Jeremiah 2:10
in Jeremiah 2Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and take a look; send to Kedar and consider carefully; see if there has ever been anything like this:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there hath been such a thing.
KJV
For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
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This verse in Jeremiah 2
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe isles of Chittim - This is the island of Cyprus, according to Josephus. In 1 Maccabees 8:5, it is taken for Macedonia. Besides this, how they (the Romans) had discomfited in battle Philip and Perseus, king of the Chittims. Chittim was the grandson of Japhet; and Bochart has made it appear that the countries inhabited by the Chittim were Italy and the adjacent provinces of Europe, lying along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea; and probably this is the prophet’s meaning. Send unto Kedar - The name of an Arabian tribe.
This site's exposition
I will contend with you again
on Jeremiah 2:9-11
The LORD brings His case, “I will bring a case against your children’s children”. The nations keep their gods, “though they are no gods at all”, while Israel alone has “exchanged their Glory for useless idols”. The nations are more constant to falsehood than Israel has been to the truth.
This site's exposition
send to Kedar and consider carefully
Cyprus translates Kittim, a name that 1 Maccabees 8:5 later applies to Macedonia. Kedar was an Arabian tribe of the eastern desert. Judah is sent west and east, across the known world, to see if any nation has done this.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
This alone among all evils is without comparison. This is a new act of shamelessness in life. "Go over to the islands of Kittim and see," the Lord says. "Send to Kedar and consider carefully whether anything like this has ever been done—if a nation has changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.)." But the virgin "has changed her glory," and her glory is in her shame.
(Vers. 10, 11.) Go to the islands of Kittim, and see: and send to Kedar, and consider carefully, and see if such a thing has happened: if a nation has changed its gods (or its own gods). And certainly they are not gods: but my people have changed their glory into an idol (or something that will not profit them). He makes a comparison of that which is incomparable, and gives the true God to liars.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Of Chittim - All the isles in the Mediterranean sea, with the neighbouring coasts; for the Hebrew call all people, that separated from them by the sea, islanders, because they came to them by shipping.
For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see,....
They parted from a God who was their glory, who made them truly glorious and every way put honour upon them, one whom they might with a humble confidence glory in as theirs, who is himself a glorious God and the glory of those whose God he is; he was particularly the glory of his people Israel, for his glory had often appeared on their tabernacle.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Kedar--that is, the heathen nations, west and east. Go where you will, you cannot find an instance of any heathen nation forsaking their own for other gods. Yet the heathen gods are false gods; whereas Israel, in forsaking Me for other gods, forsake their "glory" for unprofitable idols.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Kedar signifies the whole East, and the isles of Chittim (Isa 23:12 note) the West. If then you traverse all lands from west to east, it will be impossible to find any nation guilty of such apostasy as that committed by Israel.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עִבְר֞וּ | ʾivru | pass over | H5674 → | 556 times |
| אִיֵּ֤י | ʾiyei | [the] coasts of | H339 → | 36 times |
| כִתִּיִּים֙ | khitiyim | Cyprus | H3794 → | |
| וּרְא֔וּ | ureu | and see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וְקֵדָ֛ר | vekedar | and Kedar | H6938 → | 12 times |
| שִׁלְח֥וּ | shilchu | send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| וְהִֽתְבּוֹנְנ֖וּ | vehitbonu | and consider carefully | H995 → | 170 times |
| מְאֹ֑ד | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
| וּרְא֕וּ | ureu | and see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| הֵ֥ן | hen | there! | H2005 → | 316 times |
| הָיְתָ֖ה | hayetah | it has happened | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כָּזֹֽאת׃ | kazot | like this | H2063 → | 603 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
עִבְר֞וּpass over
ʾivruH5674 →556 times
אִיֵּ֤י[the] coasts of
ʾiyeiH339 →36 times
כִתִּיִּים֙Cyprus
khitiyimH3794 →
וּרְא֔וּand see
ureuH7200 →1300 times
וְקֵדָ֛רand Kedar
vekedarH6938 →12 times
שִׁלְח֥וּsend
shilchuH7971 →845 times
וְהִֽתְבּוֹנְנ֖וּand consider carefully
vehitbonuH995 →170 times
מְאֹ֑דexceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
וּרְא֕וּand see
ureuH7200 →1300 times
הֵ֥ןthere!
henH2005 →316 times
הָיְתָ֖הit has happened
hayetahH1961 →3559 times
כָּזֹֽאת׃like this
kazotH2063 →603 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
Isaiah 21:16For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 1:5
I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 60:7
All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth will serve you and go up on My altar with acceptance; I will adorn My glorious house.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 120:5
Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Song of Solomon 1:5
Through
1 Corinthians 5:1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
it leads to
- Revelation 21:8
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
- Revelation 2:21
Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.
- Colossians 3:5
Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
- Ephesians 5:3
But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.
- Leviticus 18:8
You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; it would dishonor your father.
- Revelation 21:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Basil of Caesarea, LETTER 46, TO A FALLEN VIRGIN; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
