Jeremiah 2:5
in Jeremiah 2This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me, and followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith Jehovah, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
KJV
Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
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This verse in Jeremiah 2
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThus saith the Lord, what iniquity have your fathers found in me,.... What injustice or injury has been done them? there is no unrighteousness in God, nor can any be done by him; or what unfaithfulness, or want of truth and integrity in performing promises, had they found in him? he never suffers his faithfulness to fail, or any of the good things he has promised.
This site's exposition
Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob
on Jeremiah 2:4-8
The charge is a question, “What fault did your fathers find in Me”. Israel never asked where the LORD was, and in the fertile land it defiled His land. Every office failed together, as the priests did not ask, the leaders rebelled and “The prophets prophesied by Baal”.
This site's exposition
followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves
Worthless translates hevel, a breath, the word Ecclesiastes uses for vanity, and the verb that follows is built from the same root. Israel once followed the LORD in the wilderness of verse 2, and now it follows a breath and becomes one. Psalm 115:8 says the same of idol makers.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Verses 4, 5.) Hear the word of the Lord, house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: What did your fathers find in me of iniquity, that they went far from me, and went after vanity, and became vain? This meaning is also testified by another prophet: O my people, what have I done to you, and how have I been a burden to you? Answer me: for I brought you out of the land of Egypt, and delivered you from the house of slaves (Micah 6:3-4).
A commentator
John ChrysostomHOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING. 4:5.23 · Written before 407.
proposed
Again, elsewhere he says, "What fault have your fathers found in me?" That which is said is great and marvelous, because what he says means, "What wrong have I done?" God tells human beings, "What sin have I committed?"—something that not even slaves tolerate that their master utter.
And elsewhere again, "What transgression have your fathers found in me?" And again, "O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I grieved thee?" showing their thankless disposition, and that when in the enjoyment of all things, they requited it by the contraries; but here He expresses it with yet greater force. For He doth not plead, Himself, saying, "What ought I to have done that I have not done?" but brings in themselves to judge, that nothing hath been wanting, and to condemn themselves.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Idolatrous worships are vanities, Acts xiv. Idolaters are vain, for those that make idols are like unto them ( Ps. cxv. 8 ), as much stocks and stones as the images they worship, and good for as little. [3.] They had with idolatry introduced all manner of wickedness.
Now he pleads with those who persisted in that vain conversation received by tradition from their fathers, and with their children's children, that is, with all that in every age tread in their steps. Let those that forsake God know that he is willing to argue the case fairly with them, that he may be justified when he speaks.
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)
Mic 6:3; compare De 32:4). walked after vanity--contrasted with "walkest after me in the wilderness" (Jer 2:2): then I was their guide in the barren desert; now they take idols as their guides. vanity . . . vain--An idol is not only vain (impotent and empty), but vanity itself. Its worshippers acquire its character, becoming vain as it is (De 7:26;
What iniquity have your fathers found in me - Have they ever discovered any thing cruel, unjust, oppressive in my laws? Any thing unkind or tyrannical in my government? Why then have they become idolaters?
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֣ה׀ | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| מָּצְא֨וּ | matzeu | did they find | H4672 → | 455 times |
| אֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֥ם | ʾavoteikhem | ancestors your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| בִּי֙ | bi | in <the> me | ||
| עָ֔וֶל | ʾavel | injustice | H5766 → | |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רָחֲק֖וּ | rachaku | they became distant | H7368 → | |
| מֵעָלָ֑י | mealai | from with <the> me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וַיֵּֽלְכ֛וּ | vaiyelekhu | and they walked | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֥י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| הַהֶ֖בֶל | hahevel | <the> vanity | H1892 → | 73 times |
| וַיֶּהְבָּֽלוּ׃ | vaiyehbalu | and they became vain | H1891 → |
כֹּ֣ה׀thus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
מָּצְא֨וּdid they find
matzeuH4672 →455 times
אֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֥םancestors your
ʾavoteikhemH1 →1212 times
בִּי֙in <the> me
bi
עָ֔וֶלinjustice
ʾavelH5766 →
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
רָחֲק֖וּthey became distant
rachakuH7368 →
מֵעָלָ֑יfrom with <the> me
mealaiH5921 →5755 times
וַיֵּֽלְכ֛וּand they walked
vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times
אַחֲרֵ֥יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
הַהֶ֖בֶל<the> vanity
hahevelH1892 →73 times
וַיֶּהְבָּֽלוּ׃and they became vain
vaiyehbaluH1891 →
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 1:21For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 17:15
They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ephesians 4:17–18
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
- 2 Timothy 3:2
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
- Psalms 50:23
He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”
- 2 Kings 17:15
Through
Jonah 2:8Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:8
But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 31:6
I hate those who cling to worthless idols, but in the LORD I trust.
- Jeremiah 2:13
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- Jeremiah 10:8
Through
Psalms 115:8Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
it leads to
- Psalms 135:18
Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
- Psalms 135:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING. 4:5.23; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 68:2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.