Jeremiah 2:25
in Jeremiah 2You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst. But thou saidst, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.
KJV
Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.
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This verse in Jeremiah 2
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 25.) Keep your foot from nakedness, and your throat from thirst. And you said, I have despaired, I will not do it. I have loved strangers, and will follow after them. LXX: Turn your foot away from the rough path, and your throat from thirst. She said, I will act boldly because I have loved strangers, and I will follow after them. They who will celebrate the Passover are commanded to have shoes on their feet (Exodus 12).
This site's exposition
For long ago you broke your yoke
on Jeremiah 2:20-25
Israel broke its yoke and said “I will not serve!”, then lay down “on every high hill and under every green tree”. The “choice vine from the very best seed” became a rotten, wild vine. Israel is a wild donkey “sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire”.
This site's exposition
You should have kept your feet from going bare
The chase after foreign gods has worn out Judah's sandals and dried its throat. The LORD calls a halt, and the answer is It is hopeless, the word of someone who has given up resisting. Jeremiah 18:12 repeats the same reply.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Nothing makes God as angry as when people from despair of better things cling to those that are worse. Indeed, this despair in itself is a sign of unbelief. One who despairs of salvation can have no expectation of a judgment to come. For if he dreaded such, he would by doing works prepare to meet his Judge. Let us hear what God says through Jeremiah: "Withhold your foot from a rough way and your throat from thirst," and again, "shall they fall, and not arise? Shall he turn away, and not return?"
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Withhold - Take not those courses that will reduce thee to poverty, to go bare foot, and to want wherewith to quench thy thirst. No hope - We care not since there is no remedy.
Withhold thy foot from being unshod,.... That it may not be unshod, be naked and bare.
But, as we must not despair of the mercy of God, but believe that sufficient for the pardon of our sins, though ever so heinous, if we repent and sue for that mercy, so neither must we despair of the grace of God, but believe that able to subdue our corruptions, though ever so strong, if we pray for and improve that grace.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
HITZIG thinks the reference is to penances performed barefoot to idols, and the thirst occasioned by loud and continued invocations to them. no hope-- (Jer 18:12; "It is hopeless," that is, I am desperately resolved to go on in my own course. strangers--that is, laying aside the metaphor, "strange gods" (Jer 3:13;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Withhold thy foot from being unshod - When it was said to them, “Cease from discovering thy feet; prostitute thyself no more to thy idols.” And thy throat from thirst - Drink no more of their libations, nor use those potions which tend only to increase thy appetite for pollution. Thou didst say, There is no hope: it is useless to advise me thus; I am determined; I have loved these strange pods, and to them will I cleave.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
God the true husband exhorts Israel not to run barefoot, and with parched throat, like a shameless adulteress, after strangers. There is no hope - i. e., It is in vain.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִנְעִ֤י | mini | restrain | H4513 → | 29 times |
| רַגְלֵךְ֙ | raglekh | foot your | H7272 → | 247 times |
| מִיָּחֵ֔ף | miyachef | from barefoot | H3182 → | |
| וּגְרוֹנֵ֖ךְ | ugoronekh | and throat your | H1627 → | |
| מִצִּמְאָ֑ה | mitzimah | from thirst | H6773 → | |
| וַתֹּאמְרִ֣י | vatomri | and you said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| נוֹאָ֔שׁ | noash | despairing | H2976 → | |
| ל֕וֹא | lo' | In- | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | deed | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אָהַ֥בְתִּי | ʾahavti | I love | H157 → | 211 times |
| זָרִ֖ים | zarim | strange [gods] | H2114 → | 77 times |
| וְאַחֲרֵיהֶ֥ם | veachareihem | and after them | H310 → | 715 times |
| אֵלֵֽךְ׃ | ʾelekh | I will walk | H1980 → | 1546 times |
מִנְעִ֤יrestrain
miniH4513 →29 times
רַגְלֵךְ֙foot your
raglekhH7272 →247 times
מִיָּחֵ֔ףfrom barefoot
miyachefH3182 →
וּגְרוֹנֵ֖ךְand throat your
ugoronekhH1627 →
מִצִּמְאָ֑הfrom thirst
mitzimahH6773 →
וַתֹּאמְרִ֣יand you said
vatomriH559 →5305 times
נוֹאָ֔שׁdespairing
noashH2976 →
ל֕וֹאIn-
lo'H3808 →5168 times
כִּֽי־deed
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אָהַ֥בְתִּיI love
ʾahavtiH157 →211 times
זָרִ֖יםstrange [gods]
zarimH2114 →77 times
וְאַחֲרֵיהֶ֥םand after them
veachareihemH310 →715 times
אֵלֵֽךְ׃I will walk
ʾelekhH1980 →1546 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
Romans 8:24For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?
it leads to
- Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.
- 2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
- 2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
- 1 Peter 1:21
Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.
- Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer.
- Hebrews 11:1
Through
Jeremiah 14:10This is what the LORD says about this people: “Truly they love to wander; they have not restrained their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; He will now remember their guilt and…
it leads to
- Hosea 9:9
They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.
- Hosea 8:13
Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to…
- Hosea 9:9
Through
Jeremiah 18:12But they will reply, ‘It is hopeless. We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 16:12
And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you follows the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying Me.
- Jeremiah 16:12
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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; Jerome, LETTER 122.1; 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.