King James Version
Jeremiah 2
37 verses with commentary
Israel's Apostasy
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse introduces a new prophetic oracle: 'Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying.' The familiar formula signals fresh divine revelation distinct from chapter 1's call narrative. This transitional phrase appears throughout Jeremiah, marking new prophetic messages. Chapter 2 begins God's indictment of Israel's covenant unfaithfulness through vivid imagery and direct accusation. The st...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
II.
(1) The first chapter had given the narrative of the call which had impressed itself indelibly on the prophet’s mind. The next five run on as one continuous whole, and, looking to the fact that the original record of his prophetic work during the reign of Josiah had been destroyed by Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 36:23), and was afterwards re-written from memory, it is probable that we have a kind of *p...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. returning and rest--**turning back from your embassy to Egypt, and ceasing from warlike preparations.
**quietness--**answering to "wait for Him (God)" (Is 30:18).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
God expostulates with his people. (Jr 2:1-8) Their revolt beyond example. (Jr 2:9-13) Guilt the cause of sufferings. (Jr 2:14-19) The sins of Judah. (Jr 2:20-28) Their false confidence. (Jr 2:29-37)
**Verses 1-8** Those who begin well, but do not persevere, will justly be upbraided with their hopeful and promising beginnings. Those who desert religion, commonly oppose it more than ...
Read full commentary →Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. thee: or, for thy sake
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KJV Study Commentary
God commands Jeremiah: 'Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD.' The verb 'cry' (qara, קָרָא) means to call out, proclaim publicly, announce—not private counseling but public declaration. 'In the ears of Jerusalem' (be'oznei Yerushalayim, בְּאָזְנֵי יְרוּשָׁלִַם) emphasizes direct address to the capital city and its inhabitants. The message begins with remarkable tenderne...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Go and cry . . .**—The scene of the call, was, we may believe, in his home at Anathoth. Now the prophet is sent to begin his work in Jerusalem.
**I remember thee.**—Literally, *I have remembered for thee.*
**The love of thine espousals.**—The imagery was one derived, as we find so often in Jeremiah’s writings, from the older prophets. It was implied in the “jealous God” of Exodus 20:5, illus...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. flee--**not as fugitives, but we will speed our course; namely, against the Assyrians, by the help of cavalry supplied by Egypt (Is 31:1). This was expressly against the Mosaic law (De 17:16; see on Is 2:7; Ho 14:3).
**shall ... flee--**literally, "before your enemies"; their sin and its punishment correspond.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
God expostulates with his people. (Jr 2:1-8) Their revolt beyond example. (Jr 2:9-13) Guilt the cause of sufferings. (Jr 2:14-19) The sins of Judah. (Jr 2:20-28) Their false confidence. (Jr 2:29-37)
**Verses 1-8** Those who begin well, but do not persevere, will justly be upbraided with their hopeful and promising beginnings. Those who desert religion, commonly oppose it more than ...
Read full commentary →Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
God continues describing Israel's former status: 'Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase.' The phrase 'holiness unto the LORD' (qodesh le-YHWH, קֹדֶשׁ לַיהוָה) indicates Israel was set apart, consecrated, dedicated for sacred purpose—belonging exclusively to God. This echoes Exodus 19:6 where Israel was called 'a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.' The term 'fi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Holiness unto the Lord.**—The thought was that expressed in the inscription on the gold plate worn on the high priest’s forehead (Exodus 28:36), and in the term “holy thing” (Leviticus 22:10; Matthew 7:6), applied to the consecrated gifts which were the portion of the priests. The prophet was taught that Israel, as a nation, had a priestly character, and was consecrated to the Lord as the “f...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. One thousand--**A thousand at once, or, "As one man" [Maurer].
**rebuke--**the battle cry.
**shall ye--**at the rebuke of five shall ye, namely, all (in contrast to the "one thousand") flee so utterly that even two shall not be left together, but each one shall be as solitary "as a signal staff" [G. V. Smith], or "a banner on a hill" (Is 5:26; 11:12). The signal staff was erected to rall...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
God expostulates with his people. (Jr 2:1-8) Their revolt beyond example. (Jr 2:9-13) Guilt the cause of sufferings. (Jr 2:14-19) The sins of Judah. (Jr 2:20-28) Their false confidence. (Jr 2:29-37)
**Verses 1-8** Those who begin well, but do not persevere, will justly be upbraided with their hopeful and promising beginnings. Those who desert religion, commonly oppose it more than ...
Read full commentary →Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse begins the formal charges: 'Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.' The summons addresses both 'house of Jacob' (corporate Israel) and 'all the families' (every tribal subdivision), ensuring comprehensive audience—no one exempted from hearing the indictment. The imperative 'hear' (shim'u, שִׁמְעוּ) demands attention, obedience, and r...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. therefore--**on account of your wicked perverseness (Is 30:1, 2, 9, 15, 16), Jehovah will delay to be gracious [Horsley]. Rather, wait or delay in punishing, to give you time for repentance (Is 30:13, 14, 17) [Maurer]. Or, "Yet therefore" (namely, because of the distress spoken of in the previous verses; that distress will lead the Jews to repentance, and so Jehovah will pity them) [Gesenius...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
God expostulates with his people. (Jr 2:1-8) Their revolt beyond example. (Jr 2:9-13) Guilt the cause of sufferings. (Jr 2:14-19) The sins of Judah. (Jr 2:20-28) Their false confidence. (Jr 2:29-37)
**Verses 1-8** Those who begin well, but do not persevere, will justly be upbraided with their hopeful and promising beginnings. Those who desert religion, commonly oppose it more than ...
Read full commentary →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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KJV Study Commentary
God's first accusation follows: 'Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me?' This rhetorical question expects the answer 'none'—God charges that Israel abandoned Him without justifiable cause. The phrase 'what iniquity' (mah-avvel, מָה־עָוֶל) means what injustice, wrong, or unfairness. God challenges Israel to identify any failure on His part ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Vanity.**—In the special sense, as a synonym for idol-worship (Deuteronomy 32:21; 1Kings 16:13). As in the character of a husband wronged by his wife’s desertion Jehovah pleads with His people, and asks whether He has failed in anything.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19. (Is 65:9). The restoration from Babylon only typifies the full accomplishment of the prophecy (Is 30:18-33).
**weep no more--**(Is 25:8).
**thy cry--**(Is 26:8, 9; Jr 29:12-14).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
God expostulates with his people. (Jr 2:1-8) Their revolt beyond example. (Jr 2:9-13) Guilt the cause of sufferings. (Jr 2:14-19) The sins of Judah. (Jr 2:20-28) Their false confidence. (Jr 2:29-37)
**Verses 1-8** Those who begin well, but do not persevere, will justly be upbraided with their hopeful and promising beginnings. Those who desert religion, commonly oppose it more than ...
Read full commentary →Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
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KJV Study Commentary
God continues His indictment by highlighting Israel's ingratitude: 'Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt?' This rhetorical accusation reveals Israel's failure to acknowledge God's past deliverance. The question 'Where is the LORD?' (ayeh YHWH, אַיֵּה יְהוָה) represents the seeking posture they should have maintained but didn't. The reference to Egyptian ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Neither said they.**—In somewhat of the same tone as in Deuteronomy 8:15; Deuteronomy 32:10, the horrors of the wilderness are painted in vivid colours, to heighten the contrast with the land into which they had been brought. The picture was true of part, but not of the whole, of the region of the wanderings. But the people had forgotten this. There was no seeking for the Lord who had then b...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
20. Rather, "The Lord will give"; the "though" is not in the original.
**bread of adversity--**He will not deny you food enough to save you in your adversity (1Ki 22:27; Psa 127:2).
**be removed--**rather, "hide themselves"; they shall no more be forced to hide themselves from persecution, but shall be openly received with reverence [Maurer]. Contrast with this Psa 74:9; Am 8:11.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
God expostulates with his people. (Jr 2:1-8) Their revolt beyond example. (Jr 2:9-13) Guilt the cause of sufferings. (Jr 2:14-19) The sins of Judah. (Jr 2:20-28) Their false confidence. (Jr 2:29-37)
**Verses 1-8** Those who begin well, but do not persevere, will justly be upbraided with their hopeful and promising beginnings. Those who desert religion, commonly oppose it more than ...
Read full commentary →And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. a plentiful: or, the land of Carmel
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KJV Study Commentary
God contrasts His faithfulness with Israel's unfaithfulness: 'And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof.' The phrase 'plentiful country' (erets karmel, אֶרֶץ כַּרְמֶל) means a land of fruitful field or garden land—Canaan's fertility contrasted sharply with wilderness barrenness. God's purpose was blessing—'to eat the fruit thereof and the goodnes...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **A plentiful country.**—Literally, *a land of Carmel, *that word, as meaning a vine-clad hill, having become a type of plenty. So “the forest of his Carmel,” in Isaiah 37:24; elsewhere, as in Isaiah 10:18; Isaiah 32:15, “fruitful.” The LXX. treats the word as a proper name, “I brought you unto Carmel.”
**When ye entered.**—The words point to the rapid degeneracy of Israel after the settlement...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. word--**conscience, guided by the Holy Spirit (Joh 16:13).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
God expostulates with his people. (Jr 2:1-8) Their revolt beyond example. (Jr 2:9-13) Guilt the cause of sufferings. (Jr 2:14-19) The sins of Judah. (Jr 2:20-28) Their false confidence. (Jr 2:29-37)
**Verses 1-8** Those who begin well, but do not persevere, will justly be upbraided with their hopeful and promising beginnings. Those who desert religion, commonly oppose it more than ...
Read full commentary →The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
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KJV Study Commentary
God specifies those who failed to seek Him: 'The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.' Four leadership categories are indicted. First, priests who should have taught the people to seek God instead failed to ask "Where is the LORD?" the...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **The priests said not . . .**—As throughout the work of Jeremiah and most of the prophets of the Old Testament, that which weighed most heavily on their souls was that those who were called to be guides of the people were themselves the chief agents in the evil. The salt had lost its savour. The light had become darkness. The rebuke, we must remember, came from the lips of one who was himself...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**22. covering of ... images--**rather, "images" (formed of wood or potter's clay, and) "covered with silver." Hezekiah, and afterwards Josiah, defiled them (2Ki 23:8, 10, 14, 16; 2Ch 31:1; compare Is 2:20; De 7:25).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
God expostulates with his people. (Jr 2:1-8) Their revolt beyond example. (Jr 2:9-13) Guilt the cause of sufferings. (Jr 2:14-19) The sins of Judah. (Jr 2:20-28) Their false confidence. (Jr 2:29-37)
**Verses 1-8** Those who begin well, but do not persevere, will justly be upbraided with their hopeful and promising beginnings. Those who desert religion, commonly oppose it more than ...
Read full commentary →Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead.
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KJV Study Commentary
God declares continued pursuit of justice: "Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead." The verb "plead" (ariv, אָרִיב, from riv, רִיב) means contend in court, bring lawsuit, argue a case—continuing the legal framework. Despite overwhelming evidence of guilt, God commits to ongoing engagement across generations ("your children's children"),...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **I will yet plead with you.**—We hear, as it were, the echo of the words of Hosea 2:2. The injured lord and husband will appear as the accuser of the faithless bride, and set forth her guilt as in an indictment.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. rain of--**rather, "for thy seed." Physical prosperity accompanies national piety; especially under the Old Testament. The early rain fell soon after the seed was sown in October or November; the latter rain in the spring, before the ripening of the corn. Both were needed for a good harvest.
**increase--**the produce.
**fat--**bread made of the best wheat flour (compare Ge 49:20; De 32:1...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13** Before God punishes sinners, he pleads with them, to bring them to repentance. He pleads with us, what we should plead with ourselves. Be afraid to think of the wrath and curse which will be the portion of those who throw themselves out of God's grace and favour. Grace in Christ is compared to water from a fountain, it being cooling and refreshing, cleansing and making fruitful: to...
Read full commentary →For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. over: or, over to
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KJV Study Commentary
God challenges Israel to investigate other nations' religious practices: "For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing." This rhetorical challenge invites comparison with both western ("isles of Chittim"—Cyprus and Mediterranean regions) and eastern ("Kedar"—Arabian desert tribes) cultures. The verbs emphasize thoroughn...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Pass over the isles . . .**—Chittim is named as being, from the prophet’s point of view, the furthest country in the west (Genesis 10:4; Numbers 24:24), Kedar (Genesis 25:13; Psalm 120:5) in the east. The whole earth might be searched without finding a parallel to the guilt of Israel.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. ear--**that is, till. Asses were employed in tillage, as well as oxen (De 22:10).
**clean--**rather, salted provender [Gesenius]. The Arab proverb is, "Sweet provender is as bread to camels--salted provender as confectionery." The very cattle shall share the coming felicity. Or else, well-fermented maslin, that is, provender formed of a mixture of various substances: grain, beans, vetches,...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13** Before God punishes sinners, he pleads with them, to bring them to repentance. He pleads with us, what we should plead with ourselves. Be afraid to think of the wrath and curse which will be the portion of those who throw themselves out of God's grace and favour. Grace in Christ is compared to water from a fountain, it being cooling and refreshing, cleansing and making fruitful: to...
Read full commentary →Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
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KJV Study Commentary
God's rhetorical question makes the accusation explicit: "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit." The question expects negative answer—nations don't change their gods. The phrase "which are yet no gods" (vehem lo elohim, וְהֵם לֹא אֱלֹהִים) reveals these deities' non-existence—they aren't gods at all. Yet paga...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Hath a nation . . .**—Emphatically a heathen “nation,” as contrasted with the “people” of Jehovah. They were faithful to their false gods; Israel was unfaithful to the true. The words “changed their glory” find an echo in Romans 1:23, though here they express the thought that the worship of Jehovah was the true glory of Israel as a people, and that they had wilfully abandoned it.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
25. Even the otherwise barren hills shall then be well-watered (Is 44:3).
**the day, &c.--**when the disobedient among the Jews shall have been slain, as foretold in Is 30:16: "towers," that is, mighty men (Is 2:15). Or else, the towers of the Assyrian Sennacherib, or of Babylon, types of all enemies of God's people.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13** Before God punishes sinners, he pleads with them, to bring them to repentance. He pleads with us, what we should plead with ourselves. Be afraid to think of the wrath and curse which will be the portion of those who throw themselves out of God's grace and favour. Grace in Christ is compared to water from a fountain, it being cooling and refreshing, cleansing and making fruitful: to...
Read full commentary →Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
God summons creation itself as witness to Israel's unprecedented apostasy: "Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD." This poetic personification of heavens invokes cosmic witness to the covenant lawsuit (similar to Deuteronomy 32:1, Isaiah 1:2). Three verbs intensify the response: "be astonished" (shommu, שֹׁמּוּ, from shamem, שָׁמֵם—be ap...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Be astonished, O ye heavens.**—The adjuration had been made familiar by a like utterance in Isaiah 1:2; Deut. 32 1 “Astonished”—in the old sense, “thunder-stricken,” stupefied. The whole universe is thought of as shocked and startled at the offence against its Creator.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
26. Image from the heavenly bodies to express the increase of spiritual light and felicity. "Sevenfold" implies the perfection of that felicity, seven being the sacred number. It shall also be literally fulfilled hereafter in the heavenly city (Is 60:19, 20; Re 21:23, 24; 22:5).
**breach--**the wound, or calamity, sent by God on account of their sins (Is 1:5).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13** Before God punishes sinners, he pleads with them, to bring them to repentance. He pleads with us, what we should plead with ourselves. Be afraid to think of the wrath and curse which will be the portion of those who throw themselves out of God's grace and favour. Grace in Christ is compared to water from a fountain, it being cooling and refreshing, cleansing and making fruitful: to...
Read full commentary →For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
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KJV Study Commentary
God identifies Israel's double sin with powerful water imagery—forsaking Him as the fountain of living waters and hewing out broken cisterns that hold no water. This crystallizes all idolatry: abandoning the sufficient source for insufficient substitutes.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **The fountain of living waters.**—The word rendered “well,” as in Proverbs 10:11; Proverbs 18:4; “fountain,” as in Psalm 36:9, is used of water flowing from the rock. The “cistern,” on the other hand, was a tank for surface water. A word identical in sound and meaning, though differently spelt, is variously rendered by “pit,” “well,” or “cistern.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27. name of ... Lord--**that is, Jehovah Himself (Psa 44:5; 54:1); represented as a storm approaching and ready to burst over the Assyrians (Is 30:30, 31).
**burden ... is heavy--**literally, "grievousness is the flame," that is, the flame which darts from Him is grievous. Or else (as the Hebrew means an "uplifting") the uprising cloud is grievous [G. V. Smith]; the gathering cloud gradually r...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13** Before God punishes sinners, he pleads with them, to bring them to repentance. He pleads with us, what we should plead with ourselves. Be afraid to think of the wrath and curse which will be the portion of those who throw themselves out of God's grace and favour. Grace in Christ is compared to water from a fountain, it being cooling and refreshing, cleansing and making fruitful: to...
Read full commentary →Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled? spoiled: Heb. become a spoil?
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KJV Study Commentary
Rhetorical questions about Israel's status as servant or slave highlight the irony—God freed them from Egypt, yet they became plunder through voluntary apostasy. They enslaved themselves by forsaking divine protection.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Is Israel a servant?**—The word “servant,” we must remember, had become, through its frequent use in Isaiah (Isaiah 20:3; Isaiah 41:8, *et al.*)*, *a word not of shame, but honour; and of all servants, he who was born in the house—as in the case of Eleazar (Genesis 15:3)—occupied the most honourable place, nearest to a son. The point of the question is accordingly not “Is Israel become a sl...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
28. (Is 11:4; 2Th 2:8).
**reach ... neck--**the most extreme danger; yet as the head, or capital of Judah, was to be spared (Is 8:8), so the head, or sovereign of Assyria, Sennacherib, should escape.
**sieve of vanity--**Rather, "the winnowing fan of destruction" [Lowth] (Is 41:16).
**bridle in ... jaws--**as prisoners are represented in the Assyrian inscriptions (Is 37:29).
**causing ... ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-19** Is Israel a servant? No, they are the seed of Abraham. We may apply this spiritually: Is the soul of man a slave? No, it is not; but has sold its own liberty, and enslaved itself to divers lusts and passions. The Assyrian princes, like lions, prevailed against Israel. People from Egypt destroyed their glory and strength. They brought these calamities on themselves by departing fro...
Read full commentary →The young lions roared upon him, and yelled , and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant. yelled: Heb. gave out their voice
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KJV Study Commentary
Enemy nations depicted as roaring young lions make Israel's land waste and burn cities. This vivid imagery describes Assyria and Babylon's devastating invasions as consequence of covenant unfaithfulness.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **The young lions roared . . .**—The real answer to the question, that Israel had forsaken its true master, is given in Jeremiah 2:17. Here it is implied in the description of what the runaway slave had suffered. Lions had attacked him; not figuratively only, as symbolising invaders, but in the most literal sense, they had made his land waste (2Kings 17:25).
**Are burned.**—Better, *levelled ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. the night ... solemnity--**As in the passover night ye celebrate your deliverance from Egypt, so shall ye celebrate your rescue from Assyrian bondage. Translate, "the solemnity" (Ex 12:42).
**goeth with a pipe--**or flute. They used to go up to Jerusalem ("the mountain of the Lord," Zion) at the three feasts with music and gladness (De 16:16; Ezr 2:65; Psa 122:1-4).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-19** Is Israel a servant? No, they are the seed of Abraham. We may apply this spiritually: Is the soul of man a slave? No, it is not; but has sold its own liberty, and enslaved itself to divers lusts and passions. The Assyrian princes, like lions, prevailed against Israel. People from Egypt destroyed their glory and strength. They brought these calamities on themselves by departing fro...
Read full commentary →Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head. have: or, feed on thy crown
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KJV Study Commentary
Egypt (Memphis and Tahpanhes) also harms Israel, showing that seeking Egyptian alliance rather than trusting God brings only additional suffering. Former oppressors remain dangerous broken cisterns.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **Also the children of Noph . . .**—We pass from the language of poetry to that of history, and the actual enemies of Israel appear on the scene, not as the threatening danger in the north, but in the far south. The words indicate that the prophet set himself from the first, as Isaiah had done (Isaiah 31:1), against the policy of an Egyptian alliance. The LXX. translators, following, we must ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
30. Jehovah's "glorious voice," raised against the enemy (Is 30:27), is again mentioned here, in contrast to the music (Is 30:29) with which His people shall come to worship Him.
**lighting down of ... arm--**(Is 30:32; Psa 38:2). The descent of His arm in striking.
**scattering--**namely, a blast that scatters, or an "inundation" [Maurer].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-19** Is Israel a servant? No, they are the seed of Abraham. We may apply this spiritually: Is the soul of man a slave? No, it is not; but has sold its own liberty, and enslaved itself to divers lusts and passions. The Assyrian princes, like lions, prevailed against Israel. People from Egypt destroyed their glory and strength. They brought these calamities on themselves by departing fro...
Read full commentary →Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
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KJV Study Commentary
God confronts Israel's responsibility—they procured disaster themselves by forsaking the LORD who led them. Divine judgment is justice for self-inflicted harm through rebellion, not arbitrary cruelty.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Hast thou not procured this . . .?**—The secret cause of the calamities is brought to light. Jehovah was leading Israel, but Israel has chosen another path, and so has procured sorrow upon sorrow to himself. The “way” here is scarcely the literal path through the wilderness, but much rather the true way of life.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
31. The Assyrian rod which beat shall itself be beaten, and that by the mere voice of the Lord, that is, an unseen divine agency (Is 10:5, 24).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-19** Is Israel a servant? No, they are the seed of Abraham. We may apply this spiritually: Is the soul of man a slave? No, it is not; but has sold its own liberty, and enslaved itself to divers lusts and passions. The Assyrian princes, like lions, prevailed against Israel. People from Egypt destroyed their glory and strength. They brought these calamities on themselves by departing fro...
Read full commentary →And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?
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KJV Study Commentary
Questioning Israel's political alliances with Egypt and Assyria/Babylon reveals the futility of seeking security through foreign powers rather than trusting God as the true source of protection and provision.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **In the way of Egypt . . .?**—The rebuke becomes more and more specific. Great rivers were, in the poetry of the prophets, the natural symbols of the kingdoms through which they flowed. Sihor (= the turbid or muddy river) here, and in Isaiah 23:3 the Nile (though in Joshua 13:3 it stands for the border stream between Palestine and Egypt), represented Egypt. The “river,” or “flood,” needing n...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**32. grounded--**rather, "decreed," "appointed" [Maurer].
**staff--**the avenging rod.
**him--**the Assyrian; type of all God's enemies in every age. Margin and Maurer construe, "Every passing through (infliction, Is 28:15) of the appointed rod, which, &c., shall be with tabrets," that is, accompanied with joy on the part of the rescued peoples.
**battles of shaking--**that is, shock of...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-19** Is Israel a servant? No, they are the seed of Abraham. We may apply this spiritually: Is the soul of man a slave? No, it is not; but has sold its own liberty, and enslaved itself to divers lusts and passions. The Assyrian princes, like lions, prevailed against Israel. People from Egypt destroyed their glory and strength. They brought these calamities on themselves by departing fro...
Read full commentary →Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
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KJV Study Commentary
Israel's own wickedness and backslidings will correct and reprove them through inherent consequences. Forsaking God and lacking fear of Him produces bitter results—sin contains its own punishment.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Thine own wickedness.**—The strain is now of a higher mood, and rises from what is local and temporary to the eternal law of retribution. Punishment comes as the natural consequence of sins. Our “pleasant vices” become “whips to scourge us.” The “backslidings” of Israel, in courting the favour of foreign states by adopting their creed and worship, shall involve her in ever fresh calamities.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33. Tophet--**literally, "A place of abomination"; the valley of the sons of Hinnom, southeast of Jerusalem, where Israel offered human sacrifices to Moloch by fire; hence a place of burning (2Ki 23:10; Jr 7:31). Latterly Gehinnom or Gehenna, that is, valley of Hinnom, was the receptacle of the refuse of the city, to consume which fires were constantly burning. Hence it came to express hell, the...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-19** Is Israel a servant? No, they are the seed of Abraham. We may apply this spiritually: Is the soul of man a slave? No, it is not; but has sold its own liberty, and enslaved itself to divers lusts and passions. The Assyrian princes, like lions, prevailed against Israel. People from Egypt destroyed their glory and strength. They brought these calamities on themselves by departing fro...
Read full commentary →For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress ; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. transgress: or, serve
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KJV Study Commentary
Despite God breaking their yoke in the Exodus and their initial pledge of obedience, Israel worshipped at pagan high places and under sacred trees, playing the harlot in spiritual adultery.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **I have broken thy yoke**.—Better, with the LXX. and Vulg., *thou hast broken thy yoke*—*i.e., *cast off all allegiance and restraint. The Authorised Version, which follows the received Hebrew reading, may, however, be understood as referring to the deliverance of Israel from their Egyptian bondage.
**Thou saidst, I will not transgress**—Perhaps, following a various reading adopted by the LX...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-28** Notwithstanding all their advantages, Israel had become like the wild vine that bears poisonous fruit. Men are often as much under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful lusts, as the brute beasts. But the Lord here warns them not to weary themselves in pursuits which could only bring distress and misery. As we must not despair of the mercy of God, but believe that ...
Read full commentary →Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?
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KJV Study Commentary
God planted Israel as a noble vine of wholly right seed, yet they turned into a degenerate wild vine of a strange plant. This agricultural metaphor illustrates corruption despite divine cultivation.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **A noble vine.**—Literally, *a Sorek vine. *Elsewhere rendered *choice *or *choicest *(Genesis 49:11; Isaiah 5:2). The word “Sorek” points primarily to the dark purple of the grape, and then to the valley of Sorek, between Ascalon and Gaza (Judges 16:4).
**Wholly a right seed.**—Literally, *a seed of truth, *parallel with the “good seed” in the Parable of the Tares. Here, however, as in Isai...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 31 Is 31:1-9. The Chief Strength of the Egyptian Armies Lay in Their Cavalry.
**1. and stay on horses, and trust in chariots--**In their level and fertile plains horses could easily be used and fed (Ex 14:9; 1Ki 10:28). In hilly Palestine horses were not so easily had or available. The Jews were therefore the more eager to get Egyptian chariots as allies against the Assyrian cavalry. In A...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-28** Notwithstanding all their advantages, Israel had become like the wild vine that bears poisonous fruit. Men are often as much under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful lusts, as the brute beasts. But the Lord here warns them not to weary themselves in pursuits which could only bring distress and misery. As we must not despair of the mercy of God, but believe that ...
Read full commentary →For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.
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KJV Study Commentary
Even washing with lye and soap cannot remove guilt's stain—external purification rituals are powerless against sin's deep corruption. Only God can cleanse what human effort cannot fix.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **Nitre.**—The mineral alkali found in the natron lakes of Egypt that took their name from it. The Hebrew word *nether *is the origin of the Greek **and **English words. (Comp. Proverbs 25:20.)
**Sope.**—Not the compounds of alkali and oil or fat now known by the name, but the potash or alkali, obtained from the ashes of plants, which was used by itself as a powerful detergent. The thought is...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. he also is wise--**as well as the Egyptian priests, so famed for wisdom (Ac 7:22), but who are "fools" before Him (Is 19:11). He not only devises, but executes what He devises without "calling back His words" (Nu 23:19).
**home--**the whole race.
**help--**the Egyptian succor sought by the Jews.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-28** Notwithstanding all their advantages, Israel had become like the wild vine that bears poisonous fruit. Men are often as much under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful lusts, as the brute beasts. But the Lord here warns them not to weary themselves in pursuits which could only bring distress and misery. As we must not despair of the mercy of God, but believe that ...
Read full commentary →How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; thou art: or, O swift dromedary
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KJV Study Commentary
Israel protests innocence despite evidence, but their actions in the valley (child sacrifice at Topheth) and restless pursuit of false gods like camels in heat expose their guilt and obsessive idolatry.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **How canst thou say . . .?**—The prophet hears, as it were, the voice of the accused criminal, with its plea of “not guilty.” Had not the worship of Jehovah been restored by Josiah? Had he not, acting on Hilkiah’s counsels, suppressed Baal-worship (2Kings 23:4-5; 2Chronicles 34:4)? The answer to such pleas is to point to the rites that were still practised openly or in secret. In the “valley...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. not spirit--**not of divine power (Psa 56:4; 146:3, 5; Zec 4:6).
**he that helpeth--**Egypt.
**holpen--**Judah.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-28** Notwithstanding all their advantages, Israel had become like the wild vine that bears poisonous fruit. Men are often as much under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful lusts, as the brute beasts. But the Lord here warns them not to weary themselves in pursuits which could only bring distress and misery. As we must not despair of the mercy of God, but believe that ...
Read full commentary →A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure ; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. A wild: or, O wild ass, etc used: Heb. taught her pleasure: Heb. the desire of her heart turn: or, reverse it?
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KJV Study Commentary
Israel is compared to a wild donkey in heat, sniffing the wind in mating season—unrestrained lust pursuing lovers (false gods). Those seeking her need not weary themselves; she is easily found in her promiscuity.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **A wild ass . . .**—One image of animal desire suggests another, and the “wild ass” appears (as in the Hebrew of Genesis 16:12; Job 11:12; Job 39:5) as even a stronger type of passion that defies control. The description is startling in its boldness, but has a parallel in that of Virgil (*Georg. *iii. 250).
**That snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure.**—Better, *in the desire of her heart, *...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
4. (Is 42:13; Ho 11:10).
**roaring on--**"growling over" his prey.
**abase himself--**be disheartened or frightened.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-28** Notwithstanding all their advantages, Israel had become like the wild vine that bears poisonous fruit. Men are often as much under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful lusts, as the brute beasts. But the Lord here warns them not to weary themselves in pursuits which could only bring distress and misery. As we must not despair of the mercy of God, but believe that ...
Read full commentary →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. There: or, Is the case desperate?
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KJV Study Commentary
Warning against pursuing idols until worn out and thirsty, yet Israel refuses, declaring love for strangers and determination to follow them. Addiction to idolatry overrides reason and restraint.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **Withhold thy foot.**—From the brute types of passion the prophet passes to the human. Here he has Hosea as giving a prototype (Hosea 2:5; Hosea 2:7), perhaps also Isaiah (Isaiah 23:15-16). The picture may probably enough have been drawn from the life, but that sketched in Proverbs 7:10-23 may well have supplied the outline. Jehovah, as her true husband, bids the apostate wife to refrain for...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5. As in the image of "the lion," the point of comparison is the fearless might of Jehovah; so in that of the birds, it is His solicitous affection (De 32:11; Psa 91:4; Mt 23:37).
**flying--**Rather, "which defend" their young with their wings; "to fly" is a secondary meaning of the Hebrew word [Maurer]. "Hovering over" to protect their young [G. V. Smith].
**passing over--**as the destroying ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-28** Notwithstanding all their advantages, Israel had become like the wild vine that bears poisonous fruit. Men are often as much under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful lusts, as the brute beasts. But the Lord here warns them not to weary themselves in pursuits which could only bring distress and misery. As we must not despair of the mercy of God, but believe that ...
Read full commentary →As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets,
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KJV Study Commentary
Like a thief ashamed when caught, Israel will experience shame—kings, princes, priests, prophets, and people all guilty of idolatry, worshipping wood and stone as father and mother.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **As the thief . . .**—The words point to the sense of shame as already felt, and as therefore bringing with it the possibility of repentance. Once they gloried in their false worship; now they feel as if detected in a crime. Conscience had once again been roused into activity.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
6. The power and love of Jehovah, just mentioned, are the strongest incentives for returning to Him (Eze 16:62, 63; Ho 6:1).
**ye ... Israel--**The change of person marks that when they return to the Lord, He will address them in more direct terms of communion in the second person; so long as they were revolters, God speaks of them, as more at a distance, in the third person, rather than to them...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-28** Notwithstanding all their advantages, Israel had become like the wild vine that bears poisonous fruit. Men are often as much under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful lusts, as the brute beasts. But the Lord here warns them not to weary themselves in pursuits which could only bring distress and misery. As we must not despair of the mercy of God, but believe that ...
Read full commentary →Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. brought: or, begotten me their back: Heb. the hinder part of the neck
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KJV Study Commentary
Israel treats created objects (trees and stones) as deity, telling wood "you are my father" and stone "you gave me birth." Yet in trouble they cry to God for salvation—turning backs in prosperity but faces in distress.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27) **Saying to a stock . . .**—The “stock” and the “stone” represent respectively the images of wood and marble. In Hebrew the latter word is feminine, and thus determines the parts assigned to them in the figurative parentage.
**To a stock, Thou art my father.**—Literally, *to a tree. *The words seem as if they were an actual quotation from the hymns of the idolatrous ritual.
**In the time of t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7. In the day of trial the idols will be found to render no help and will therefore be cast away. Compare as to the future restoration and conversion of Israel simultaneously with the interposition of Jehovah in its defense, Zec 12:9-14; 13:1, 2.
**for a sin--**that is, whereby especially you contracted guilt (1Ki 12:30).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-28** Notwithstanding all their advantages, Israel had become like the wild vine that bears poisonous fruit. Men are often as much under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful lusts, as the brute beasts. But the Lord here warns them not to weary themselves in pursuits which could only bring distress and misery. As we must not despair of the mercy of God, but believe that ...
Read full commentary →But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. trouble: Heb. evil
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KJV Study Commentary
God challenges Israel to call on the gods they made—where are they when disaster strikes? Judah had as many gods as cities, each worthless in the time of actual need.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **Where are thy gods . . .?**—The question is asked in indignant scorn. “Thou madest the gods, and yet they cannot profit thee.” Though every city had its tutelary deity, there was none found to deliver. The LXX. adds, as in Jeremiah 11:13, the words “according to the number of the streets in Jerusalem they sacrificed to Baal.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. Assyrian--**Sennacherib, representative of some powerful head of the ungodly in the latter ages [Horsley].
**sword, not of ... mighty ... mean man--**but by the unseen sword of God.
**flee--**Sennacherib alone fled homewards after his army had been destroyed (Is 37:37).
**young men--**the flower of his army.
**discomfited--**rather, "shall be subject to slavery"; literally, "shall be ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-28** Notwithstanding all their advantages, Israel had become like the wild vine that bears poisonous fruit. Men are often as much under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful lusts, as the brute beasts. But the Lord here warns them not to weary themselves in pursuits which could only bring distress and misery. As we must not despair of the mercy of God, but believe that ...
Read full commentary →Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
God questions why Israel contends with Him when they have all transgressed. He disciplined their children but correction proved futile as they refused instruction and killed prophets with the sword.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **Wherefore will ye plead with me?**—The reply of the accuser to the false pleas of the accused. The transgression was too open to be glossed over. No plea was available but that of a full confession of the guilt into which Israel had fallen.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
9. Rather, "shall pass beyond his strongholds"; he Shall not stop to take refuge in it through fear (Jud 20:47; Jr 48:28) [Gesenius].
**ensign--**the banner of Jehovah protecting the Jews [Maurer].
**fire ... furnace--**"light" and "fire," namely, of Jehovah's altar at Jerusalem (Is 29:1). Perhaps "furnace," as distinguished from "fire," may mean that His dwelling-place (His hearth) was at Jer...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 29-37** The nation had not been wrought upon by the judgements of God, but sought to justify themselves. The world is, to those who make it their home and their portion, a wilderness and a land of darkness; but those who dwell in God, have the lines fallen to them in pleasant places. Here is the language of presumptuous sinners. The Jews had long thrown off serious thoughts of God. How ma...
Read full commentary →In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
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KJV Study Commentary
Appealing to the current generation to consider God's treatment—has He been wilderness or land of darkness to them? Yet they claim autonomy, refusing to return despite His covenant faithfulness.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30) **Your own sword hath devoured your prophets.**—So in the long reign of Manasseh, the prophets who rebuked him had to do so at the risk of their lives. Isaiah, as the tradition ran, had been foremost among the sufferers. Much innocent blood had been shed from one end to another of Jerusalem (2Kings 21:11-16).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 29-37** The nation had not been wrought upon by the judgements of God, but sought to justify themselves. The world is, to those who make it their home and their portion, a wilderness and a land of darkness; but those who dwell in God, have the lines fallen to them in pleasant places. Here is the language of presumptuous sinners. The Jews had long thrown off serious thoughts of God. How ma...
Read full commentary →O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee? We are: Heb. We have dominion
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KJV Study Commentary
As a bride remembers her ornaments and wedding attire, so God remembers His covenant. Yet Israel has forgotten Him for days without number—forgetting their true treasure for worthless vanities.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **O generation, see ye.**—The pronoun occupies a different position in the Hebrew, “*O generation, you, I mean, see ye.” *The prophet speaks to the men who are actually his contemporaries. *They *are to look to the word of the Lord. Has He been to them as a waste land, a land of thick darkness (literally, according to one interpretation, *darkness of Jah, *in the sense of intensity), that the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 32 Is 32:1-20. Messiah's Kingdom; Desolations, to Be Succeeded by Lasting Peace, the Spirit Having Been Poured Out.
The times of purity and happiness which shall follow the defeat of the enemies of Jehovah's people (Is 32:1-8). The period of wrath before that happy state (Is 32:9-14). The assurance of the final prosperity of the Church is repeated (Is 32:15-20).
**1. king--**not Hezeki...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 29-37** The nation had not been wrought upon by the judgements of God, but sought to justify themselves. The world is, to those who make it their home and their portion, a wilderness and a land of darkness; but those who dwell in God, have the lines fallen to them in pleasant places. Here is the language of presumptuous sinners. The Jews had long thrown off serious thoughts of God. How ma...
Read full commentary →Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
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KJV Study Commentary
God employs a striking rhetorical question to highlight the unnatural character of Israel's apostasy. While brides meticulously remember their wedding ornaments (Hebrew 'keseth') and maidens their adornments, Israel has forgotten the LORD who redeemed them from Egypt. This demonstrates that spiritual amnesia regarding God's covenant faithfulness is more unnatural than any earthly forgetfulness. Th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) **Or a bride her attire.**—The word is rendered “headbands” in Isaiah 3:20, but here it probably means the “girdle” which formed the special distinction of the wife as contrasted with the maiden. Such a girdle, like the marriage ring with us, would be treasured by the bride all her life long. Even the outward memorial of her union with her husband would be dear to her. But Israel had forgotte...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. a man--**rather, the man Christ [Lowth]; it is as "the Son of man" He is to reign, as it was as Son of man He suffered (Mt 26:64; Joh 5:27; 19:5). Not as Maurer explains, "every one of the princes shall be," &c.
**rivers--**as refreshing as water and the cool shade are to the heated traveller (Is 35:6, 7; 41:18).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 29-37** The nation had not been wrought upon by the judgements of God, but sought to justify themselves. The world is, to those who make it their home and their portion, a wilderness and a land of darkness; but those who dwell in God, have the lines fallen to them in pleasant places. Here is the language of presumptuous sinners. The Jews had long thrown off serious thoughts of God. How ma...
Read full commentary →Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.
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KJV Study Commentary
The prophet exposes Israel's calculated efforts to pursue foreign alliances and pagan practices. The verb 'trimmest' (Hebrew 'yatab') suggests deliberate beautification or improvement of one's path, indicating premeditated apostasy rather than mere spiritual drift. More gravely, Israel's covenant unfaithfulness has become a teaching example to pagan nations ('taught the wicked ones thy ways'), rev...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(33) **Why trimmest thou thy way . . .?**—The verb is the same as that rendered *“*amend” in Jeremiah 7:3; Jeremiah 7:5, and was probably often on the lips of those who made a show of reformation. Here it is used with a scornful irony, “What means this reform, this show of amendment of thy ways, which leads only to a further indulgence in adulterous love?”
**Hast thou also taught the wicked ones t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. them that see--**the seers or prophets.
**them that hear--**the people under instruction (Is 35:5, 6).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 29-37** The nation had not been wrought upon by the judgements of God, but sought to justify themselves. The world is, to those who make it their home and their portion, a wilderness and a land of darkness; but those who dwell in God, have the lines fallen to them in pleasant places. Here is the language of presumptuous sinners. The Jews had long thrown off serious thoughts of God. How ma...
Read full commentary →Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these. secret: Heb. digging
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KJV Study Commentary
God indicts Judah for social injustice intertwined with their religious apostasy. The 'blood of the souls of the poor innocents' likely refers to both literal violence and exploitation of the vulnerable. The phrase 'in thy skirts' suggests evidence so obvious that no investigation was needed—the guilt was openly displayed. This connects covenant unfaithfulness to its inevitable fruit: oppression o...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(34) **Also in thy skirts . . .**—The general meaning is clear, and points to the guilt of Israel in offering her children—the “poor innocents”—in horrid sacrifice to Molech; perhaps, also, to her maltreatment of the prophets. Their “blood” is on the “skirts” of her raiment; perhaps, if we take another reading, on the “palms” of her hands. The last clause is, however, obscure enough. We have to ch...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. rash--**rather, "the hasty"; contrast "shall not make haste" (Is 28:16); the reckless who will not take time to weigh religious truth aright. Or else, the well-instructed [Horsley].
**stammers--**those who speak confusedly on divine things (compare Ex 4:10-12; Jr 1:6; Mt 10:19, 20). Or, rather, those drunken scorners who in stammering style imitated Isaiah's warnings to mock them [Maurer] (...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 29-37** The nation had not been wrought upon by the judgements of God, but sought to justify themselves. The world is, to those who make it their home and their portion, a wilderness and a land of darkness; but those who dwell in God, have the lines fallen to them in pleasant places. Here is the language of presumptuous sinners. The Jews had long thrown off serious thoughts of God. How ma...
Read full commentary →Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.
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KJV Study Commentary
Despite overwhelming evidence of guilt, Judah maintains innocence, demonstrating the depth of spiritual self-deception. The Hebrew legal terminology 'I will plead' (shaphat) indicates God will prosecute His case against them. This verse exposes humanity's natural tendency toward self-justification even in the face of divine indictment. The Reformed doctrine of total depravity is illustrated here: ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(35) **Yet thou sayest . . .**—Once again we have the equivocating plea of the accused. She takes up the word that had been used by the accuser: “You speak of the innocents; *I, too, am innocent. His anger has turned away from me. *Here, as in Jeremiah 2:33, there is an implied reference to the partial reformation under Josiah. The accuser retorts, and renews his pleadings against her. Confession ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. vile--**rather, "fool" [Lowth]; that is, ungodly (Psa 14:1; 74:18).
**liberal--**rather, "noble-minded."
**churl--**rather, "fraudulent" [Gesenius].
**bountiful--**religiously. The atheistic churl, who envies the believer his hope "full of immortality," shall no longer be held as a patriot struggling for the emancipation of mankind from superstition [Horsley].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 29-37** The nation had not been wrought upon by the judgements of God, but sought to justify themselves. The world is, to those who make it their home and their portion, a wilderness and a land of darkness; but those who dwell in God, have the lines fallen to them in pleasant places. Here is the language of presumptuous sinners. The Jews had long thrown off serious thoughts of God. How ma...
Read full commentary →Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
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KJV Study Commentary
The verb 'gaddest' conveys restless movement without purpose, depicting Israel's frantic pursuit of political alliances as spiritual adultery. Their shifting allegiances between Egypt and Assyria demonstrate covenant unfaithfulness—seeking security in human strength rather than divine providence. The predicted shame recalls Reformed theology's teaching that all substitutes for God ultimately fail ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(36) **Why gaddest thou . . .?**—The vigorous English expresses well, perhaps even with some added force, the frequentative force of the Hebrew. What meant this perpetual change of policy, this shifting of alliances? Shame and confusion should follow from the alliance with Nechoh, as it had followed from that with Tiglath-pileser (2Kings 16:10; 2Chronicles 28:20).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. vile ... villainy--**rather, "the (irreligious) fool ... (his) folly."
**will speak--**rather, "present"; for (so far is the "fool" from deserving the epithet "noble-minded") the fool "speaketh" folly and "worketh," &c.
**hypocrisy--**rather, "profligacy" [Horsley].
**error--**impiety, perverse arguments.
**hungry--**spiritually (Mt 5:6).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 29-37** The nation had not been wrought upon by the judgements of God, but sought to justify themselves. The world is, to those who make it their home and their portion, a wilderness and a land of darkness; but those who dwell in God, have the lines fallen to them in pleasant places. Here is the language of presumptuous sinners. The Jews had long thrown off serious thoughts of God. How ma...
Read full commentary →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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KJV Study Commentary
The image of going forth with 'hands upon thine head' depicts mourning, shame, and captivity. God's rejection of their 'confidences' (plural, indicating multiple false securities) leads to futility in all their endeavors. This verse embodies the Reformed principle that apart from God's blessing, all human effort proves vain. The phrase 'thou shalt not prosper' recalls the covenant curses of Deuter...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(37) **From him.**—Better, *from it, sc., *from Egypt as a people.
**Thine hands upon thine head.**—The outward sign of depression and despair (2Samuel 13:19).
**Thy confidences.**—*i.e., *the grounds or objects of thy confidence.
**Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. churl--**"the fraudulent"; this verse refers to the last clause of Is 32:5; as Is 32:6 referred to its first clause.
**speaketh right--**pleadeth a just cause (Is 29:21); spiritually, "the poor man's cause" is the divine doctrine, his rule of faith and practice.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 29-37** The nation had not been wrought upon by the judgements of God, but sought to justify themselves. The world is, to those who make it their home and their portion, a wilderness and a land of darkness; but those who dwell in God, have the lines fallen to them in pleasant places. Here is the language of presumptuous sinners. The Jews had long thrown off serious thoughts of God. How ma...
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