Jeremiah 2:4-13

Yahweh's Reproaches. Yahweh asks why His redeeming acts are forgotten and His (true) worship abandoned; other nations do not abandon their gods, though these are worthless, but Yahweh's people have forsaken the one true God. Jeremiah here treats all other gods as worthless, though explicit monotheism is not found until the next century (Deutero-Isaiah). When Israel entered Canaan under its desert-God, Yahweh, it was natural to worship the local Baalim (p. 87), as well, since they were regarded as the gods of agriculture and fertility. But when the land came to be regarded as Yahweh's heritage, there was a strong tendency for Him to be worshipped as the Baalim had been, and under the name of Baal (Lord). Both the worship and the name are here treated as heathenism.

Jeremiah 2:5. vanity: lit. breath; cf. Jeremiah 8:19.

Jeremiah 2:10. Kittim: the people of Kition in Cyprus (Numbers 24:23 f.*); Kedar (Genesis 25:13; Jeremiah 49:28; Psalms 120:5 *): an Arabian tribe; thus, W. and E. are here graphically indicated.

Jeremiah 2:12. be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate: read, with LXX, shudder exceedingly.

Jeremiah 2:13. For the contrast between the fountain, or spring, and the cistern, see Thomson, op. cit., p. 287; the latter, though hewn in rock, is said to crack easily, and its water, collected from the roof, is in any case inferior.