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

18But now what are you doing on the road to Egypt, Except to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria, Except to drink the waters of the Euphrates River? 19Your own wickedness will correct you, And your apostasies will punish you; Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter For you to abandon the Lord your God, And the fear of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord God of armies. “For long ago I broke your yoke And tore off your restraints; But you said, ‘I will not serve!’ For on every high hill And under every leafy tree You have lain down as a prostitute. 21Yet I planted you as a choice vine, A completely faithful seed. How then have you turned yourself before Me Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine? 22Although you wash yourself with lye And use much soap, The stain of your guilt is before Me,” declares the Lord God.

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

• For longעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: antiquityH5769
• agoעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: antiquityH5769
• I brokeשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
• your yokeעֹל‛ôl ‛ôl · yokeH5923
• toreנָתַקnâthaq · to tearH5423
• your restraintsמוֹסֵרmôsêr môsêrâh môserâh · bondH4147
• But you saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• I will not serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serveH5647
• For on everyכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• highגָּבֹהַּgâbôhha gâbôhha · highH1364
• hillגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · hillH1389
• And underתַּחַתtachath · underneath: underH8478
• leafyרַעֲנָןra‛ănân · luxuriantH7488
• treeעֵץ‛êts · treeH6086
• You have lainצָעָהtsâ‛âh · stoopH6808
• as a prostituteזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181

Cross-references for Jeremiah 2:20

• Jeremiah 30:8‘It shall come about on that day,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘that I will break his yoke from their necks and will tear to pieces their restraints; and strangers will no longer make them their slaves.
• Exodus 3:8So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
• Leviticus 26:13I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke your yoke and made you walk erect.
• Deuteronomy 4:20But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people of His own possession, as today.
• Deuteronomy 15:15And you are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding this of you today.
• Isaiah 9:4For You will break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
• Isaiah 10:27So it will be on that day, that his burden will be removed from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of fatness.
• Isaiah 14:25to break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them, and his burden removed from their shoulders.
• Nahum 1:13So now, I will break his yoke from upon you, And I will tear your shackles to pieces.”
• Exodus 19:8Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.
• Exodus 24:3Then Moses came and reported to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!”
• Deuteronomy 5:27Go near and listen to everything that the Lord our God says; then speak to us everything that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will listen and do it.’
• Deuteronomy 26:17Today you have declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His ordinances, and listen to His voice.
• Joshua 1:16They answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.
• Joshua 24:26And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.
• 1 Samuel 12:10They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have abandoned the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now save us from the hands 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