Jeremiah 2:17 - Exposition

Hast not thou procured this ? rather, Is it not this that doth procure it unto thee ( namely ) that thou hast forsaken , etc . ? or, Is it not thy forsaking Jehovah that pro . cureth thee this? When he led thee by the way . The prophet thinks, perhaps, of the rebellion of the forefathers of Israel, who too soon ceased to "go after" Jehovah (comp. Jeremiah 2:2 ), and whose fickleness was imitated but too well by their descendants. This view is favored by the phraseology of Deuteronomy 1:33 ; Deuteronomy 8:2 , Deuteronomy 8:15 . But we may, if we prefer it, explain "by (or, rather, in) the way ," on the analogy of the promise in Jeremiah 31:9 , "I will lead them … in a straight way," i . e . I will grant them an uninterrupted course of prosperity. The omission of the adjective in the present passage may be paralleled by Psalms 25:8 , "Therefore will he instruct sinners in the (right) way."