Jeremiah 2:22

Jeremiah 2:22 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God.
• New International Version (NIV)Although you wash yourself with soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of your guilt is still before me,” declares the Sovereign Lord.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, Yet your iniquity is marked before Me,” says the Lord God.

Context of Jeremiah 2:22

20“Long ago I broke the yoke that oppressed you and tore away the chains of your slavery, but still you said, ‘I will not serve you.’ On every hill and under every green tree, you have prostituted yourselves by bowing down to idols. 21But I was the one who planted you, choosing a vine of the purest stock—the very best. How did you grow into this corrupt wild vine? No amount of soap or lye can make you clean. I still see the stain of your guilt. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken! 23“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. 24You are like a wild donkey, sniffing the wind at mating time. Who can restrain her lust? Those who desire her don’t need to search, for she goes running to them!

Jeremiah 2:22 word by word

כִּ֤י אִם־תְּכַבְּסִי֙ בַּנֶּ֔תֶר וְתַרְבִּי־לָ֖ךְ בֹּרִ֑ית נִכְתָּ֤ם עֲוֹנֵךְ֙ לְפָנַ֔י נְאֻ֖ם אֲדֹנָ֥י יְהוִֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For though thou washכָּבַסkâbas · to washH3526
• thee with nitreנֶ֫תֶרnether · natronH5427
• and take thee muchרָבָהrâbâh · to multiplyH7235
• soapבֹּרִיתbôrîyth · lyeH1287
• thine iniquityעָוֺן‛âvôn ‛âvôn · iniquity: guiltH5771
• is markedכָּתַםkâtham · be stainedH3799
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• me, saithנְאֻםne'ûm · utteranceH5002
• the Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
• Godיְהֹוִהyehôvih · YHWH/GodH3069

Cross-references for Jeremiah 2:22

• Job 9:30Even if I were to wash myself with soap and clean my hands with lye,
• Jeremiah 16:17I am watching them closely, and I see every sin. They cannot hope to hide from me.
• Jeremiah 17:1“The sin of Judah is inscribed with an iron chisel— engraved with a diamond point on their stony hearts and on the corners of their altars.
• Deuteronomy 32:34“The Lord says, ‘Am I not storing up these things, sealing them away in my treasury?
• Job 14:17My sins would be sealed in a pouch, and you would cover my guilt.
• Psalms 90:8You spread out our sins before you— our secret sins—and you see them all.
• Psalms 130:3Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?
• Hosea 13:12“Ephraim’s guilt has been collected, and his sin has been stored up for punishment.
• Amos 8:7Now the Lord has sworn this oath by his own name, the Pride of Israel: “I will never forget the wicked things you have done!

Commentaries on Jeremiah 2:22

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22For though thou wash thee with nitre - It should be rendered natar or natron, a substance totally different from our nitre. It comes from the root נתר nathar, to dissolve, loosen, because a solution of it in water is abstersive, taking out spots, etc., from clothes. It is still used in the east for the purpose of washing. If vinegar be poured on it, Dr. Shaw says, a strong effervescence is the immediate consequence, which illustrates Proverbs 25:20…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22Nitre - Or, natron, a mineral alkali, found in the Nile valley, where it effloresces upon the rocks and surfaces of the dykes, and in old time was carefully collected, and used to make lye for washing (see Proverbs 25:20). Sope - A vegetable alkali, now called “potash,” because obtained from the ashes of plants. Its combination with oils, etc., to form soap was not known to the Hebrews until long after Jeremiah‘s time, but they used the lye, formed by…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. 22The metaphor shifts from a planted vine to a dirty cloth that soap or lye cannot clean. No matter how hard the Israelites scrubbed, their guilt remained visible (compare Isaiah 1:18).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2222. nitre--not what is now so called, namely, saltpeter; but the natron of Egypt, a mineral alkali, an incrustation at the bottom of the lakes, after the summer heat has evaporated the water: used for washing (compare Job 9:30; Pr 25:20). soap--potash, the carbonate of which is obtained impure from burning different plants, especially the kali of Egypt and Arabia. Mixed with oil it was used for washing. marked--deeply ingrained, indelibly marked; the…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 2:22

• Church
• Confidence
• Depravity of Man
• Nitre
• Self-Righteousness
• Sin
• Soap
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Attire
• Bitter
• Cry
• Degenerate
• Handle
• Hold
• Holiness
• Nitre

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