Jeremiah 2:37
in Jeremiah 2Moreover, you will leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not prosper by their help.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
From thence also shalt thou go forth, with thy hands upon thy head: for Jehovah hath rejected those in whom thou trustest, and thou shalt not prosper with them.
KJV
Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the Lord hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.
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This verse in Jeremiah 2
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Verse 37.) And you will be confounded by Egypt, just as you were confounded by Assyria: for you will also go out from there, and your hands will be on your head: because the Lord has broken your confidence (or hope), and you will have nothing prosperous in it. In order to avoid the attack of the Egyptians, they fled to the Assyrians, whose defense was in vain, for we read that they were defeated by the Egyptians.
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
with your hands on your head
Hands on the head was the sign of grief and disgrace, the gesture of Tamar at 2 Samuel 13:19. Judah would come back from Egypt with nothing, like envoys turned away. The LORD Himself rejects the helpers it trusted.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Our soldiers were brought low by a similar disdaining pride and by the same outcome. That saying of the prophet was brought home to our army: "The Lord shall cast aside your confidence, and you shall not have prosperity." We were confident in our own …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Yea, thou shalt go forth from him,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
From him - From it, from this Egypt, which though fem. as a land, yet as a people may be used as a masc. (compare Jer 46:8). Now that Nineveh is trembling before the armies of Cyaxares and Nabopalassar, thou hastenest to Egypt, hoping to rest upon her strength: but thou shalt retrace thy steps, with thy hands clasped upon thy head, disgraced and discarded. Confidences - Those in whom thou confidest. In them - literally, “with respect to them.”
Thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head - Thou shalt find all thy confidence in vain, - thy hope disappointed; - and thy state reduced to desperation. The hand being placed on the head was the evidence of deep sorrow, occasioned by utter desolation. See the case of Tamar, when ruined and abandoned by her brother Amnon, 2Sa 13:19. Thou shalt not prosper in them - They shall all turn to thy disadvantage; and this as we shall see in the history of this people, was literally fulfilled. O what a grievous and bitter thing it is to sin against the Lord, and have him for an enemy!
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּ֣ם | gam | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| מֵאֵ֥ת | meet | from with | H854 → | 929 times |
| זֶה֙ | zeh | this [one] | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| תֵּֽצְאִ֔י | tetzei | you will go out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| וְיָדַ֖יִךְ | veyadayikh | and hands your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [will be] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רֹאשֵׁ֑ךְ | roshekh | head your | H7218 → | 599 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מָאַ֤ס | maas | he has rejected | H3988 → | 76 times |
| יְהֹוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּמִבְטַחַ֔יִךְ | bemivtachayikh | <in> objects of confidence your | H4009 → | 15 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַצְלִ֖יחִי | tatzlichi | you will prosper | H6743 → | 65 times |
| לָהֶֽם׃ | lahem | to <the> them |
גַּ֣םalso
gamH1571 →769 times
מֵאֵ֥תfrom with
meetH854 →929 times
זֶה֙this [one]
zehH2088 →1180 times
תֵּֽצְאִ֔יyou will go out
tetzeiH3318 →1067 times
וְיָדַ֖יִךְand hands your
veyadayikhH3027 →1618 times
עַל־[will be] on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
רֹאשֵׁ֑ךְhead your
roshekhH7218 →599 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
מָאַ֤סhe has rejected
maasH3988 →76 times
יְהֹוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּמִבְטַחַ֔יִךְ<in> objects of confidence your
bemivtachayikhH4009 →15 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תַצְלִ֖יחִיyou will prosper
tatzlichiH6743 →65 times
לָהֶֽם׃to <the> them
lahem
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
Jeremiah 17:5This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
it leads to
- Psalms 118:8–9
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
- Psalms 146:3–4
Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
- Isaiah 2:22
Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- 2 Chronicles 32:8
With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah…
- Isaiah 31:1–9
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
- Psalms 118:8–9
Through
2 Samuel 13:19And Tamar put ashes on her head and tore her robe. And putting her hand on her head, she went away crying bitterly.
it leads to
- Joshua 7:6
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the LORD until evening, as did the elders of Israel; and they all sprinkled dust on their heads.
- 2 Samuel 1:2
On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head arrived from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him homage.
- Joshua 7:6
Through
Jeremiah 32:5He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will stay until I attend to him, declares the LORD. If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.’”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 21:4–5
this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will turn against you the weapons of war in your hands, with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans…
- Jeremiah 21:4–5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Salvian the Presbyter, THE GOVERNANCE OF GOD 7:11.