Jeremiah 2:23

How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; I AM NOT POLLUTED - (Proverbs 30:12, "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness"). BAALIM - plural, to express manifold excellency: cf. 'Elohiym (H430). SEE - consider. THE VALLEY - namely, of Hinnom, or Tophet: south and east of Jerusalem: rendered infamous by the human sacrifices to Moloch in it (cf. Jeremiah 7:31-24;...

Jeremiah goes on here with his reproof, and dissipates the clouds of hypocrites, under which they thought themselves to be sufficiently concealed: for hypocrites, when they allege their fallacious pretences, think themselves already hidden from the eyes of God and from the judgment of all men. Hence the Prophet here sharply condemns this supine self — security, and says, How darest thou to boast that thou art _not polluted? _How darest thou to say, that thou hast _not walked after Baalim? _that is, after strange gods. I have already said, that by this word were meant inferior gods: for though the Jews acknowledged one Supreme Being, yet they sought for themselves patrons; and hence arose, as it is usual, a great number of gods. The superstitious never lapsed into that degree of impiety and madness, but that they ever confessed that there is some supreme Deity; but they added some inferio...

20-28 Notwithstanding all their advantages, Israel had become like the wild vine that bears poisonous fruit. Men are often as much under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful lusts, as the brute beasts. But the Lord here warns them not to weary themselves in pursuits which could only bring distress and misery. As we must not despair of the mercy of God, but believe that to be sufficient for the pardon of our sins, so neither must we despair of the grace of God, but believe that it is able to subdue our corruptions, though ever so strong....

Verse Jeremiah 2:23. _SEE THY WAY IN THE VALLEY_] The _valley of Hinnom_, where they offered their own children to Moloch, an idol of the Ammonites. _A SWIFT DROMEDARY TRAVERSING HER WAYS_] Dr. _Blayney_ translates, "A fleet dromedary that hath taken to company with her." Dr. _Dahler_ rather paraphrases, thus: - _Semblable_ a une dromedaire en chaleur, Qui court d'une tote a l'autre. "Like to a dromedary in her desire for the male, Which runs hither and thither." This is an energetic comparison; and shows the unbridled attachment of those bad people to idolatry, and the a

In their defense of themselves (compare Jeremiah 2:35), the people probably appealed to the maintenance of the daily sacrifice, and the Mosaic ritual: and even more confidently perhaps to Josiah’s splendid restoration of the temple, and to the suppression of the open worship of Baal. All such pleas availed little as long as the rites of Moloch were still privately practiced. THY WAY IN THE VALLEY - i. e., of Hinnom (see 2 Kings 23:10 note). From the time of Ahaz it had been the seat of the worship of Moloch, and the prophet more than once identifies Moloch with Baal. “Way” is put metaphorically for “conduct, doings.” TRAVERSING - Interlacing her ways. The word describes the tangled mazes of the

EXPOSITION The second chapter forms the introduction of a group of discourses (Jeremiah 2-6), which should be read together. It is called By Ewald (and the position of the prophecy favors this view) the first oracle which Jeremiah delivered in public ("oracle" is, in fact, the nearest English equivalent to those two remarkable Hebrew synonyms, _massa_ and _neum_—especially for the latter). This would bring it into the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah (see Jeremiah 1:3), though of course we cannot be sure that references to a later period may not have been inserted afterwards. It is, obviously, only a summary of the prophet's spoken words which we have in this most impressive discourse. In order to appreciate it, we must bear in mind the external political relations and the internal religions condition of the kingdom of Judah. These have Been already touched

HOW CANST THOU SAY, I AM NOT POLLUTED,.... No man can say this; for all are defiled with sin; but this was the cast and complexion of these people in all ages; they were a generation of men that were pure in their own eyes, but were not cleansed from their filthiness; they fancied that their ceremonial washings and sacrifices cleansed them from moral impurities, when those only sanctified to the purifying of the flesh; still their iniquity remained marked before the Lord; they acted the part of the adulterous woman in Proverbs 30:20 to whom they are compared in the context; and, therefore, as wondering at their impudence, they having a whore's forehead, this question is put, how and with what face they could affirm this, and what follows: I HAVE NOT GONE AFTER BAALIM? or, "the Baalim"; the idols of the people, as the Targum interprets it; for there were many Baals, as

Jeremiah 2:1. _Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem saying, Thus saith the LORD: I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the first-fruits of his increase: all that devour him shalt offend; evil shall come upon then, saith the LORD._ God reminds his people of what they used to be in their first days, when they came out of Egypt. They had very sadly declined from what they then were. They were none too faithful to the Lord then; but they had fallen back even from that condition. Does not this passage come home to some of you who are not now what you once were? May the Lord graciously speak through these words to your ear, and to your heart, if you have backslidden from him in any degree!...

CHAPTER S 2:1-3:5 Expostulation and Impeachment _ 1. His love and kindness to Jerusalem (Jeremiah 2:1) _ 2. The unfaithful people (Jeremiah 2:4) 3. The two evils and the results (Jeremiah 2:12) 4. Impeachment (Jeremiah 2:19) 5. Expostulation (Jeremiah 2:31) 6. Jehovah waiting to show mercy (Jeremiah 3:1) Jeremiah 2

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,...