New King James Version
Jeremiah 2:23
23“How can you say, ‘I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley; Know what you have done: You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways,
Jeremiah 2:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
- New International Version (NIV)“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there,
- English Standard Version (ESV)How can you say, 'I am not unclean, I have not gone after the Baals'? Look at your way in the valley; know what you have done— a restless young camel running here and there,
- New Living Translation (NLT)“You say, ‘That’s not true! I haven’t worshiped the images of Baal!’ But how can you say that? Go and look in any valley in the land! Face the awful sins you have done. You are like a restless female camel desperately searching for a mate.
Context of Jeremiah 2:23
21Yet 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? 22For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, Yet your iniquity is marked before Me,” says the Lord God. “How can you say, ‘I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley; Know what you have done: You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways, 24A wild donkey used to the wilderness, That sniffs at the wind in her desire; In her time of mating, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves; In her month they will find her. 25Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘There is no hope. No! For I have loved aliens, and after them I will go.’
Read all of Jeremiah 2Jeremiah 2:23 word by word
אֵ֣יךְ תֹּאמְרִ֞י לֹ֣א נִטְמֵ֗אתִי אַחֲרֵ֤י הַבְּעָלִים֙ לֹ֣א הָלַ֔כְתִּי רְאִ֤י דַרְכֵּךְ֙ בַּגַּ֔יְא דְּעִ֖י מֶ֣ה עָשִׂ֑ית בִּכְרָ֥ה קַלָּ֖ה מְשָׂרֶ֥כֶת דְּרָכֶֽיהָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- How canst thou sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- I am not pollutedטָמֵאţâmê' · to defileH2930
- I have not goneהָלַךְhâlak · to go: followH1980
- afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310
- Baalimבַּעַלba‛al · BaalH1168
- seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- thy wayדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: journeyH1870
- in the valleyגַּיְאgay' gay · valleyH1516
- knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
- what thou hast doneעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- a swiftקַלqal · swiftH7031
- dromedaryבִּכְרָהbikrâh · young camelH1072
- traversingשָׂרַךְώârak · to twistH8308
Cross-references for Jeremiah 2:23
- Jeremiah 2:34Also on your skirts is found The blood of the lives of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, But plainly on all these things.
- Genesis 3:12Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
- 1 Samuel 15:13Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
- Psalms 36:2For he flatters himself in his own eyes, When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.
- Proverbs 28:13He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
- Proverbs 30:12There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness.
- Luke 10:29But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
- Romans 3:19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
- 1 John 1:8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Revelation 3:17Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—
- Jeremiah 3:2“Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see: Where have you not lain with men? By the road you have sat for them Like an Arabian in the wilderness; And you have polluted the land With your harlotries and your wickedness.
- Psalms 50:21These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.
- Ezekiel 16:1Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
- Ezekiel 23:1The word of the Lord came again to me, saying:
- Jeremiah 7:31And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.
- Isaiah 57:5Inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree, Slaying the children in the valleys, Under the clefts of the rocks?
Commentaries on Jeremiah 2:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23See thy way in the valley - The valley of Hinnom, where they offered their own children to Moloch, an idol of the Ammonites. A swift dromedary traversing her ways - Dr. Blayney translates, "A fleet dromedary that hath taken to company with her." Dr. Dahler rather paraphrases, thus: - Semblable a une dromedaire en chaleur, Qui court d'une tote a l'autre. "Like to a dromedary in her desire for the male, Which runs hither and thither." This is an energetic…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23In their defense of themselves (compare Jeremiah 2:35), the people probably appealed to the maintenance of the daily sacrifice, and the Mosaic ritual: and even more confidently perhaps to Josiah‘s splendid restoration of the temple, and to the suppression of the open worship of Baal. All such pleas availed little as long as the rites of Moloch were still privately practiced. Thy way in the valley - i. e., of Hinnom (see 2 Kings 23:10 note). From the time…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. 23The people denied being Baal worshipers (compare Jeremiah 2:25). Archaeologists have found small plaques depicting Asherah, a female goddess, and a male god resembling Baal. However, the inscriptions on these plaques bear the name of the Lord (Yahweh). Sometimes, Baal worship was disguised as worship of Israel's God.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. (Pr 30:12). Baalim--plural, to express manifold excellency: compare Elohim. see--consider. the valley--namely, of Hinnom, or Tophet, south and east of Jerusalem: rendered infamous by the human sacrifices to Moloch in it (compare Jr 19:2, 6, 13, 14; 32:35; see on Is 30:33). thou art--omit. The substantive that follows in this verse (and also that in Jr 2:24) is in apposition with the preceding "thou." dromedary--rather, a "young she-camel."…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 2:23
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries