Jeremiah 2:20

Jeremiah 2:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)“Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, ‘I will not serve you!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"For long ago I broke your yoke and burst your bonds; but you said, 'I will not serve.' Yes, on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed down like a whore.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; And you said, ‘I will not transgress,’ When on every high hill and under every green tree You lay down, playing the harlot.

Context of Jeremiah 2:20

18Now what will you gain by traveling along the way to Egypt to drink the water of the Nile? What will you gain by traveling along the way to Assyria to drink the water of the Euphrates? 19Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Recognize how evil and bitter it is for you to abandon the Lord your God and to have no fear of me. This is the declaration of the Lord God of Armies. For long ago I broke your yoke; I tore off your chains. You insisted, “I will not serve!” On every high hill and under every green tree you lay down like a prostitute. 21I planted you, a choice vine from the very best seed. How then could you turn into a degenerate, foreign vine? 22Even if you wash with lye and use a great amount of bleach, the stain of your iniquity is still in front of me. This is the Lord God’s declaration.

Jeremiah 2:20 word by word

כִּ֣י מֵעוֹלָ֞ם שָׁבַ֣רְתִּי עֻלֵּ֗ךְ נִתַּ֙קְתִּי֙ מוֹסְרֹתַ֔יִךְ וַתֹּאמְרִ֖י לֹ֣א אֶעֱב֑וֹר כִּ֣י עַֽל־כָּל־גִּבְעָ֞ה גְּבֹהָ֗ה וְתַ֙חַת֙ כָּל־עֵ֣ץ רַעֲנָ֔ן אַ֖תְּ צֹעָ֥ה זֹנָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For of old timeעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: antiquityH5769
• I have brokenשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
• thy yokeעֹל‛ôl ‛ôl · yokeH5923
• burstנָתַקnâthaq · to tearH5423
• thy bandsמוֹסֵרmôsêr môsêrâh môserâh · bondH4147
• and thou saidstאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• I will not transgressעָבַד‛âbad · to serveH5647
• I will not transgressעָבַר‛âbar · to pass: trespassH5674
• when upon every highגָּבֹהַּgâbôhha gâbôhha · highH1364
• hillגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · hillH1389
• and under every greenרַעֲנָןra‛ănân · luxuriantH7488
• treeעֵץ‛êts · treeH6086
• thou wanderestצָעָהtsâ‛âh · stoopH6808
• playing the harlotזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181

Cross-references for Jeremiah 2:20

• Jeremiah 30:8On that day — this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies — I will break his yoke from your neck and tear off your chains, and strangers will never again enslave him.
• Exodus 3:8and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey — the territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
• Leviticus 26:13I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to live in freedom.
• Deuteronomy 4:20But the Lord selected you and brought you out of Egypt’s iron furnace to be a people for his inheritance, as you are today.
• Deuteronomy 15:15Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.
• Isaiah 9:4For you have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as you did on the day of Midian.
• Isaiah 10:27On that day his burden will fall from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large.
• Isaiah 14:25I will break Assyria in my land; I will tread him down on my mountain. Then his yoke will be taken from them, and his burden will be removed from their shoulders.
• Nahum 1:13For I will now break off his yoke from you and tear off your shackles.
• Exodus 19:8Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken.” So Moses brought the people’s words back to the Lord.
• Exodus 24:3Moses came and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people responded with a single voice, “We will do everything that the Lord has commanded.”
• Deuteronomy 5:27Go near and listen to everything the Lord our God says. Then you can tell us everything the Lord our God tells you; we will listen and obey.’
• Deuteronomy 26:17Today you have affirmed that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commands, and ordinances, and obey him.
• Joshua 1:16They answered Joshua, “Everything you have commanded us we will do, and everywhere you send us we will go.
• Joshua 24:26Joshua recorded these things in the book of the law of God; he also took a large stone and set it up there under the oak at the sanctuary of the Lord.
• 1 Samuel 12:10Then they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, for we abandoned the Lord and worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths. Now rescue us from the power of our enemies, and we will serve you.’

Commentaries on Jeremiah 2:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Of old time I have broken thy yoke - It is thought by able critics that the verbs should be read in the second person singular, Thou hast broken thy yoke, Thou hast burst thy bonds; and thus the Septuagint, , "thou hast broken thy yoke." And the Vulgate, Confregisti jugum meum, rupisti, vincula mea; "Thou hast broken my yoke; thou hast burst my bonds;" and so the Arabic. But the Chaldee gives it a meaning which removes the difficulty: "I have broken the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Transgress - Rather, as in marg. If the “yoke” and “bands” refer to the slavery in Egypt from which Yahweh freed Israel, the sense is - “For of old time I Yahweh broke thy yoke, I burst thy bands,” not that thou mightest be free to do thy own will, but that thou mightest serve me: “and thou saidst, I will not serve.” When … - “For … under every leafy tree thou” layest thyself down as a harlot. The verb indicates the eagerness with which she prostrates…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-28Verses 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 to be sufficient for the pardon of our sins, so neither must we…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-21long ago: Lessons from Israel's history about the Israelites' rescue from slavery in Egypt had little impact. The people of Israel refused to serve God (Exodus 19:8; 34:15; Leviticus 26:13; Deuteronomy 12:2; Joshua 24:16; Judges 10:16; Isaiah 57:5, 7). you lay down as a prostitute: This metaphor was fitting for the Israelites bowing to idols. Their defiant words matched their rebellious actions. They often worshiped fertility gods, hoping for good crops…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. I--the Hebrew should be pointed as the second person feminine, a form common in Jeremiah: "Thou hast broken," &c. So the Septuagint, and the sense requires it. thy yoke ... bands--the yoke and bands which I laid on thee, My laws (Jr 5:5). transgress--so the Keri, and many manuscripts read. But the Septuagint and most authorities read, "I will not serve," that is, obey. The sense of English Version is, "I broke thy yoke (in Egypt)," &c., "and (at that…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 2:20

• Church
• Yoke

In the dictionaries

• Attire
• Bitter
• Cry
• Degenerate
• Fornication
• Handle
• Hold
• Holiness
• Noble
• Band

Commentaries on Jeremiah 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings