Jeremiah 2

Jeremiah 2
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Book of Jeremiah in Hebrew Bible, MS. Sassoon 1053, images 283-315.
Book	Book of Jeremiah
Hebrew Bible part	Nevi'im
Order in the Hebrew part	6
Category	Latter Prophets
Christian Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Christian part	24

Jeremiah 2 is the second chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophecies attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 2 to 6 contain the earliest preaching of Jeremiah on the apostasy of Israel.

Text

The original text of this chapter, as with the rest of the Book of Jeremiah, was written in Hebrew language. Since the division of the Bible into chapters and verses in the late medieval period, this chapter is divided into 37 verses.

Textual versions

Some ancient witnesses for the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008).

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; ${\mathfrak {G}}$^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: ${\mathfrak {G}}$^S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; ${\mathfrak {G}}$^A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; ${\mathfrak {G}}$^Q; 6th century).

Parashot

The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex. Jeremiah 2 is a part of the Second prophecy (Jeremiah 2:1-3:5) in the Prophecies of Destruction (Jeremiah 1-25) section. {P}: open parashah; {S}: closed parashah.

{P} 2:1-3 {P} 2:4-28 {S} 2:29-37 [3:1-5 {P}]

The Broken Marriage between Yahweh and Israel

Similar to the theme in Hosea 1–3, the relationship between Yahweh and the people of Israel is described using the marriage metaphor, where Yahweh acts as a husband to Judah as his wife. The poem in 2:1–3:5 shows the evidence of a broken covenant against Israel, addresses alternately between the two personae of Judah (or Jerusalem) as a female wife (using Hebrew feminine singular grammatical forms in 2:2; 2:17–25; 2:33–3:5) and the "male Israel" (using masculine singular and plural forms in 2:3; 2:4–16; 2:26–32). Yahweh accuses Israel of betraying and forsaking him, while he has been generous to bring them into a "plentiful land" (2:7), evoking sympathy for Yahweh who cannot understand this treachery.

Verse 1

Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

The opening word Moreover (in the King James Version) connects Jeremiah's first prophecy with his call as a prophet in Jeremiah 1:4–19, using a similar formula of statement as in Jeremiah 1:4.

Verse 7

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.

Verse 16

Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.

Verse 18

And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt,

to drink the waters of Sihor?

or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria,

to drink the waters of the river? (KJV)

The futility of relying to Egypt and Assyria was stated by other prophets (cf. Isaiah 30:1–5), but here it refers to the two political factions in Judah: the pro-Egyptians and the pro-Assyrians. This points to the early period of Jeremiah's ministry, when the two nations held the "balance of power in the Middle East"; this ends when Assyria collapsed in 612 BC. "Sihor" (lit. "blackness") refers to the Nile, whereas "the river" refers to the Euphrates (cf. Deuteronomy 1:7; 1 Kings 4:21; Isaiah 7:20; Nehemiah 2:7).

Verse 36

Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way?

thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt,

as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. (KJV)

See also

• Assyria
• Baal (Baalim)
• Chittim
• Egypt
• Euphrates
• Israel

• Jacob
• Jerusalem
• Kedar
• Noph
• Sihor
• Tahapanes

• Related Bible parts: Isaiah 7, Isaiah 30, Isaiah 31, Jeremiah 1, Hosea 7, Hosea 9

Bibliography

• O'Connor, Kathleen M. (2007). "23. Jeremiah". In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 487–533. ISBN 978-0199277186. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
• Thompson, J. A. (1980). A Book of Jeremiah. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (illustrated, revised ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802825308.
• Würthwein, Ernst (1995). The Text of the Old Testament. Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. Retrieved January 26, 2019.

External links

Jewish

• Jeremiah 2 Original Hebrew with Parallel English

Christian

• Jeremiah 2 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate