New International Version
Jeremiah 17:2
2Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles beside the spreading trees and on the high hills.
Jeremiah 17:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
- English Standard Version (ESV)while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills,
- New King James Version (NKJV)While their children remember Their altars and their wooden images By the green trees on the high hills.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Even their children go to worship at their pagan altars and Asherah poles, beneath every green tree and on every high hill.
Context of Jeremiah 17:2
1“Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars. Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles beside the spreading trees and on the high hills. 3My mountain in the land and your wealth and all your treasures I will give away as plunder, together with your high places, because of sin throughout your country. 4Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever.”
Read all of Jeremiah 17Jeremiah 17:2 word by word
כִּזְכֹּ֤ר בְּנֵיהֶם֙ מִזְבְּחוֹתָ֔ם וַאֲשֵׁרֵיהֶ֖ם עַל־עֵ֣ץ רַֽעֲנָ֑ן עַ֖ל גְּבָע֥וֹת הַגְּבֹהֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Whilst their childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- rememberזָכַרzâkar · to rememberH2142
- their altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
- and their grovesאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
- by the greenרַעֲנָןra‛ănân · luxuriantH7488
- treesעֵץ‛êts · treeH6086
- upon the highגָּבֹהַּgâbôhha gâbôhha · highH1364
- hillsגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · hillH1389
Cross-references for Jeremiah 17:2
- Jeremiah 7:18The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger.
- Hosea 4:13They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar and terebinth, where the shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
- Jeremiah 2:20“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.
- Judges 3:7The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
- 2 Chronicles 24:18They abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came on Judah and Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 33:3He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them.
- Psalms 78:58They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols.
- Isaiah 1:29“You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen.
- Isaiah 17:8They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made.
- Ezekiel 20:28When I brought them into the land I had sworn to give them and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, made offerings that aroused my anger, presented their fragrant incense and poured out their drink offerings.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 17:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Whilst their children remember - Even the rising generation have their imagination stocked with idol images, and their memories with the frantic rites and ceremonies which they saw their parents observe in this abominable worship.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2While their children remember their altars - Perhaps an allusion to their sacrifices of children to Moloch. Present perhaps at some such blood-stained rite, its horrors would be engraven forever upon the memory. Groves - “Asherahs,” i. e., wooden images of Astarte (see Exodus 34:13 note).Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2People cut Asherah poles from trees and placed them near altars for Baal, the Canaanite storm god. Asherah was the Canaanite goddess of fertility, representing the moist ground that helped crops grow. People performed ritual sex near these altars to encourage rain, seed sprouting, and plant growth. A tree near an altar could also symbolize this fertility goddess. The people of Judah were so morally corrupt that parents encouraged their children to join…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-27The the Septuagint omits the first four verses, but other Greek versions have them. 1. The first of the four clauses relates to the third, the second to the fourth, by alternate parallelism. The sense is: They are as keen after idols as if their propensity was "graven with an iron pen (Job 19:24) on their hearts," or as if it were sanctioned by a law "inscribed with a diamond point" on their altars. The names of their gods used to be written on "the horns…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 17:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 17
- 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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