Jeremiah 2:22

Jeremiah 2:22 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God.
• New International Version (NIV)Although you wash yourself with soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of your guilt is still before me,” declares the Sovereign Lord.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, Yet your iniquity is marked before Me,” says the Lord God.

Context of Jeremiah 2:22

20‘A long time ago, you stopped obeying me. You refused to accept my authority. You said, “I will not serve you!” Instead, you go up on the hills to worship other gods. You lie down under the green trees, and you live like prostitutes. 21I planted you in my land, like the very good seed of a vine. But see how you have changed! You have become like a wild vine. Your grapes are bad and useless. You may use strong soap to make yourselves clean. But I still see the dirt of your sins.’ That is what the Almighty Lord says. 23‘You say, “We have not made ourselves unclean. We do not worship the idols of Baal.” But remember what you have done in the valleys. You hurry to find another idol that you can worship. Like a female camel, you cannot control yourselves. 24You are like a wild female donkey that lives in the wilderness. She lifts her nose to smell the air. She wants to find a male donkey. Nobody can control her. Male donkeys do not have to chase her. She will come to them to have sex with them. You are like that as you chase after false gods.

Jeremiah 2:22 word by word

כִּ֤י אִם־תְּכַבְּסִי֙ בַּנֶּ֔תֶר וְתַרְבִּי־לָ֖ךְ בֹּרִ֑ית נִכְתָּ֤ם עֲוֹנֵךְ֙ לְפָנַ֔י נְאֻ֖ם אֲדֹנָ֥י יְהוִֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For though thou washכָּבַסkâbas · to washH3526
• thee with nitreנֶ֫תֶרnether · natronH5427
• and take thee muchרָבָהrâbâh · to multiplyH7235
• soapבֹּרִיתbôrîyth · lyeH1287
• thine iniquityעָוֺן‛âvôn ‛âvôn · iniquity: guiltH5771
• is markedכָּתַםkâtham · be stainedH3799
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• me, saithנְאֻםne'ûm · utteranceH5002
• the Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
• Godיְהֹוִהyehôvih · YHWH/GodH3069

Cross-references for Jeremiah 2:22

• Job 9:30I might wash myself with pure water. I might clean my hands with soap.
• Jeremiah 16:17I am watching them carefully all the time. They cannot hide from me. I can see all their sins.
• Jeremiah 17:1‘The people of Judah love to do bad things. Their sins are deep inside them. It is like they are written on their hearts and on the horns of their altars. They are written with an iron pen. Nobody can remove the list of their sins.
• Deuteronomy 32:34The Lord says, ‘I will not forget to punish Israel's enemies. I have already decided what I will do, and I will do it!
• Job 14:17You would forgive me for my sins. You would hide them away.
• Psalms 90:8All our sins are there for you to see. You even see the sins that we have tried to hide.
• Psalms 130:3Lord, if you should write down all our sins, nobody could stand as a righteous person.
• Hosea 13:12I have a record of Ephraim's sin. Ephraim's people will certainly receive their punishment.
• Amos 8:7The Lord has promised this: ‘You proud descendants of Jacob, I will never forget the wrong things that you have done.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 2:22

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22For 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, etc., 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22Nitre - 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…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. 22The metaphor shifts from a planted vine to a dirty cloth that soap or lye cannot clean. No matter how hard the Israelites scrubbed, their guilt remained visible (compare Isaiah 1:18).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2222. nitre--not what is now so called, namely, saltpeter; but the natron of Egypt, a mineral alkali, an incrustation at the bottom of the lakes, after the summer heat has evaporated the water: used for washing (compare Job 9:30; Pr 25:20). soap--potash, the carbonate of which is obtained impure from burning different plants, especially the kali of Egypt and Arabia. Mixed with oil it was used for washing. marked--deeply ingrained, indelibly marked; the…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 2:22

• Church
• Confidence
• Depravity of Man
• Nitre
• Self-Righteousness
• Sin
• Soap
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Attire
• Bitter
• Cry
• Degenerate
• Handle
• Hold
• Holiness
• Nitre

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