Jeremiah 2:24-37

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 2:28

According to the number of thy cities are thy gods - Among heathen nations every city had its tutelary deity. Judah, far sunk in idolatry, had adopted this custom. The Church of Rome has refined it a little: every city has its tutelary saint, and this saint has a procession and worship peculiar to himself. So here; not much of the old idolatry is lost. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 2:31

Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? - Have I ever withheld from you any of the blessings necessary for your support? A land of darkness - Have you, since you passed through the wilderness, and came out of the darkness of Egypt, ever been brought into similar circumstances? You have had food and all the necessaries of life for your bodies; and my ordinances and word to enlighten and cheer your souls. I have neither been a wilderness nor a land of darkness to you. We are lords - We... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 2:32

Can a maid forget her ornaments - This people has not so much attachment to me as young females have to their dress and ornaments. They never forget them and even when arrived at old age, look with pleasure on the dress and ornaments which they have worn in their youth. Days without number - That is, for many years; during the whole reign of Manasses, which was fifty-five years, the land was deluged with idolatry, from which the reform by good King Josiah his grandson had not yet... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 2:33

Why trimmest thou thy way - Ye have used a multitude of artifices to gain alliances with the neighboring idolatrous nations. Hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways - Ye have made even these idolaters worse than they were before. Dr. Blayney translates, "Therefore have I taught calamity thy ways." A prosopopoeia: "I have instructed calamity where to find thee." Thou shalt not escape punishment. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 2:34

The blood of the souls of the poor innocents - We find from the sacred history that Manasseh had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; see 2 Kings 21:16 , and Ezekiel 34:10 . I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these - Such deeds of darkness and profligacy are found only in Israel. Dr. Blayney translates, "I have not found it in a digged hole, but upon every oak." Others cover the blood that it may not appear; but ye have shed it openly, and sprinkled it upon your... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 2:35

Because I am innocent - They continued to assert their innocence, and therefore expected that God's judgments would be speedily removed! I will plead with thee - I will maintain my process, follow it up to conviction, and inflict the deserved punishment. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 2:36

Why gaddest thou about - When they had departed from the Lord, they sought foreign alliances for support. The Assyrians 2 Chronicles 28:13-21 ; but they injured instead of helping them. The Egyptians: but in this they were utterly disappointed, and were ashamed of their confidence. See Jeremiah 37:7-8 ; (note), for the fulfillment of this prediction. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 2:37

Thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head - Thou shalt find all thy confidence in vain, - thy hope disappointed; - and thy state reduced to desperation. The hand being placed on the head was the evidence of deep sorrow, occasioned by utter desolation. See the case of Tamar, when ruined and abandoned by her brother Amnon, 2 Samuel 13:19 . Thou shalt not prosper in them - They shall all turn to thy disadvantage; and this as we shall see in the history of this people,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 2:24

Verse 24 As Jeremiah had called the people a dromedary, so he now calls them a wild ass: “Thou,” he says, “art both a dromedary and a wild ass.” For when a wild ass has caught the wind according to her desire, that is, when she has pantingly sought it, and has caught the wind of her occasion, that is, such as may chance to be; for he meant to shew, by this expression, that there is no choice made by beasts, no judgment shewn, no moderation exercised; — when, therefore, she has caught the wind,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 2:25

Verse 25 The words of the Prophet, as they are concise, may appear at the first view obscure: but his meaning is simply this, — that the insane people could by no means be reformed, however much God might try to check that excess by which they were led away after idols and superstitions. In the first clause, God relates how he had dealt with the people. All the addresses of the prophets had this as their object — to make the people to rest contented under the protection of God. But he employs... read more

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