Christian Standard Bible
Jeremiah 2:21
21I planted you, a choice vine from the very best seed. How then could you turn into a degenerate, foreign vine?
Jeremiah 2:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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?
- New International Version (NIV)I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?
Context of Jeremiah 2:21
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. 20For 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. I 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. 23How can you protest, “I am not defiled; I have not followed the Baals”? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young camel twisting and turning on her way,
Read all of Jeremiah 2Jeremiah 2:21 word by word
וְאָֽנֹכִי֙ נְטַעְתִּ֣יךְ שֹׂרֵ֔ק כֻּלֹּ֖ה זֶ֣רַע אֱמֶ֑ת וְאֵיךְ֙ נֶהְפַּ֣כְתְּ לִ֔י סוּרֵ֖י הַגֶּ֥פֶן נָכְרִיָּֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Yet I had plantedנָטַעnâţa‛ · to plantH5193
- thee a noble vineשֹׂרֵקώôrêq ώôrêq ώôrêqâh · vineH8321
- wholly a rightאֱמֶת'emeth · truth: faithfulH571
- seedזֶ֫רַעzera‛ · seedH2233
- how then art thou turnedהָפַךְhâphak · to overturnH2015
- into the degenerate plantסוּרsûr · degenerateH5494
- of a strangeנׇכְרִיnokrîy · foreignH5237
- vineגֶּ֫פֶןgephen · vineH1612
Cross-references for Jeremiah 2:21
- Exodus 15:17You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your possession; Lord, you have prepared the place for your dwelling; Lord, your hands have established the sanctuary.
- Psalms 44:2In order to plant them, you displaced the nations by your hand; in order to settle them, you brought disaster on the peoples.
- Psalms 80:8You dug up a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
- Isaiah 5:11Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of beer, who linger into the evening, inflamed by wine.
- Isaiah 60:21All your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch I planted, the work of my hands, so that I may be glorified.
- Isaiah 61:3to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify him.
- Matthew 21:33“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. He leased it to tenant farmers and went away.
- Mark 12:1He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away.
- Luke 20:9Now he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went away for a long time.
- John 15:1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
- Genesis 18:19For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what he promised him.”
- Genesis 26:3stay in this land as an alien, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.
- Genesis 32:28“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” he said. “It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.”
- Deuteronomy 4:37Because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by his presence and great power,
- Joshua 24:31Israel worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua and who had experienced all the works the Lord had done for Israel.
- Psalms 105:6you offspring of Abraham his servant, Jacob’s descendants — his chosen ones.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 2:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21I had planted thee a noble vine - I gave thee the fullest instruction, the purest ordinances, the highest privileges; and reason would that I should expect thee to live suitably to such advantages; but instead of this thou art become degenerate; the tree is deteriorated, and the fruit is bad. Instead of being true worshippers, and of a holy life and conversation, ye are become idolaters of the most corrupt and profligate kind. See Isaiah 5:1, etc., where…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21A noble vine - Properly, a Sorek vine (see Isaiah 5:2), which produced a red wine Proverbs 23:31, and had a lasting reputation Genesis 49:11. A right seed - literally, “a seed of truth,” i. e., true, genuine seed, not mixed with weeds, nor with seed of an inferior quality. Compare Matthew 13:24. How then art thou turned - Or, “How then” hast thou changed thyself “unto me” (i. e., to my hurt or vexation) “into the degenerate” branches “of a strange vine?”…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. 2121. The same image as in De 32:32; Psa 80:8, 9; Is 5:1, &c. unto me--with respect to Me.Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 2:21
In the dictionaries
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
Christian Standard Bible — © 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Commentaries