New English Translation
Jeremiah 2:21
21I planted you in the land like a special vine of the very best stock. Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes?
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 wickedness will bring about your punishment. Your unfaithful acts will bring down discipline on you. Know, then, and realize how utterly harmful it was for you to reject me, the Lord your God, to show no respect for me,” says the Lord God who rules over all. 20“Indeed, long ago you threw off my authority and refused to be subject to me. You said, ‘I will not serve you.’ Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill and under every green tree, like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers. I planted you in the land like a special vine of the very best stock. Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes? 22You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent. You can use as much soap as you want. But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,” says the Lord God. 23“How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean. I have not paid allegiance to the gods called Baal.’ Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! Think about the things you have done there! You are like a flighty, young female camel that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path.
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 in the mountain of your inheritance, in the place you made for your residence, O Lord, the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.
- Psalms 44:2You, by your power, defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land; you crushed the people living there and enabled our ancestors to occupy it.
- Psalms 80:8You uprooted a vine from Egypt; you drove out nations and transplanted it.
- Isaiah 5:11Those who get up early to drink beer are as good as dead, those who keep drinking long after dark until they are intoxicated with wine.
- Isaiah 60:21All of your people will be godly; they will possess the land permanently. I will plant them like a shoot; they will be the product of my labor, through whom I reveal my splendor.
- Isaiah 61:3to strengthen those who mourn in Zion, by giving them a turban, instead of ashes, oil symbolizing joy, instead of mourning, a garment symbolizing praise, instead of discouragement. They will be called oaks of righteousness, trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor.
- Matthew 21:33“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went on a journey.
- Mark 12:1Then he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went on a journey.
- Luke 20:9Then he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey for a long time.
- John 15:1“I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.
- Genesis 18:19I have chosen him so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then the Lord will give to Abraham what he promised him.”
- Genesis 26:3Stay in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham.
- Genesis 32:28“No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, “but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed.”
- Deuteronomy 4:37Moreover, because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants who followed them and personally brought you out of Egypt with his great power
- Joshua 24:31Israel worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive. These men had experienced firsthand everything the Lord had done for Israel.
- Psalms 105:6O children of Abraham, God’s servant, you descendants of Jacob, God’s 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
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