Jeremiah 2 is the second chapter of the

Book of Jeremiah The Book of Jeremiah ( he, ספר יִרְמְיָהוּ) is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1:1–3 identifies the boo ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

or the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. This book contains prophecies attributed to the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...

, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 2 to 6 contain the earliest preaching of Jeremiah on the apostasy of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Verses 2:1 to 3:5 dramatize the ending of "marriage" between Yahweh and Israel.

Text

The original text of this chapter, as with the rest of the

, was written in the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. Since the division of the Bible into chapters and verses in the late medieval period, this chapter is divided into 37 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

tradition, which includes the

Codex Cairensis The Codex Cairensis (also: ''Codex Prophetarum Cairensis'', ''Cairo Codex of the Prophets'') is a Hebrew manuscript containing the complete text of the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im (Prophets). It has traditionally been described as "the oldest dated He ...

(895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916),

Aleppo Codex The Aleppo Codex ( he, כֶּתֶר אֲרָם צוֹבָא, romanized: , lit. 'Crown of Aleppo') is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the ...

(10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008). There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the

version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

(S; BHK:

\mathfrak

^S; 4th century),

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century) and

Codex Marchalianus Codex Marchalianus designated by siglum Q is a 6th-century Greek manuscript copy of the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament) known as the Septuagint. The text was written on vellum in uncial letters. Palaeographically it ...

(Q;

\mathfrak

^Q; 6th century).

Parashot

The ''

parashah The term ''parashah'' ( he, פָּרָשָׁה ''Pārāšâ'', "portion", Tiberian , Sephardi , plural: ''parashot'' or ''parashiyot'', also called ''parsha'') formally means a section of a biblical book in the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh (Heb ...

'' sections listed here are based on the

. Jeremiah 2 is a part of the ''Second prophecy (Jeremiah 2:1- 3:5)'' in the ''Prophecies of Destruction ( Jeremiah 1- 25)'' section. : open ''parashah''; : closed ''parashah''. : 2:1-3 2:4-28 2:29-37 :1-5

Analysis

This chapter belongs to a section comprising Jeremiah 2:1– 25:38 about the 'Divine Judgment' on Judah and Jerusalem. The structure of the chapter is as follows. * (i) The faithfulness of Israel’s youth: her ideal status (2:1-3) * (ii) Israel’s apostasy (2:4-13) * (iii) The consequences of Israel‘s apostasy (2:14-19) * (iv) The fascination and futility of Baal worship (2:20-28) * (v) Israel deserves judgment (2:29-37)

The broken marriage between Yahweh and Israel (2:1–3)

Similar to the theme in

Hosea 1 Hosea 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Hosea in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Hosea son of Beeri, and this chapter especially sets forth the spiritu ...

–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 came to me, saying,'' The opening word ''Moreover'' (in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

) connects Jeremiah's first prophecy with his call as a prophet in , using a similar formula of statement as in Jeremiah 1:4.

The unfaithfulness of Israel (2:4–37)

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 people of Noph and Tahpanhes'' : ''Have broken the crown of your head.''

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, identified by its two cities, will inevitably hegemonize Israel. * "

Noph Noph or Moph was the Hebrew name for the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, capital of Lower Egypt, References Hebrew Bible cities Ancient Egypt {{Egypt-geo-stub ...

" is Memphis in ancient Egypt. *"

Tahpanhes Tahpanhes or Tehaphnehes; he, תַּחְפַּנְחֵס, translit=Taḥpanḥēs or he, תְּחַפְנְחֵס, translit=Tǝḥafnǝḥēs; known by the Ancient Greeks as the ( Pelusian) Daphnae ( grc, Δάφναι αἱ Πηλούσιαι) ...

": an important fortress city on the northern border of ancient Egypt in the northeastern

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

delta; generally equated with the Greek city of

Daphne Daphne (; ; el, Δάφνη, , ), a minor figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in whi ...

. * "Broken": or "grazed".

Verse 18

:''And now why take the road to Egypt,'' :''To drink the waters of Sihor?'' :''Or why take the road to Assyria,'' :''To drink the waters of the River?'' The futility of relying on Egypt and Assyria was stated by other prophets (cf. ), 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 BCE. "Sihor" (lit. "blackness") refers to the

, whereas "the river" refers to the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

(cf. ; ; ; ).

Verse 36

:''Why do you gad about so much to change your way?'' :''Also you shall be ashamed of Egypt as you were ashamed of Assyria.'' NKJV Israel's two lovers will shame her.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Jewish

Jeremiah 2 Original Hebrew with Parallel English

Christian

Jeremiah 2 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
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