more humiliating still with heathen nations. The request to look back is succeeded by a request to look round . Search through every nation, inquire in every idol temple, watch the religious life of idolaters, and everywhere you will see a fidelity... read more
The marvel of unbelief. A magnificent apostrophe. Yet this is no mere rhetoric. There is a terrible reality in the phenomenon to which attention is directed. Chittim, the general name of the islands and coast of the eastern Mediterranean, stands for the extreme west; and Kedar, the general name of the Arabs of the desert for the extreme east of the "world," with which the prophet and his hearers were familiar. Our "from China to Peru" would represent its meaning to us. I. THE ... read more
Hath a nation changed their gods ? Has any heathen nation ever changed its idol-god for another? The prophet clearly implies a negative answer; and yet it must be admitted that the adoption of a new religion, under the pressure of conquest or a higher foreign civilization is not an unknown phenomenon in the ancient world. Glory; i . e . source of all outward prosperity (comp. Psalms 3:3 ," my Glory, and the Lifter up Of my head"). Religion was, in fact, the root of national life in... read more
Be astonished . "Be appalled" would more nearly express the force of the Hebrew (so Jeremiah 18:16 ; Jeremiah 19:8 ). Be ye very desolate ; literally, become dry; i . e . not so much "shrivel and roll up" (on the analogy of Isaiah 34:4 ), as "become stiff with horror." read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 2:6
Neither said they, etc.; as their children's children were forced by stress of trouble to say ( Isaiah 63:11 ; see note). A land of desserts and of pits. The first phrase applied to the region through which the Israelites passed ("a wilderness") was vague, and might mean merely pasture-land. The remainder of the description, however, shows that "wilderness" is here meant, as often (e.g. Isaiah 35:1 ; Isaiah 50:2 ), in the sense of "desert." Though recent travelers have shown that the... read more