Jeremiah 2:37

Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them. HIM - Egypt. HANDS UPON THINE HEAD - expressive of mourning (). IN THEM - in those stays and 'confidences' in which thou trusteth. Remarks: (1) There is nothing which so much aggravates the heinousness of sin as that it is an offence against the God who from our youth has lavished so many kindnesses upon us. (2) God might justly cast off His people on account of their many backsliding; but He remembers His own love from everlasting, which chose them as His own special treasure, consecrated to His service as "a kind of first-fruits of His creatures." He calls to mind also the special tokens of His favour which He has vouchsafed...

He expresses more clearly what he had said of the shameful character of his own nation, — that the Jews, who thought that their safety would be secured by the Egyptians, were seeking their own entire ruin. This seemed to them indeed incredible; for as the Egyptians were neighbors, and as the Jews then only feared the Assyrians and Chaldeans, who were afar off, they thought that they had the best prospect: “What! our enemies are distant from us twenty or thirty days’ journey; and those who are prepared to help us will be soon with us at the shortest warning.” Hence the Jews thought, as we have said, that they were quite safe. But the Prophet here declares, that they were greatly mistaken; for on account of this wickedness, that is, because they trusted in their unlawful and accursed treaty, and promised themselves peace from their enemies, or thought that they could easily overcome them;...

29-37 The nation had not been wrought upon by the judgements of God, but sought to justify themselves. The world is, to those who make it their home and their portion, a wilderness and a land of darkness; but those who dwell in God, have the lines fallen to them in pleasant places. Here is the language of presumptuous sinners. The Jews had long thrown off serious thoughts of God. How many days of our lives pass without suitable remembrance of him! The Lord was displeased with their confidences, and would not prosper them therein. Men employ all their ingenuity, but cannot find happiness in the way of sin, or excuse for it. They may shift from one sin to another, but none ever hardened himself against God, or turned from him, and prospered....

Verse 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, was literally fulfilled. O what a grievous and bitter thing it is to sin against the Lord, and have him for an enemy!...

FROM HIM - From it, from this Egypt, which though fem. as a land, yet as a people may be used as a masc. (compare Jeremiah 46:8). Now that Nineveh is trembling before the armies of Cyaxares and Nabopalassar, thou hastenest to Egypt, hoping to rest upon her strength: but thou shalt retrace thy steps, with thy hands clasped upon thy head, disgraced and discarded. CONFIDENCES - Those in whom thou confidest. IN THEM - literally, “with respect to them.”...

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

YEA, THOU SHALT GO FORTH FROM HIM,.... From the Egyptian, without any help, and with shame; or, "from this" u; that is, from this place, from Jerusalem, and from the land of Judea, into captivity; notwithstanding all the promised and expected help from Egypt, 2 Kings 24:7: AND THINE HANDS UPON THINE HEAD; plucking and dishevelling the hair, as women in distress; so Tamar, when abused by her brother, laid her hand on her head, and went out crying, 2 Samuel 13:19: FOR THE LORD HATH REJECTED THY CONFIDENCES; those in whom they trusted, as the Egyptians; so that they should be of no service to them; or them, because of their trust and confidence in men, when it ought to have been placed above in himself: and thou shalt not prosper in them

Jeremiah 2:20. For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. 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; A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst:...

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

THE DESERVED PUNISHMENT. Israel's sorrows are well deserved, for Yahweh's love has been forgotten. In spite of wrong-doing, there is no penitence for sin. The help of Egypt will be as futile as that of Assyria. Jeremiah 2:29. plead: complain. Jeremiah 2:30. For YOUR OWN read the with LXX. Jeremiah 2:32. attire: properly sash (Isaiah 3:20, RV). Jeremiah 2:33. trimmest: lit. makest good, _i.e._ pickest. WICKED WOMEN: better, evil things, same word as in...