Jeremiah 2:19
in Jeremiah 2Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
KJV
Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.
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This verse in Jeremiah 2
Commentary
11 notes on this verseCleaving to sin is leaving God. (2.) The cause of sin; it is because his fear is not in us. It is for want of a good principle in us, particularly for want of the fear of God; this is at the bottom of our apostasy from him; men forsake their duty to God because they stand in no awe of him nor have any dread of his displeasure.
This site's exposition
Is Israel a slave
on Jeremiah 2:14-19
The LORD asks of Israel, “Was he born into slavery”, since a free heir should not be plundered like property. The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved his head. The sharpest question follows, “what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile”.
This site's exposition
Your own evil will discipline you
The punishment grows out of the sin itself, so Judah's own apostasies, its turnings away, become the rod. The verse traces the forsaking back to its root, a people with no fear of the LORD. The closing title names Him commander of heaven's armies.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
The Lord has therefore endured all these things on our behalf, in order that we, having been instructed by means of them all, may be in all respects circumspect for the time to come, and that, having been rationally taught to love God, we may continue in His perfect love: for God has displayed long-suffering in the case of man's apostasy; while man has been instructed by means of it, as also the prophet says, "Thine own apostasy shall heal thee;" God thus determining all things beforehand for the bringing of man to perfection, for his edification, and for the revelation of His dispensations, that goodness may both be made apparent, and righteousness perfected, and that the Church may be fashioned after the image of His Son, and that man may finally be brought to maturity at some future time, becoming ripe through such privileges to see and comprehend God.
(Verse 19.) Your wickedness will reprove you, and your apostasy will rebuke you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to have forsaken the Lord your God, and that you have no fear of me, says the Lord of hosts. It should be noted that after wickedness or apostasy has fully satisfied the one who commits it, and has come to the point of being nauseating like the quails, it instructs the one who does penance: commanding them to see what they have left behind, and what they have followed; and how, spurning what is good and sweet, they have chosen what is evil and bitter. But all this has happened because he has forsaken his Lord God, and his fear is not with him. For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. IX): and because he did not have it, he is delivered to evil and bitterness.
So also that unwearied goodness of God and his unchanging nature hurt no one indeed, but we ourselves by falling from on high and tending to the depths are the authors of our own death, or rather the very fall becomes death to the one who falls.… For "your own wickedness shall reprove you, and your apostasy shall rebuke you. Know and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing for you to have left the Lord your God"; for "everyone is bound by the cords of his sins."
This then is that body of death from which we cannot escape, confined in those who are perfect, who have tested "how gracious the Lord is," daily feel with the prophet "how bad for himself and bitter it is for a man to depart from the Lord his God."
A commentator
John ChrysostomHOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 1:4.27 · Written before 407.
proposed
When he does not convince with his word, God many times permits the experience of things to be the teaching, something that he also said to the Jews. When he expended myriads of words though the prophets, he neither persuaded nor embraced the Jews. Allowing them to be educated through punishment, he said to them, "Your apostasy shall correct you, and wickedness shall reprove you."
3 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
"Know and see that it is evil and bitter that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and that the fear of me is not in you." If you do not fear God, you have lost grace, you have lost justice, and you have lost …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Thine own wickedness shall correct thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Correct thee - Or, “chastise thee.” Alliances with foreign powers shall bring trouble and not safety.
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תְּיַסְּרֵ֣ךְ | teyaserekh | it will punish you | H3256 → | 43 times |
| רָעָתֵ֗ךְ | raatekh | wickedness your | H7451 → | 662 times |
| וּמְשֻֽׁבוֹתַ֙יִךְ֙ | umeshuvotayikh | and apostasies your | H4878 → | 12 times |
| תּוֹכִחֻ֔ךְ | tokhichukh | they will rebuke you | H3198 → | |
| וּדְעִ֤י | udei | and know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| וּרְאִי֙ | urei | and see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רַ֣ע | ra' | [is] evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| וָמָ֔ר | vamar | and bitter | H4751 → | |
| עָזְבֵ֖ךְ | ʾazevekh | forsaking you | H5800 → | 215 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהָ֑יִךְ | ʾelohayikh | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וְלֹ֤א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| פַחְדָּתִי֙ | fachdati | awe of me | H6345 → | |
| אֵלַ֔יִךְ | ʾelayikh | [is] with you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֥י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| צְבָאֽוֹת׃ | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
תְּיַסְּרֵ֣ךְit will punish you
teyaserekhH3256 →43 times
רָעָתֵ֗ךְwickedness your
raatekhH7451 →662 times
וּמְשֻֽׁבוֹתַ֙יִךְ֙and apostasies your
umeshuvotayikhH4878 →12 times
תּוֹכִחֻ֔ךְthey will rebuke you
tokhichukhH3198 →
וּדְעִ֤יand know
udeiH3045 →945 times
וּרְאִי֙and see
ureiH7200 →1300 times
כִּי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
רַ֣ע[is] evil
ra'H7451 →662 times
וָמָ֔רand bitter
vamarH4751 →
עָזְבֵ֖ךְforsaking you
ʾazevekhH5800 →215 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהָ֑יִךְGod your
ʾelohayikhH430 →2601 times
וְלֹ֤אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
פַחְדָּתִי֙awe of me
fachdatiH6345 →
אֵלַ֔יִךְ[is] with you
ʾelayikhH413 →5510 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
אֲדֹנָ֥י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
צְבָאֽוֹת׃of hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 36:1An oracle is in my heart regarding the transgression of the wicked man: There is no fear of God before his eyes.
it leads to
- Romans 3:18
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
- Proverbs 16:6
By loving devotion and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns aside from evil.
- Romans 3:18
Through
Jeremiah 2:17Have you not brought this on yourself by forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way?
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:18
“Your ways and deeds have brought this upon you. This is your punishment; how bitter it is, because it pierces to the heart!”
- Jeremiah 2:13
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- Jeremiah 4:18
Through
Isaiah 3:9The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.
it leads to
- Genesis 13:13
But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.
- Genesis 13:13
Through
Hosea 11:7My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call to the Most High, He will by no means exalt them.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 8:5
Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
- Jeremiah 8:5
Through
Jeremiah 4:18“Your ways and deeds have brought this upon you. This is your punishment; how bitter it is, because it pierces to the heart!”
it leads to
- Psalms 107:17
Fools, in their rebellious ways, and through their iniquities, suffered affliction.
- Proverbs 1:31
So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
- Psalms 107:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2; Irenaeus, AGAINST HERESIES 4:37.7; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 3:23.9; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 3:23.16; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 1:4.27; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.