Bible/Jeremiah/2

Jeremiah 2:31

2:30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
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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Generation, consider Yahweh’s word. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We have broken loose. We will come to you no more?’

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?

O generation, see you the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? a land of darkness? why say my people, We are lords; we will come no more to you?

2:32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

What does Jeremiah 2:31 mean?

Jeremiah 2:31 is a verse in the book of Jeremiah, in the Old Testament. In the original Hebrew, key words include דּוֹר (dôwr), רָאָה (râʼâh), דָּבָר (dâbâr). It connects to 2 cross-referenced passages elsewhere in Scripture.

Hebrew interlinear

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O
generation,דּוֹרdôwr/dore/H1755properly, a revolution of time, i.e. an age or generation; also a dwelling
seeרָאָהrâʼâh/raw-aw'/H7200to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)
ye
the
wordדָּבָרdâbâr/daw-baw'/H1697a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause
of
the
LORD.יְהֹוָהYᵉhôvâh/yeh-ho-vaw'/H3068Jehovah, Jewish national name of God
Have
I
been
a
wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr/mid-bawr'/H4057a pasture (i.e. open field, whither cattle are driven); by implication, a desert; also speech (including its organs)
unto
Israel?יִשְׂרָאֵלYisrâʼêl/yis-raw-ale'/H3478Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
a
landאֶרֶץʼerets/eh'-rets/H776the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
of
darkness?מַאְפֵלְיָהmaʼphêlᵉyâh/mah-af-ay-leh-yaw'/H3991opaqueness
wherefore
sayאָמַרʼâmar/aw-mar'/H559to say (used with great latitude)
my
people,עַםʻam/am/H5971a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock
We
are
lords;רוּדrûwd/rood/H7300to tramp about, i.e. ramble (free or disconsolate)
we
will
comeבּוֹאbôwʼ/bo/H935to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
no
more
unto
thee?
We
are:
Heb.
We
have
dominion

Commentary on Jeremiah 2:31

HENRY_FULL · Jeremiah 2:31
enmity that has always been between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, Gen. iii. 15 . 1. All that are sanctified have a rooted antipathy to wickedness and wicked people. They have a good will to the souls of all (God has, and would have none perish); but they hate the ways and practices of those that are impious towards God and injurious towards men; they cannot hear of them nor speak of them without a holy indignation; they loathe the society of the ungodly and unjust, and dread the thought of giving them any countenance, but do all they can to bring the wickedness of the wicked to an end. Thus an unjust man makes himself odious to the just, and it is one part of his present shame and punishment that good men cannot endure him. 2. All that are unsanctified have a like rooted antipathy to godliness and godly people: He that is upright in the way, that makes conscience of what he says and does, is an abomination to the wicked, whose wickedness is restrained perhaps and suppressed, or, at least, shamed and condemned, by the uprightness of the upright. Thus Cain did, who was of his father the devil. And this is not only the wickedness of the wicked, that they hate those whom God loves, but their misery too, that they hate those whom them shall shortly see in everlasting bliss and honour, and who shall have dominion over them in the morning, Ps. xlix. 14 . This and the following chapter are an appendix to Solomon's proverbs; but they are both expressly called prophecies in the first verses of both , by which it appears that the penmen of them, whoever they were, were divinely inspired. This chapter

Cross-references

Related passages from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

Jeremiah 31:1

At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

2 Peter 1:19

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Verses like this

Other verses that share key original-language words with Jeremiah 2:31.

Deuteronomy 1:19

And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.

Deuteronomy 1:31

And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.

Deuteronomy 2:26

And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,

Deuteronomy 2:7

For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.

Deuteronomy 4:12

And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. only: Heb. save a voice

Deuteronomy 4:36

Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

Deuteronomy 4:9

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;

Numbers 14:37

Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.

Frequently asked questions

What does Jeremiah 2:31 say?

Jeremiah 2:31 (King James Version) reads: "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"

Is Jeremiah 2:31 in the Old or New Testament?

Jeremiah 2:31 is in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the book of Jeremiah.

Reflect

As you read Jeremiah 2:31, what is one truth here you can carry into today?

Plan a sermon or study on Jeremiah 2:31
2:30Read all of Jeremiah 22:32