Logos Bible Study

Jeremiah 2:5–7

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2:5This is what the Lord says:

“What fault could your ancestors7 have possibly found in me

that they strayed so far from me?8

They paid allegiance to9 worthless idols, and so became worthless to me.10

2:6They did not ask:

‘Where is the Lord who delivered us out of Egypt,

who brought us through the wilderness,

through a land of desert sands and rift valleys,

through a land of drought and deep darkness,11

through a land in which no one travels,

and where no one lives?’12

2:7I brought you13 into a fertile land

so you could enjoy14 its fruits and its rich bounty.

But when you entered my land, you defiled it;15

you made the land I call my own16 loathsome to me.

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Footnotes

  1. 7 Heb “fathers.”
  2. 8 Or “I did not wrong your ancestors in any way. Yet they went far astray from me.” Both translations are an attempt to render the rhetorical question which demands a negative answer.
  3. 9 Heb “They went/followed after.” This idiom is found most often in Deuteronomy or covenant contexts. It refers to loyalty to God and to his covenant or his commandments (e.g., 1 Kgs 14:8; 2 Chr 34:31) with the metaphor of a path or way underlying it (e.g., Deut 11:28; 28:14). To “follow other gods” was to abandon this way and this loyalty (i.e., to “abandon” or “forget” God, Judg 2:12; Hos 2:13) and to follow the customs or religious traditions of the pagan nations (e.g., 2 Kgs 17:15). The classic text on “following” God or another god is 1 Kgs 18:18, 21 where Elijah taunts the people with “halting between two opinions” whether the Lord was the true God or Baal was. The idiom is often found followed by “to serve and to worship” or “they served and worshiped” such and such a god or entity (see, e.g., Jer 8:2; 11:10; 13:10; 16:11; 25:6; 35:15).
  4. 10 The words “to me” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context: Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless.” There is an obvious wordplay on the verb “became worthless” and the noun “worthless thing,” which is probably to be understood collectively and to refer to idols as it does in Jer 8:19; 10:8; 14:22; Jonah 2:8.
  5. 11 This word is erroneously rendered “shadow of death” in most older English versions; that translation is based on a faulty etymology. Contextual studies and comparative Semitic linguistics have demonstrated that the word is merely another word for darkness. It is confined to poetic texts and often carries connotations of danger and distress. It is associated in poetic texts with the darkness of a prison (Ps 107:10, 14), a mine (Job 28:3), and a ravine (Ps 23:4). Here it is associated with the darkness of the wasteland and ravines of the Sinai desert.
  6. 12 The context suggests that the question is related to a lament where the people turn to God in their troubles, asking him for help and reminding him of his past benefactions. See for example Isa 63:11–19 and Ps 44. It is an implicit prayer for his intervention, cf. 2 Kgs 2:14.
  7. 13 Note how contemporary Israel is again identified with her early ancestors. See the study note on .
  8. 14 Heb “eat.”
  9. 15 I.e., made it ceremonially unclean. See Lev 18:19–30; Num 35:34; Deut 21:23.
  10. 16 Heb “my inheritance.” Or “the land [i.e., inheritance] I gave you,” reading the pronoun as indicating source rather than possession. The parallelism and the common use in Jeremiah of the term to refer to the land or people as the Lord’s (e.g., 12:7, 8, 9; 16:18; 50:11) make the possessive use more likely here. The land belonged to the Lord; it was given to the Israelites in trust (or usufruct) as their heritage. See Lev 25:23.

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Thus says the Lord:

“What wrong did your fathers find in me

that they went far from me,

and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?

They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord

who brought us up from the land of Egypt,

who led us in the wilderness,

in a land of deserts and pits,

in a land of drought and deep darkness,

in a land that none passes through,

where no man dwells?’

And I brought you into a plentiful land

to enjoy its fruits and its good things.

But when you came in, you defiled my land

and made my heritage an abomination.

Copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles

NIVNew International Version (2011)

This is what the Lord says:

“What fault did your ancestors find in me,

that they strayed so far from me?

They followed worthless idols

and became worthless themselves.

They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord,

who brought us up out of Egypt

and led us through the barren wilderness,

through a land of deserts and ravines,

a land of drought and utter darkness,

a land where no one travels and no one lives?’

I brought you into a fertile land

to eat its fruit and rich produce.

But you came and defiled my land

and made my inheritance detestable.

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

This is what the Lord says:

What fault did your ancestors find in me

that they went so far from me,

followed worthless idols,

and became worthless themselves?

They stopped asking, “Where is the Lord

who brought us from the land of Egypt,

who led us through the wilderness,

through a land of deserts and ravines,

through a land of drought and darkness,

a land no one traveled through

and where no one lived?”

I brought you to a fertile land

to eat its fruit and bounty,

but after you entered, you defiled my land;

you made my inheritance detestable.

Copyright 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

NLTNew Living Translation

This is what the Lord says:

“What did your ancestors find wrong with me

that led them to stray so far from me?

They worshiped worthless idols,

only to become worthless themselves.

They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord

who brought us safely out of Egypt

and led us through the barren wilderness—

a land of deserts and pits,

a land of drought and death,

where no one lives or even travels?’

“And when I brought you into a fruitful land

to enjoy its bounty and goodness,

you defiled my land and

corrupted the possession I had promised you.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Thus says Yahweh:

“What injustice did your ancestors find in me

that they were far from me,

and they went after the vanity,

and they became vain?

And they did not say,

‘Where is Yahweh,

the one who brought us up from the land of Egypt,

the one who led us in the desert,

in a land of desert plains and gorges,

in a land of dryness and deep darkness,

in a land that no one passes through,

and no human lives there?’

And I brought you to the land of the orchard,

to eat its fruit, and its good things.

But you entered and defiled my land,

and my inheritance you made a detestable thing.

Copyright 2012 Lexham Press

KJV 1900King James Version

Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? Neither said they, Where is the Lord 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 no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

Public Domain