New International Version
Jeremiah 2:36
36Why do you go about so much, changing your ways? You will be disappointed by Egypt as you were by Assyria.
Jeremiah 2:36 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
- English Standard Version (ESV)How much you go about, changing your way! You shall be put to shame by Egypt as you were put to shame by Assyria.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Why do you gad about so much to change your way? Also you shall be ashamed of Egypt as you were ashamed of Assyria.
- New Living Translation (NLT)First here, then there— you flit from one ally to another asking for help. But your new friends in Egypt will let you down, just as Assyria did before.
Context of Jeremiah 2:36
34On your clothes is found the lifeblood of the innocent poor, though you did not catch them breaking in. Yet in spite of all this 35you say, ‘I am innocent; he is not angry with me.’ But I will pass judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ Why do you go about so much, changing your ways? You will be disappointed by Egypt as you were by Assyria. 37You will also leave that place with your hands on your head, for the Lord has rejected those you trust; you will not be helped by them.
Read all of Jeremiah 2Jeremiah 2:36 word by word
מַה־תֵּזְלִ֥י מְאֹ֖ד לְשַׁנּ֣וֹת אֶת־דַּרְכֵּ֑ךְ גַּ֤ם מִמִּצְרַ֙יִם֙ תֵּב֔וֹשִׁי כַּאֲשֶׁר־בֹּ֖שְׁתְּ מֵאַשּֽׁוּר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jeremiah 2:36
- Jeremiah 2:18Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Nile? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the Euphrates?
- Jeremiah 31:22How long will you wander, unfaithful Daughter Israel? The Lord will create a new thing on earth— the woman will return to the man.”
- Hosea 5:13“When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores.
- Hosea 7:11“Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived and senseless— now calling to Egypt, now turning to Assyria.
- Hosea 12:1Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
- Jeremiah 37:7“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.
- Isaiah 20:5Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be dismayed and put to shame.
- Isaiah 30:1“Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;
- Isaiah 31:1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord.
- Lamentations 4:17Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain for help; from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us.
- Lamentations 5:6We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
- Ezekiel 29:7When they grasped you with their hands, you splintered and you tore open their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke and their backs were wrenched.
- 2 Chronicles 28:16At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria for help.
- Hosea 10:6It will be carried to Assyria as tribute for the great king. Ephraim will be disgraced; Israel will be ashamed of its foreign alliances.
- Hosea 14:3Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.”
Commentaries on Jeremiah 2:36
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 36Why gaddest thou about - When they had departed from the Lord, they sought foreign alliances for support. The Assyrians 2 Chronicles 28:13-21; but they injured instead of helping them. The Egyptians: but in this they were utterly disappointed, and were ashamed of their confidence. See Jeremiah 37:7-8; (note), for the fulfillment of this prediction.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 36To change thy way - The rival parties at Jerusalem looked one to Assyria, the other to Egypt, for safety. As one or other for the time prevailed, the nation “changed its way,” sending its embassies now eastward to Nineveh, now westward to Memphis. Thou also - literally, also of Egypt “shalt thou be ashamed.” This was literally fulfilled by the failure of the attempt to raise the siege of Jerusalem Jeremiah 37:5.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 29-37Verses 29-37 The nation had not been wrought upon by the judgements of God, but sought to justify themselves. The world is, to those who make it their home and their portion, a wilderness and a land of darkness; but those who dwell in God, have the lines fallen to them in pleasant places. Here is the language of presumptuous sinners. The Jews had long thrown off serious thoughts of God. How many days of our lives pass without suitable remembrance of him!…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 36Judah, in its unfaithfulness to the Lord, chose unreliable allies. The leaders sought political help from neighbors like Egypt, which was as false a friend as Assyria had been a century earlier.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3636. gaddest--runnest to and fro, now seeking help from Assyria (2Ch 28:16-21), now from Egypt (Jr 37:7, 8; Is 30:3).Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 2:36
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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