Jeremiah 2:31
in Jeremiah 2You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: “Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of dense darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to You no more’?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? or a land of thick darkness? wherefore say my people, We are broken loose; we will come no more unto thee?
KJV
O generation, see ye the word of the Lord. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?
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This verse in Jeremiah 2
Commentary
4 notes on this verse(Verse 31.) See the word of the Lord: Am I become a wilderness to Israel, or a barren land? Why then said my people, We are gone, we will come no more at you? LXX: Hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord: Am I become a wilderness to Israel, or a land full of darkness? Why do my people say, We will not serve, we will not come to you? And Moses saw the voice of God (Exod. XXXIII), and John the Apostle says that he has seen and touched the word of God (I John I).
This site's exposition
Wherefore will ye plead with me?
on Jeremiah 2:29-32
The Lord turns the plea back on the people, ye all have transgressed against me, and notes that correction itself has failed, in vain have I smitten your children, they received no correction, since even the sword that devoured their prophets taught them nothing. The question, have I been a wilderness unto Israel, a land of darkness, answers the complaint before it is voiced, since the desolation belongs to the people's choices rather than to God's provision. Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire, sets an absurdity beside the real fact it exposes, my people have forgotten me days without number, a devotion no woman would show her own jewelry withheld even from her own God.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
O generation, see ye the word of the Lord,.... Take notice of it, consider it; or, hear it, as the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Or, “O generation” that ye are! An exclamation Of indignation at their hardened resistance to God. A land of darkness - This word is written in Hebrew with two accents, as being a compound, signifying not merely darkness, but the darkness of Yahweh, i. e., very great darkness. We are lords - Others render it: We rove about, wander about at our will, go where we like.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַדּ֗וֹר | hador | O generation | H1755 → | 167 times |
| אַתֶּם֙ | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| רְא֣וּ | reu | consider | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| דְבַר־ | devar- | [the] word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הֲמִדְבָּ֤ר | hamidbar | ¿ a wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| הָיִ֙יתִי֙ | hayiti | have I been | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | leyisrael | to Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אִ֛ם | ʾim | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אֶ֥רֶץ | ʾeretz | a land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מַאְפֵּ֖לְיָ֑ה | ma'peleyah | darkness | H3991 → | |
| מַדּ֜וּעַ | madua' | why? | H4069 → | 72 times |
| אָמְר֤וּ | ʾameru | have they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| עַמִּי֙ | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| רַ֔דְנוּ | radnu | we have roamed | H7300 → | |
| לֽוֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נָב֥וֹא | navo' | we will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| ע֖וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| אֵלֶֽיךָ׃ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
הַדּ֗וֹרO generation
hadorH1755 →167 times
אַתֶּם֙you
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
רְא֣וּconsider
reuH7200 →1300 times
דְבַר־[the] word of
devar-H1697 →1440 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הֲמִדְבָּ֤ר¿ a wilderness
hamidbarH4057 →270 times
הָיִ֙יתִי֙have I been
hayitiH1961 →3559 times
לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֔לto Israel
leyisraelH3478 →2507 times
אִ֛םor?
ʾimH518 →1069 times
אֶ֥רֶץa land of
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
מַאְפֵּ֖לְיָ֑הdarkness
ma'peleyahH3991 →
מַדּ֜וּעַwhy?
madua'H4069 →72 times
אָמְר֤וּhave they said
ʾameruH559 →5305 times
עַמִּי֙people my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
רַ֔דְנוּwe have roamed
radnuH7300 →
לֽוֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
נָב֥וֹאwe will come
navo'H935 →2568 times
ע֖וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
אֵלֶֽיךָ׃to you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 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
Proverbs 30:9Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.
it leads to
- Hosea 13:6
When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 31:20
When I have brought them into the land that I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. Then they will turn to…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 16:49–50
Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.
- Deuteronomy 8:10–14
When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.
- Deuteronomy 32:15
But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
- Hosea 13:6
Through
Deuteronomy 32:15But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 33:5
So the LORD became King in Jeshurun when the leaders of the people gathered, when the tribes of Israel came together.
- Acts 28:27
For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts,…
- Deuteronomy 33:5
Through
2 Chronicles 31:10and Azariah, the chief priest of the household of Zadok, answered him, “Since the people began to bring their contributions into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat and there…
it leads to
- Malachi 3:10
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of…
- Malachi 3:10
Where this verse is studied
No study on the site is anchored to this verse yet.
Also on Jeremiah 2: 3 studies that walk through this chapter ▾
About Jeremiah
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); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).