Jeremiah 2:36
in Jeremiah 2How unstable you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt also, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
KJV
Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 2
Commentary
6 notes on this verseWhy gaddest thou about - When they had departed from the Lord, they sought foreign alliances for support. 1. The Assyrians 2Ch 28:13-21; but they injured instead of helping them. 2. The Egyptians: but in this they were utterly disappointed, and were ashamed of their confidence. See Jer 37:7-8 (note), for the fulfillment of this prediction.
This site's exposition
How skillfully you pursue love
on Jeremiah 2:33-37
The charge is skill turned to evil: “Even the most immoral of women could learn from your ways”. Judah's skirts are “stained with the blood of the innocent poor”, yet she says, “I am innocent. Surely His anger will turn from me”, and the LORD judges her for that claim.
This site's exposition
How unstable you are, constantly changing your ways
Ahaz had paid Assyria for help, and at 2 Chronicles 28:20 its king oppressed him instead. Egypt would fail the same way. At Jeremiah 37:7 Pharaoh's army turns back home and leaves Jerusalem to the Babylonians.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Ver. 35, 36) And you said: I am without sin and innocent: and therefore let your anger turn away from me. Behold, I will contend with you in judgment, because you have said: I have not sinned: how despicable you have become, repeating your ways too much (or how greatly you have despised).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way?.... Or, "by changing thy way" (t); sometimes going one way, and sometimes another; sometimes to Egypt, and then to Assyria; seeking sometimes to the one for help, and sometimes to the other; at one time serving the gods of the one, in order to curry favour with them, and then the gods of the other, like a lascivious woman that gads about from place to place to increase her lovers, and satisfy her lust.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To change thy way - The rival parties at Jerusalem looked one to Assyria, the other to Egypt, for safety. As one or other for the time prevailed, the nation “changed its way,” sending its embassies now eastward to Nineveh, now westward to Memphis. Thou also ... - literally, also of Egypt “shalt thou be ashamed.” This was literally fulfilled by the failure of the attempt to raise the siege of Jerusalem Jer 37:5.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַה־ | mah- | why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תֵּזְלִ֥י | tezeli | do you treat lightly | H235 → | |
| מְאֹ֖ד | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
| לְשַׁנּ֣וֹת | leshanot | to change | H8138 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דַּרְכֵּ֑ךְ | darkekh | way your | H1870 → | 707 times |
| גַּ֤ם | gam | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| מִמִּצְרַ֙יִם֙ | mimitzrayim | from Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| תֵּב֔וֹשִׁי | tevooshi | you will be ashamed | H954 → | 127 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁר־ | kaasher- | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בֹּ֖שְׁתְּ | boshet | you were ashamed | H954 → | 127 times |
| מֵאַשּֽׁוּר׃ | meashur | from Assyria | H804 → | 151 times |
מַה־why?
mah-H4100 →752 times
תֵּזְלִ֥יdo you treat lightly
tezeliH235 →
מְאֹ֖דexceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
לְשַׁנּ֣וֹתto change
leshanotH8138 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דַּרְכֵּ֑ךְway your
darkekhH1870 →707 times
גַּ֤םalso
gamH1571 →769 times
מִמִּצְרַ֙יִם֙from Egypt
mimitzrayimH4714 →641 times
תֵּב֔וֹשִׁיyou will be ashamed
tevooshiH954 →127 times
כַּאֲשֶׁר־just as
kaasher-H834 →5497 times
בֹּ֖שְׁתְּyou were ashamed
boshetH954 →127 times
מֵאַשּֽׁוּר׃from Assyria
meashurH804 →151 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
Hosea 5:13When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 30:12
For this is what the LORD says: “Your injury is incurable; your wound is grievous.
- Hosea 7:11
So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.
- 2 Kings 15:19
Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver in order to gain his support and strengthen his own grip on the kingdom.
- Hosea 12:1
Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
- Hosea 10:6
Yes, it will be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king. Ephraim will be seized with shame; Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.
- Jeremiah 30:12
Through
Jeremiah 31:22How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 49:4
Why do you boast of your valleys—your valleys so fruitful, O faithless daughter? You trust in your riches and say, ‘Who can come against me?’
- Jeremiah 7:24
Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
- Jeremiah 49:4
Through
Hosea 12:1Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
it leads to
- Hosea 11:12
Ephraim surrounds Me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One.
- Hosea 11:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceThe NileEgyptThe land where Joseph rose, where Israel grew into a nation in bondage, where the Passover lamb was slain and the sea opened, and…
- PlaceUpper MesopotamiaAssyriaMesopotamian empire whose capital Nineveh repented at Jonah's preaching and fell to Nahum's burden in 612 BC; the rod of God's ang…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.