Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 2:22

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 2:22. For though thou wash thee with nitre — It should be rendered natar or natron, a substance totally different from our nitre. It comes from the root נתר nathar, to dissolve, loosen, because a solution of it in water is abstersive, taking out spots, c., from clothes. It is still used in the east for the purpose of washing. If vinegar be poured on it, Dr. Shaw says, a strong effervescence is the immediate consequence, which illustrates Proverbs 25:20: "The singing of songs to a heavy heart is like vinegar upon natron" that is, there is no affinity between them; opposition and strife are occasioned by any attempt to unite them.

Thine iniquity is marked before me — No washing will take out thy spots; the marks of thy idolatry and corruption are too deeply rooted to be extracted by any human means.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Idolatry and immorality (2:20-37)

In associating with Baal and other gods, Judah has broken the covenant bond with Yahweh. Judah’s unfaithfulness is likened to adultery (20). (Throughout the following chapters, Jeremiah makes repeated reference to the beliefs and practices of Baalism, and to the significance they had in leading God’s people into spiritual adultery and prostitution. For information that will help to understand Jeremiah’s teaching, see introductory notes to Judges, subheading ‘The religion of the Canaanites’.)
Two brief illustrations picture Judah’s uselessness for God. In one illustration the nation is likened to a well cultivated vine that has grown wild. In the other it is likened to a filthy object that no amount of washing can cleanse (21-22). But the main illustration in this section is that of a woman who has left her husband for other men. Judah, however, claims that she cannot be held responsible for her idolatry. She is like an innocent person who has been led astray. God replies that, far from being innocent, she has actually lusted after other gods - as an animal in heat lusts for a mate. She has gone looking for foreign gods with the eagerness of a thirsty traveller who walks the desert searching for water till the sandals drop off his feet (23-25).
God’s people will bring disgrace upon themselves because of their rebellion against him. They worship idols of wood and stone, but when these idols prove powerless to help them in a time of need, they turn back to God and expect him to save them. God will surely send shameful calamity upon such a worthless nation. Then the people will find out that their idols cannot save them (26-28).
As a father punishes his children to correct them, so God has punished his people, but it has not resulted in any change within them (29-30). He has not treated them harshly. They should feel no need to want to be ‘free’ from him. Yet they have done what would seem impossible: they have forgotten the one who gave them glory (31-32).
The wickedness of the people of Judah has become so great that they can even teach prostitutes how to be immoral. A person might happen to shed blood in defending himself against a robber, but the people of Judah attack the poor and helpless simply because they love violence. Their consciences have become so dull that they cannot see their wrongdoing (33-35). They have turned from God to trust in Egypt and Assyria, but these nations will prove to be treacherous friends. They will bring injury and shame upon Judah (36-37).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“For of old time I have broken thy yoke and burst thy bonds; and thou saidst, I will not serve; for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the harlot. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine unto me? For though thou wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord Jehovah. How canst thou say, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind in her desire; in her occasion, who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. 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 I will go.”

The change to the first person in Jeremiah 2:20 should not be confusing. This type of abrupt change of persons is common in most of the Biblical writings. The Anchor Bible gives the true meaning of the passage thus:

“Long ago you snapped your yoke,
Shook off your lines.
And said, “I will not serve!”
Nay, on every high hill,
Under every green tree,
There you sprawled a-whoring.”Barnes’ Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), p. 11.

Even more explicit is the rendition of Thompson who rendered the last two lines here as:

“And under every green tree
You sprawled in sexual vice.”J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archeology (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972), p. 175.

All are familiar with the usual scholarly emphasis that harlotry and adultery in the Bible are actually metaphors for turning from the worship of God to any form of false worship; but the raw facts of human lust and depravity were basic factors involved in such “spiritual adultery”. “The reference in Jeremiah 2:20 is to the fertility cults of ancient Canaan, whose rites included so-called sacred prostitution and the ritual self-dedication of young women to the god of fertility.”Barnes’ Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), p. 15.

As Feinberg put it, “It must not be forgotten that sexual immorality of the lowest order was always a part of this so-called worship.”Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 393. There can be no doubt whatever that the basic attraction to the Hebrews of the Baalim cults was precisely this: they provided abundant gratification of sexual lust upon the payment of the usual fee of a cake of raisins. As Ash expressed it, “The harlotry, or whoredom, was both literal in the sexually oriented worship of Baal, and spiritual in the people’s abandonment of Jehovah for other gods.”Anthony L. Ash, Psalms (Abilene, Texas: A.C.U. Press, 1987), p. 52.

These verses, and through Jeremiah 2:29, furnish a list of seven similes illustrating Israel’s apostasy: (1) She is like an ox that throws off the yoke and refuses to work; (2) She is like a prostitute. (3) She is like the choice grapevine that became a corrupt vine yielding poisonous berries. (4) Israel’s guilt is a stain that neither lye nor soap can remove. (5) She is like a she-camel in @@rut, running around in all directions seeking a mate. (6) She is like a she-ass in heat, crazed by desire, seeking a male partner. (7) The shame of Israel is like that of a thief who has been caught. All of these analogies are developed by Hyatt.Henry H. Halley’s Bible Handbook (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House), pp. 818-821.

Jeremiah 2:21 gives Jeremiah’s version of the “corrupt vine” a passage with the same essential message as that of Isaiah 5:1-7. The message is that the promising nation of Israel had degenerated beyond all hope of its being preserved. “The noble or choice vine which God planted, in the Hebrew is literally `Sorek vine,’ a high-quality red grape grown between Jerusalem and the Mediterranean.”R. K. Harrison, Jeremiah in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, p. 60.

Jeremiah 2:22 points out that Israel’s uncleanness was of a type that soap and water, even with lye, could in no manner cleanse. This is the fourth simile describing the wickedness of the Once Chosen People: (1) the ox that threw off her yoke, (2) the unfaithful wife who became a whore, (3) the noble vine that degenerated into a corrupt plant; and (4) their person so filthy that lye and soap were powerless to cleanse her!

“How canst thou say, I am not defiled” Keil identified the “valley” mentioned here as “Ben-Hinnom, to the south of Jerusalem, where children were offered to Molech,… and taken in connection with what follows, the words certainly imply the continued existence of practices of that sort.”C. F. Keil, Keil-Delitzsch’s Old Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 66.

In Jeremiah 2:23-24, we have two more of the similes regarding Israel’s guilt, (5) that of the young camel filly and (6) that of the she-ass, the behavior of either of them in heat being regarded as a description of the crazed, lustful search of Israel for illegal lovers. Those particular animals, when their time is upon them, search frantically for the male counterpart, not waiting to be sought by them. This was the manner of Israel’s shameless pursuit of gratification in the shrines and “high places” of the pagan cults.

“Withhold thy foot from being unshod” This is a plea by the prophet that Israel should stop running barefooted after lovers, forcing herself into a state of thirst, in her mad, lustful pursuit of false lovers, “Like a shameless adulteress, running after strangers.”Scribner’s Bible Commentary (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1898), p. 338.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Nitre - Or, natron, a mineral alkali, found in the Nile valley, where it effloresces upon the rocks and surfaces of the dykes, and in old time was carefully collected, and used to make lye for washing (see Proverbs 25:20).

Sope - A vegetable alkali, now called “potash,” because obtained from the ashes of plants. Its combination with oils, etc., to form soap was not known to the Hebrews until long after Jeremiah’s time, but they used the lye, formed by passing water through the ashes. Thus then, though Israel use both mineral and vegetable alkalies, the most powerful detergents known, yet will she be unable to wash away the stains of her apostasy.

Thine iniquity is marked - i. e., as a stain.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

We have already seen, and the Prophet will often repeat the same thing, — that the people were become so refractory that they would not willingly give way to any reproofs; for they were almost all of such a hard front, and so obdurate in their wickedness, that they dared insolently to raise objections against the prophets; whenever they severely reproved them: “What! Are not we God’s holy people? Has he not chosen us? Are we not the holy seed of Abraham?” It was therefore necessary for the prophets to apply a hard wedge to a hard knot, as they commonly say. As, then, the Israelites were like a knotty wood, it was necessary to strike hard their obstinacy.

On this account Jeremiah now says, Even if thou wert to wash thyself with nitre, and multiply to thee borith, yet thine iniquity would be before me marked; that is, “Ye effect nothing when ye set forth various pretences for the sake of excusing your impiety: wash yourselves, but your iniquity remains marked before me.” The Prophet speaks in the person of God, that he might add more weight to the denunciation he pronounced on the Israelites, and by which he reduced to nothing their self — flatteries, according to what has been already stated.

By nitre and borith they removed stains in cloth; and hence borith is often mentioned in connection with fullers. But there is no need of a laborious inquiry, whether it was an herb or dust, or something of that kind; for as to what is meant, it is generally agreed that the Prophet teaches us by this metaphor, — that hypocrites gain nothing by setting up their pretences, that they may escape, when God condemns them. Hence he says, that all their attempts would be vain and fruitless. How so? Because their iniquity remained unwashed; that is, because they could not remove by washing what is imprinted. Spots or stains can indeed be cleansed or washed away by soap or other things; but when the stain is inward, and imprinted within, washing will avail nothing, for the marks are so deep that some more efficacious remedy must be adopted. So now the Prophet says, that the stains were imprinted, and therefore could not be washed away or cleansed by soap or borith. ⁽⁵²⁾

But the Prophet says, that the stains were marked, or stamped, before God; for it was a common thing with the Israelites to clear themselves from every blame; nay, so great was their audacity, that they openly opposed the prophets, as though some great wrong was done to them; and they called the prophets accusers and slanderers, Hence he says, Thine iniquity is stamped before me? ⁽⁵³⁾ that is, “However thou mayest by self — flatteries deceive thyself, and hidest thy sins before the world, yet thou gainest nothing; for in my sight thine iniquity ever remains stamped. ” He afterwards adds —

(52) What we call “nitre” is different from the “nitron” here mentioned. The verb, from which the noun is derived, means to loosen, to set free: and hence the article called nitron dissolves in water, and loosens and washes away spots and stains. Borith was an herb, which, being burnt, and its ashes dissolved in water, had a strong cleansing power. — Ed.

(53) The verb rendered “stamped” is only found here in Niphel, but, as a participial noun, it seems to mean gold stamped or marked to shew its genuineness. See Psalms 45:9; Proverbs 25:12. A stain or spot is not what it signifies, as given by the Septuagint and the Vulgate, nor “blot,” according to Blarney; but it refers to the stamp or mark imprinted on a hard metal, such as gold: and this idea alone corresponds with the other parts of the verse. A stain, a spot, or a blot, might be cleansed by abstergents, but not a mark stamped on a metal, —

But thou washest thyself with nitron, And multipliest for thyself fuller’s ashes: Stamped is thine iniquity before me, Saith the Lord Jehovah.

— Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 2

Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD ( Jeremiah 2:1-2 );

Now this is the first message that he has to deliver. As God is calling to His people and it's really a very pathetic thing. It's filled with pathos as God is calling the people much as Jesus did in His message to the church of Ephesus. "Oh, you've got your works. You've got your organizations. You've got your committees. You're functioning but oh, I've got this against you. You've left your first love. Now remember from whence you have fallen." And God is actually calling the people to the very same thing-to remember the first love that they had for God. God said, "I can remember that first love that you had. That excitement that you had in Me where all you could think about all day long was Me. You were singing the praises unto Me. Your life was just filled with joy and ecstasy as you were walking with Me. You were writing little notes to Me. You were singing praises unto Me. You were making up love songs to Me. I remember those days," God said. The days of your first love. And God is recalling it to Jerusalem.

Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of that engagement, when you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown ( Jeremiah 2:2 ).

"When you were willing to follow Me wherever I would lead you. When you were so dedicated and committed that nothing was held back as far as your commitment." "Where do you want me to go, Lord? What do you want me to do? Lord, I'm for it. Let's go." And God said, "I remember those days when you were so devoted, so committed. The love that you had for Me then."

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. Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity did your fathers find in me, that they are gone far from me, and walked after emptiness, and become empty? ( Jeremiah 2:3-5 )

"What have I done? What did I do?" And the messages are perennial. There's always a certain group to whom the message still applies. And I feel that God is speaking to many of you tonight, even as He spoke to Israel. Even as Jesus spoke to the church of Ephesus. He said, "Hey, what did I do that you would turn away from Me? I remember the love, the devotion, the commitment that you used to have. What did I do? How did I offend you? Where did you get turned off? How is it that you've turned your heart away from Me? How is it that you don't have that same devotion and dedication anymore? What iniquities did your fathers find in Me that they would turn and follow after these emptinesses until they themselves became empty?"

They no longer say, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through the land of the deserts and pits, through a land of drought, and the shadow of death, through the land that no man passed through, and where no man lived? And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit of it and the goodness thereof; but when you entered, you defiled my land, and you made my heritage an abomination. The priests weren't saying, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law did not know me: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after the things that do not profit ( Jeremiah 2:6-8 ).

Now of course when the priests, the pastors become corrupted, then what can you expect? There are so many men today who are so completely liberal in their theology that they no longer really rank as Christians. But still they occupy pulpits and preach their messages to the attended throngs on Sunday morning. But it is no longer the Gospel that they preach. It is no longer the power of Jesus Christ to save a man from sin and the blood of Jesus Christ that redeemed us from our lost estate. But they are flowery speeches of, "It's nice to be nice so go out and be nice this week and just platitudes. Think right. You are what you think. You become what you think. And so correct your thinking." The whole problem with the world is the way men are thinking. Get rid of your negative thoughts; only think in positive terms and all. And there is no more a preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this is tragic. The same condition that God was crying about in Israel.

John Hilton, I was with him this week back in Maryland, Middletown, Maryland. And John met the pastor in Middletown of the United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ. Now you that know John can appreciate it. John was in his cut offs. He introduced himself as the new pastor of Calvary Chapel there in Middletown and he thought, "Well, this fellow's a pastor of the United Church of Christ," so he said, "Well, it's great to meet you and I imagine you've been a pastor there for thirty-five years." He said, "I imagine it's a real thrill to share Jesus Christ with people for thirty-five years." He said I was just trying to make conversation. And this guy turned on him and said, "Young man, you don't know a thing about the gospel, talking about Jesus Christ." Just started berating, yelling at John, getting livid with him. And John said, "I didn't know what I'd said. Just tried to talk to the man about the joy of the Lord and loving Jesus." But what can you expect from the people that are sitting under that man's ministry week after week of a real devotion to God or a love for God or a commitment of their lives to Him? It's all programmed. It's all a formal relationship with God.

So God speaks out against them, "The priests who handle the law, they don't even know me. The pastors have transgressed against Me. The prophets are prophesying by Baal."

Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead ( Jeremiah 2:9 ).

Even so I'm still going to plead with you, God said.

For pass over the isles of Cypress ( Jeremiah 2:10 ),

In other words, go to the west. And Cypress was considered the door to the whole western part of the world. Chittim, Cypress.

and send unto Kedar ( Jeremiah 2:10 ),

Now Kedar was the gateway to the east. So go to the west, go to the east.

and consider diligently, and see if such a thing has ever happened before ( Jeremiah 2:10 ).

Such a thing exists.

Has a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? ( Jeremiah 2:11 )

People don't do that. Their whole religious system is so deeply involved in their cultural aspects that people just don't change their gods, even those that worship false gods.

But God said,

but my people have changed their glory ( Jeremiah 2:11 )

That is, their fellowship with Me.

for that which does not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens ( Jeremiah 2:11-12 ),

The angels looking down with astonishment. And I'm sure that they do that on us many times. The angels, I'm sure, are just shocked when they see us starting to do something. "Oh no, look at that, what's that?" Now you know it. And they see us in our stupid moves. I'm sure they just think, "Oh no, I can't look." And they know the disaster that we're going to fall into because of our own follies.

Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. For my people have committed two evils; [first] they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters ( Jeremiah 2:12-13 ),

So many times water is used as a symbol of life because water is so essential for life. And the Lord so often takes it from the physical on into the spiritual and He said, "I am the water of life. If any man drinks of Me, he will never thirst again."

Jesus cried to the assembled multitude at the Feast of Tabernacles. "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that drinks of the water that I give, out of his belly there will flow rivers of living water" ( John 7:37-38 ). And the last chapter of the Bible, the last invitation in the Bible, "And he that is athirst, let him come and drink of the water of life freely" ( Revelation 22:17 ). The last invitation to the gospel, for thirsty man to come and to drink of the water of life freely.

Now God said they were forsaken me, the fountain of living water. The source, the spring from which life comes.

and [instead they have] hewed out cisterns ( Jeremiah 2:13 ),

Now, that land being an arid land and not really receiving that much rain, it is necessary over there that they set up exotic type of water systems. The Essenes were able to exist in the very dry, barren area down near the Dead Sea where you get maybe an inch of water a year or an inch and a half, two inches at the most a year. But the way they were able to survive down there was by building these great cisterns. And then when it would rain up in the highlands and these washes and gullies would become full of water, they had their dams and they diverted the flow of the water on into these cisterns that they had carved out of this limestone. If you go to Masada, you'll find that all the way around the side of the hill there in Masada are these huge cisterns that they've carved out, as well as the cisterns up on the top of Masada. These huge caverns that have been carved down of the sandstone and, again, they had a dam in the river. And you can see the little ledges that they have carved where they would bring the water along the ledges and dump into these cisterns. And thus, they would gather just the sparsest amount of rain but they would gather the over, the water that would run off and they would preserve it in these cisterns.

But cisterns were not a source of water, except that they were a reservoir. In other words, they weren't springs; they had no source within them. They had to gather the runoff water. And so at best, a cistern could hold only water that would get stagnant. And God said, "Marvel ye heaven, be astonished. Look at that. They have forsaken Me, the spring, the fountain of living water, in order that they might hew out these cisterns." But then He said, they are

broken cisterns, that can't hold water ( Jeremiah 2:13 ).

Now carrying it over to the spiritual aspect of it, man basically, instinctively is religious. He's got to believe in something. And when men forsake God, they establish a system of thought, a philosophy, concepts, or whatever that they commit themselves to. They become devoted to and they have to believe in it and it requires faith. A creed to be believed, a standard of life, philosophy of life or whatever. So men create their own philosophies, their own rationales for life, their own cisterns. But the thing is all of these cisterns, they can't hold water. They leave you thirsty. They will not satisfy you. The end result is emptiness.

Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled? The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant. Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes [actually cities of Egypt] have broken the crown of thy head. Hast thou not procured this unto thyself ( Jeremiah 2:14-17 ),

Haven't you brought all of this upon yourself? God said.

in that thou hast forsaken the LORD your God? ( Jeremiah 2:17 )

Looking at the calamities that have happened, we bring them upon ourselves. If we'd only been serving the Lord these things wouldn't have happened. Why does it take calamity many times to wake us up?

And now what have you to do with the way of Egypt? ( Jeremiah 2:18 )

They were, of course, looking to an alliance with Egypt to save them from the Babylonians. And an alliance with Assyria, but Assyria was soon to fall to the Babylonians. So an alliance with Assyria wasn't going to be any good. Egypt itself will be taken.

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 you have forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. 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 you are wondering, playing the harlot ( Jeremiah 2:19-20 ).

So the high hills were the places of worship, under the groves that they planted, the green trees. Again, the places of worship as they had turned from God and were committing spiritual adultery or playing the harlot in a spiritual sense.

Yet [when I created, when I planted you] I planted you a noble vine, it was good seed ( Jeremiah 2:21 ):

Abraham.

how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? ( Jeremiah 2:21 )

Again, the figure as Isaiah so graphically illustrates the fifth chapter of the vine that became wild.

For though thou wash thee with nitre ( Jeremiah 2:22 ),

That isn't the saltpeter that we know today, potassium nitrate, but it is a residue that is on the bottom of the lakes when the lakes dry up that they would boil and use in making soap. They'd use it for cleaning.

and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD ( Jeremiah 2:22 ).

You may try to wash yourself outwardly, but it's an inward problem.

How can you say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? See thy way in the valley, know what you have done: for you are as a swift camel traversing her ways; you're like a wild donkey that is used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure ( Jeremiah 2:23-24 );

Now this figure of the wild donkey that God uses is a wild donkey that is in heat, a female donkey in heat. And she's sniffing the wind trying to find out where the male donkeys are in order that she might go and she doesn't care what the male donkey is. She just wants a male donkey. And God uses this as a figure here of Israel who is just turned away from God and just will take anything. Will worship anything. And so susceptible to worship anything. Like the wild donkey snuffing the wind at her pleasure.

in her occasion ( Jeremiah 2:24 )

That is, during the time of her season.

who can take her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her heat they will find her. Withhold thy foot from being unshod ( Jeremiah 2:24-25 ),

In other words, you're running after these things until you wear your feet out.

and thy throat from thirst: but you have said, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go. As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, the kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, Saying to a stock [that is, to a piece of wood they've carved into an idol], You are my father; and to a stone [that they've carved out a little figure, You are the one that created me], You have 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 O god, and save us. But where are your gods that you have made? let them arise, if they can save you in the time of trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah ( Jeremiah 2:25-28 ).

So each city had its own local pagan deity. And as many cities as they had, they had gods. And the tragic thing was God said, "Hey, look, you've turned away from Me. You've turned to these other gods, but in trouble you'll be calling. When your calamity comes you'll be saying, 'Arise, God, save us.'" He said, "But don't bother calling. Go ahead and call unto these gods that you have been worshipping, you have been serving."

It is a tragic thing when God turns a deaf ear to man. When God said to Jeremiah, "Ephraim is given over to her idols. Let her alone. Don't pray anymore for their good, for if you do I'm not going to listen." That's a sad day when God turns a deaf ear to man and God said that day is coming. If you persist in following after strange flesh, strange gods and the worship of these strange gods, there will come a day of trouble and you will call upon God. But He said, "I won't hear, I won't answer." "Many will come in that day," Jesus said, "saying, 'Lord, Lord, open unto us.'" He'll say, "No, I never knew you." Those are heavy words that we need to consider seriously.

Wherefore will ye plead with me? you've all transgressed against me ( Jeremiah 2:29 ),

Why are you going to plead? You've been transgressing against Me.

In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion ( Jeremiah 2:30 ).

God said, "I've dealt with you in vain. Your children are so stubborn and rebellious. And with your own sword you've killed My prophets that I sent to you."

O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? Why do my people say, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee? Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her gown? yet my people have forgotten me days without number ( Jeremiah 2:31-32 ).

Now one thing we've never had and that is a bride that forgets a gown for her wedding. You just don't forget some things. And yet God said you've forgotten Me so many days that you can't number them.

Why do you trim your way to seek love? therefore you have taught the wicked ones thy ways. 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 ( Jeremiah 2:33-34 ).

You're open with it.

Yet you say, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because you say, I have not sinned ( Jeremiah 2:35 ).

You say, "Well, it's not wrong. It doesn't matter. God doesn't care. It's not really sin." And God speaks out against that. He said,

Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. 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 ( Jeremiah 2:36-37 ).

No wonder God said to Jeremiah, "Now don't look at your faces. Don't be afraid of their faces." Boy, he had a heavy, heavy message to lay on these people. He was really laying it on them and not sparing. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Evidences of Israel’s ingratitude 2:20-25

Baal worship fascinated the Israelites, but it was futile.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Israel could not cleanse herself of her iniquity. Ritual ablutions and sacrifices would not do the job (cf. 1 John 1:7). "Lye" was a mineral alkali cleanser, and "soap" was a vegetable alkali cleanser.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

For though thou wash thee with nitre,.... The word נתר, "nitre", is only used in this place and in Proverbs 25:20 and it is hard to say what it is. Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, that some say it is what is called "alum"; and others that it is a dust with which they wash the head, and cleanse everything; and so Jarchi says it is a kind of earth used in cleaning garments; and "nitre" is mentioned by the Misnic doctors s among those things which are used for the washing of garments, and taking spots out of them; though about what it is they are not agreed; and it seems the nitre of the ancients is unknown to us t; and saltpetre is put in the room of it; and some render the word here "saltpetre"; and Pliny u observes, that nitre does not much differ from salt, and ascribes to it a virtue of eating out filth, and removing it; so Aristotle w reports of the lake Ascania; that its water is of such a nitrous quality, that garments, being put into it, need no other washing. Nitre has its name from נתר, "to loose", because it looses the filth, and cleanses from it:

and take thee much soap. The Septuagint render it, "herb"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "the herb borith"; which is the Hebrew word here used; and about the sense of which there is some difficulty. Kimchi and Ben Melech say some take it to be the same with what is called "soap"; so Jarchi; and others, that it is an herb with which they wash, the same that is called fullers' herb; but whether it is soap, or fullers' herb, or fullers' earth, as others, it is certain it is something fullers used in cleaning garments, as appear from Malachi 3:2, where the same word is used, and fullers made mention of as using what is signified by it. It has its name from ברה, which signifies to "cleanse" and "purify". The sense is, let this backsliding and degenerate people take what methods they will to cleanse themselves from their sins, as by their ceremonial ablutions and sacrifices, which was the usual method they had recourse to, to purify themselves, and in which they rested:

yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God; or, "will retain its spots" x these remain; the filth is not washed away; the iniquity is not hid and covered; it appears very plain and manifest;

yea, shines like gold; or, "is gilded" y; as the word used signifies. It is of too deep a die to be removed by such external things; nothing but the blood of Christ can cleanse from sin, take away its filth, removes its guilt, and cover it out of the sight of God, so that it can be seen no more. The Targum is,

"for if you think to be cleansed from your sins, as they cleanse with nitre, or make white with "borith", or soap; lo, as the mark of a spot which is not clean, so are your sins multiplied before me, saith the Lord God.''

s Misn. Sabbat, c. 9. sect. 5. Nidda, c. 9. sect. 6. Maimon & Bartenora in ib. & in Misn. Celim, c. 10. sect. 1. t Schroder. Pharmacopoeia, l. 3. c. 23. p. 140. u Nat. Hist. l. 31. c. 10. w Opera, vol. 1, de Mirabil. p. 705. x "Maculas tamen retinebit iniquitas tua", Schmidt. y נכתם "nitet, [vel splendet], instar anri", Piscator "obducat se auro insigni", Junius Tremellius so Gussetius renders the word, "inaurari, auro ebduci" and who rightly observes, that whatever is glided, or covered with gold, the more it is washed with nitre, or soap, the brighter it will appear; and so, whatever other methods are taken to wash away sin, but seeking for justification by the grace of God in Christ, it will be but the more manifest, Ebr. Comment. p. 410.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      20 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.   21 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?   22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.   23 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;   24 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.   25 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.   26 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,   27 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.   28 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.

      In these verses the prophet goes on with his charge against this backsliding people. Observe here,

      I. The sin itself that he charges them with--idolatry, that great provocation which they were so notoriously guilty of. 1. They frequented the places of idol-worship (Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 2:20): "Upon every high hill and under every green tree, in the high places and the groves, such as the heathen had a foolish fondness and veneration for, thou wanderest, first to one and then to another, like one unsettled, and still uneasy and unsatisfied; but in all playing the harlot," worshipping false gods, which is spiritual whoredom, and was commonly accompanied with corporal whoredom too. Note, Those that leave God wander endlessly, and a vagrant lust is insatiable. 2. They made images for themselves, and gave divine honour to them (Jeremiah 2:26; Jeremiah 2:27); not only the common people, but even the kings and princes, who should have restrained the people from doing ill, and the priests and prophets, who should have taught them to do well, were themselves so wretchedly sottish and stupid, and under the power of such a strong delusion, as to say to a stock, "Thou art my father (that is, Thou art my god, the author of my being, to whom I owe duty and on whom I have a dependence)," and to a stone, to an idol made of stone, "Thou hast begotten me, or brought me forth; therefore protect me, provide for me, and bring me up." What greater affront could men put upon God, who is our Father that has made us? It was a downright disowning of their obligations to him. What greater affront could men put upon themselves and their own reason than to acknowledge that which is in itself absurd and impossible, and, by making stocks and stones their parents, to make themselves no better than stocks and stones? When these were first made the objects of worship they were supposed to be animated by some celestial power or spirit; but by degrees the thought of this was lost, and so vain did idolaters become in their imagination, even the princes and priests themselves, that the very idol, though made of wood and stone, was supposed to be their father, and adored accordingly. 3. They multiplied these dunghill deities endlessly (Jeremiah 2:28; Jeremiah 2:28): According to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah! When they had forsaken that God who is one, and all-sufficient for all, (1.) They were not satisfied with any gods they had, but still desired more, that idolatry being in this respect of the same nature with covetousness, which is spiritual idolatry (for the more men have the more they would have), which is a plain evidence that what men make an idol of they find to be insufficient and unsatisfying, and that it cannot make the comers thereunto perfect. (2.) They could not agree in the same god. Having left the centre of unity, they fell into endless discord; one city fancied one deity and another another, and each was anxious to have one of its own to be near them and to take special care of them. Thus did they in vain seek that in many gods which is to be found in one God only.

      II. The proof of this. No witnesses need be called; it is proved by the notorious evidence of the facts. 1. They went about to deny it, and were ready to plead, Not guilty. They pretended that they would acquit themselves from this guilt, they washed themselves with nitre, and took much soap, offered many things in excuse and extenuation of it, Jeremiah 2:22; Jeremiah 2:22. They pretended that they did not worship these as gods, but as demons, and mediators between the immortal God and mortal men, or that it was not divine honour that they gave them, but civil respect; thus they sought to evade the convictions of God's word and to screen themselves from the dread of his wrath. Nay, some of them had the impudence to deny the thing itself; they said, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim,Jeremiah 2:23; Jeremiah 2:23. Because it was done secretly, and industriously concealed (Ezekiel 8:12), they thought it could never be proved upon them, and they had impudence enough to deny it. In this, as in other things, their way was like that of the adulterous woman, that says, I have done no wickedness,Proverbs 30:20. 2. Notwithstanding all their evasions, they are convicted of it and found guilty: "How canst thou deny the fact, and say, I have not gone after Baalim? How canst thou deny the fault, and say, I am not polluted?" The prophet speaks with wonder at their impudence: "How canst thou put on a face to say so, when it is certain?" (1.) "God's omniscience is a witness against thee: Thy iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God; it is laid up and hidden, to be produced against thee in the day of judgment, sealed up among his treasures," Deuteronomy 32:34; Job 21:19; Hosea 13:12. "It is imprinted deeply and stained before me;" so some read it. "Though thou endeavour to wash it out, as murderers to get the stain of the blood of the person slain out of their clothes, yet it will never be got out." God's eye is upon it, and we are sure that his judgment is according to truth. (2.) "Thy own conscience is a witness against thee. See thy way in the valley" (they had worshipped idols, not only on the high hills, but in the valleys, Isaiah 57:5; Isaiah 57:6), in the valley over-against Beth-peor (so some), where they worshipped Baal-peor (Deuteronomy 34:6; Numbers 25:3), as if the prophet looked as far back as the iniquity of Peor; but, if it mean any particular valley, surely it is the valley of the son of Hinnom, for that was the place where they sacrificed their children to Moloch and which therefore witnessed against them more than any other: "look into that valley, and thou canst not but know what thou hast done."

      III. The aggravations of this sin with which they are charged, which made it exceedingly sinful.

      1. God had done great things for them, and yet they revolted from him and rebelled against him (Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 2:20): Of old time I have broken thy yoke and burst thy bonds; this refers to the bringing of them out of the land of Egypt and the house of bondage, which they would not remember (Jeremiah 2:6; Jeremiah 2:6), but God did; for, when he told them that they should have no other gods before him, he prefixed this as a reason: I am the Lord thy God that brought thee out of the land of Egypt! These bonds of theirs which God had loosed should have bound them for ever to him; but they had ungratefully broken the bonds of duty to that God who had broken the bonds of their slavery.

      2. They had promised fair, but had not made good their promise: "Thou saidst, I will not transgress; then, when the mercy of thy deliverance was fresh, thou wast so sensible of it that thou wast willing to lay thyself under the most sacred ties to continue faithful to thy God and never to forsake him." Then they said, Nay, but we will serve the Lord,Joshua 24:21. How often have we said that we would not transgress, we would not offend any more, and yet we have started aside, like a deceitful bow, and repeated and multiplied our transgressions!

      3. They had wretchedly degenerated from what they were when God first formed them into a people (Jeremiah 2:21; Jeremiah 2:21). I had planted thee a noble vine. The constitution of their government both in church and state was excellent, their laws were righteous, and all the ordinances instructive and very significant; and a generation of good men there was among them when they first settled in Canaan. Israel served the Lord, and kept close to him all the days of Joshua, and the elders that out-lived Joshua,Joshua 24:31. They were then wholly a right seed, likely to replenish the vineyard they were planted in with choice vines. But it proved otherwise; they very next generation knew not the Lord, nor the works which he had done (Judges 2:10), and so they were worse and worse till they became the degenerate plants of a strange vine. They were now the reverse of what they were at first. Their constitution was quite broken, and there was nothing in them of that good which one might have expected from a people so happily formed, nothing of the purity and piety of their ancestors. Their vine is as the vine of Sodom,Deuteronomy 32:32. This may fitly be applied to the nature of man; it was planted by its great author a noble vine, a right seed (God made man upright); but it is so universally corrupt that it has become the degenerate plant of a strange vine, that bears gall and wormwood, and it is so to God, it is highly distasteful and offensive to him.

      4. They were violent and eager in the pursuit of their idolatries, doted on their idols, and were fond of new ones, and they would not be restrained form them either by the word of God or by his providence, so strong was the impetus with which they were carried out after this sin. They are here compared to a swift dromedary traversing her ways, a female of that species of creatures hunting about for a male (Jeremiah 2:23; Jeremiah 2:23), and, to the same purport, a wild ass used to the wilderness (Jeremiah 2:24; Jeremiah 2:24), not tamed by labour, and therefore very wanton, snuffing up the wind at her pleasure when she comes near the he-ass, and on such an occasion who can turn her away? Who can hinder her from that which she lusts after? Those that seek her then will not weary themselves for her, for they know it is to no purpose; but will have a little patience till she is big with young, till that month comes which is the last of the months that she fulfils (Job 39:2), when she is heavy and unwieldy, and then they shall find her, and she cannot out-run them. Note, (1.) Eager lust is a brutish thing, and those that will not be turned away from the gratifying and indulging of it by reason, and conscience, and honour, are to be reckoned as brute-beasts and no better, such as were born, and still are, like the wild ass's colt; let them not be looked upon as rational creatures. (2.) Idolatry is strangely intoxicating, and those that are addicted to it will with great difficulty be cured of it. That lust is as headstrong as any. (3.) There are some so violently set upon the prosecution of their lusts that it is to no purpose to attempt to give check to them: those that do so weary themselves in vain. Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone. (4.) The time will come when the most fierce will be tamed and the most wanton will be manageable; when distress and anguish come upon them, then their ears will be open to discipline, that is the month in which you may find them, Psalms 141:5; Psalms 141:6.

      5. They were obstinate in their sin, and, as they could not be restrained, so they would not be reformed, Jeremiah 2:25; Jeremiah 2:25. Here is, (1.) Fair warning given them of the ruin that this wicked course of life would certainly bring them to at last, with a caution therefore not to persist in it, but to break off from it. He would certainly bring them into a miserable captivity, when their feet should be unshod, and they should be forced to travel barefoot, and when they would be denied fair water by their oppressors, so that their throat should be dried with thirst; this will be in the end hereof. Those that affect strange gods, and strange ways of worship, will justly be made prisoners to a strange king in a strange land. "Take up in time therefore; thy running after thy idols will run the shoes off thy feet, and thy panting after them will bring thy throat to thirst; withhold therefore thy foot from these violent pursuits, and thy throat from these violent desires." One would think that it should effectually check us in the career of sin to consider what it will bring us to at last. (2.) Their rejecting this fair warning. They said to those that would have persuaded them to repent and reform, "There is no hope; no, never expect to work upon us, or prevail with us to cast away our idols, for we have loved strangers, and after them we will go; we are resolved we will, and therefore trouble not yourselves nor us any more with your admonitions; it is to no purpose. There is no hope that we should ever break the corrupt habit and disposition we have got, and therefore we may as well yield to it as go about to get the mastery of it." Note, Their case is very miserable who have brought themselves to such a pass that their corruptions triumph over their convictions; they know they should reform, but own they cannot, and therefore resolve they will not. 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. A man must never say There is no hope, as long as he is on this side hell.

      6. They had shamed themselves by their sin, in putting confidence in that which would certainly deceive them in the day of their distress, and putting him away that would have helped them, Jeremiah 2:26-28; Jeremiah 2:26-28. As the thief is ashamed when, notwithstanding all his arts and tricks to conceal his theft, he is found, and brought to punishment, so are the house of Israel ashamed, not with a penitent shame for the sin they had been guilty of, but with a penal shame for the disappointment they met with in that sin. They will be ashamed when they find, (1.) That they are forced to cry to the God whom they had put contempt upon. In their prosperity they had turned the back to God and not the face; they had slighted him, acted as if they had forgotten him, or did what they could to forget him, would not look towards him, but looked another way; they went from him as fast and as far as they could; but in the time of their trouble they will find no satisfaction but in applying to him; then they will say, Arise, and save us. Their fathers had many a time taken this shame to themselves (Judges 3:9; Judges 4:3; Judges 10:10), yet they would not be persuaded to cleave to God, that they might come to him in their trouble with the more confidence. (2.) That they have no relief from the gods they have made their court to. They will be ashamed when they perceive that the gods they have made cannot serve them, and that the God who made them will not serve them. To bring them to this shame, if so be they might hereby be brought to repentance, they are here sent to the gods whom they served,Judges 10:14. They cried to God, Arise, and save us. God says of the idols, "Let them arise, and save thee, for thou hast no reason to expect that I should Let them arise, if they can, from the places where they are fixed; let them try whether they can save thee: but thou wilt be ashamed when thou findest that they can do thee no good, for, though thou hadst a god for every city, yet thy cities are burnt without inhabitant," Jeremiah 2:15; Jeremiah 2:15. Thus it is the folly of sinners to please themselves with that which will certainly be their grief, and pride themselves in that which will certainly be their shame.