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

18You won’t gain anything by going to Egypt to drink water from the Nile River. You won’t gain anything by going to Assyria to drink water from the Euphrates River. 19Your own wickedness will correct you, and your unfaithful ways will punish you. You should know and see how evil and bitter it is for you if you abandon the Lord your God and do not fear me,” declares the Almighty Lord of Armies. “Long ago you broke off your yoke, tore off your chains, and said that you wouldn’t be a slave. You lay down and acted like a prostitute on every high hill and under every large tree. 21I planted you like a choice grapevine from the very best seed. Now you have turned against me and have become a wild vine. 22Even if you wash with detergent and use a lot of soap, I would still see the stains from your wickedness,” declares the Almighty Lord.

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 30:8“On that day,” declares the Lord of Armies, “I will break the yokes off your necks and tear off your ropes. Foreigners will no longer make you serve them.
• Exodus 3:8I have come to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good land with plenty of room ⌞for everyone⌟. It is a land flowing with milk and honey where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites live.
• Leviticus 26:13I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt so that you are no longer slaves of the Egyptians. I have broken their power over you and made you live as a free people.
• Deuteronomy 4:20But you are the people the Lord brought out of Egypt, the iron smelter, in order to make you his own people as you still are today.
• Deuteronomy 15:15Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God freed you. That’s why I’m giving you this command today.
• Isaiah 9:4You will break the yoke that burdens them, the bar that is across their shoulders, and the stick used by their oppressor, as ⌞you did in the battle against⌟ Midian.
• Isaiah 10:27At that time their burden will be removed from your shoulders. Their yoke will be removed from your neck. The yoke will be torn away because you have grown fat.
• Isaiah 14:25I’ll crush Assyria on my land. I’ll trample it underfoot on my mountains. Then its yoke will be removed from my people, and its burden will be removed from their shoulders.”
• Nahum 1:13But now I will break Nineveh’s yoke off of you and tear its chains from you.
• Exodus 19:8All the people answered together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.
• Exodus 24:3Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and legal decisions. Then all the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has told us to do.”
• Deuteronomy 5:27⌞Moses,⌟ go and listen to everything that the Lord our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We’ll listen and obey.”
• Deuteronomy 26:17Today you have declared that the Lord is your God and that you will follow his directions, obey his laws, commands, and rules, and listen to him.
• Joshua 1:16The people responded to Joshua, “We’ll do everything you tell us and go wherever you send us.
• Joshua 24:26Joshua wrote these things in the Book of God’s Teachings. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree at the Lord’s holy place.
• 1 Samuel 12:10Then they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned. We have abandoned the Lord and served other gods and goddesses—the Baals and the Astartes. But rescue us from our enemies now, 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