Jeremiah 2:14-28

Israel's False Religion. Israel has forfeited the privileges of a son, and incurred disaster by forsaking Yahweh for the sensuous worship of the Baalim (cf. Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 2:28). Jeremiah 2:14 may be a later insertion, as it seems to break the connexion between Jeremiah 2:13 and Jeremiah 2:18; Jeremiah 2:15 apparently refers to the devastation of the northern kingdom by Assyria, Jeremiah 2:16 to the defeat of Judah by Pharaoh Necho (pp. 60, 72) at Megiddo in 608 (Noph (Isaiah 19:13 *) is Memphis, Tahpanhes is Daphne, these being taken as representative cities of Egypt). In Jeremiah 2:16, the Hebrew reads as mg. The last clause of Jeremiah 2:17, when he led thee by the way, should be omitted with LXX. Jeremiah 2:18 resumes the figure of Jeremiah 2:13, and remonstrates against the pro-Egyptian policy, which was the chief alternative to subjection to Assyria. In Jeremiah 2:20, read as mg., with Jeremiah 2:21 employs the familiar figure of Israel as a vine, which might be called the national emblem (Jeremiah 12:10 ff., Hosea 10:1; Isaiah 5:1; Ezekiel 17:5 ff.). In Jeremiah 2:22, lye and soap denote a vegetable and a mineral alkali respectively; marked should be ingrained. Israel protests (cf. Jeremiah 2:27; Jeremiah 2:35) that she has not abandoned Yahweh, in worshipping Him according to the manner of the Baalim (Jeremiah 2:23); she is answered by a reference to the valley (Hinnom; Jeremiah 7:31 *, Mark 9:43 *), and the sensuality of her worship (so repugnant to the God of righteousness) is suggested by the figures of the young camel (Jeremiah 2:23 mg.), and the ass (Jeremiah 2:24) when in heat. Reference is made in Jeremiah 2:25 to the eager pursuit of strange gods, in Jeremiah 2:27 to the Asherah (p. 100, 1 Kings 15:13 *) and Mazzebah (p. 98) employed in their worship (Deuteronomy 16:21 f.*), in each locality (Jeremiah 11:13).