Jeremiah 2:20

Jeremiah 2:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
• New International Version (NIV)“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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"For long ago I broke your yoke and burst your bonds; but you said, 'I will not serve.' Yes, on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed down like a whore.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; And you said, ‘I will not transgress,’ When on every high hill and under every green tree You lay down, playing the harlot.

Context of Jeremiah 2:20

18But now, what is on the road to Egypt? Drinking the waters of the Nile? Or what is on the road to Assyria? Drinking the waters of the Euphrates? 19Your own wickedness will rebuke you and your backslidings will chide you. Know then and see how bad and bitter it is for you to forsake Adonai your God. Nor is fear of Me in you.” It is a declaration of the Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot. “Indeed, long ago I broke your yoke and tore off your bonds. You said, ‘I will not serve!’ Instead, on every high hill and under every green tree you sprawled out as a prostitute. 21Yet I had planted you as a choice vine from completely faithful seed. How then did you become to Me a wandering wild vine? 22Even though you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your iniquity is before Me.” It is a declaration of the Lord Adonai.

Jeremiah 2:20 word by word

כִּ֣י מֵעוֹלָ֞ם שָׁבַ֣רְתִּי עֻלֵּ֗ךְ נִתַּ֙קְתִּי֙ מוֹסְרֹתַ֔יִךְ וַתֹּאמְרִ֖י לֹ֣א אֶעֱב֑וֹר כִּ֣י עַֽל־כָּל־גִּבְעָ֞ה גְּבֹהָ֗ה וְתַ֙חַת֙ כָּל־עֵ֣ץ רַעֲנָ֔ן אַ֖תְּ צֹעָ֥ה זֹנָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For of old timeעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: antiquityH5769
• I have brokenשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
• thy yokeעֹל‛ôl ‛ôl · yokeH5923
• burstנָתַקnâthaq · to tearH5423
• thy bandsמוֹסֵרmôsêr môsêrâh môserâh · bondH4147
• and thou saidstאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• I will not transgressעָבַד‛âbad · to serveH5647
• I will not transgressעָבַר‛âbar · to pass: trespassH5674
• when upon every highגָּבֹהַּgâbôhha gâbôhha · highH1364
• hillגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · hillH1389
• and under every greenרַעֲנָןra‛ănân · luxuriantH7488
• treeעֵץ‛êts · treeH6086
• thou wanderestצָעָהtsâ‛âh · stoopH6808
• playing the harlotזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181

Cross-references for Jeremiah 2:20

• Jeremiah 30:8It will be in that day” —it is a declaration of Adonai-Tzva’ot— “that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will tear off your bonds. Foreigners will no longer enslave him.
• Exodus 3:8So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, to bring them up out of that land into a good and large land, a land flowing with milk and honey, into the place of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
• Leviticus 26:13I am Adonai your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, so that you would not be their slaves, and I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk upright.
• Deuteronomy 4:20But you, Adonai has taken, and He brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt to be a people for His own inheritance, as you are this day.
• Deuteronomy 15:15You will remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Adonai your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding you this thing today.
• Isaiah 9:4For every stomping boot quaking and cloak rolled in blood will be for burning— fuel for the fire.
• Isaiah 10:27In that day his burden will be taken off your shoulders, and his yoke off your neck. Indeed, the yoke will be broken because of fatness.
• Isaiah 14:25I will break Assyria in My land. On My mountains I will trample him. Then his yoke will be taken off them, his burden removed from their shoulder.
• Nahum 1:13I will now break his yoke from you, and tear apart your bonds.
• Exodus 19:8All the people answered together and said, “Everything that Adonai has spoken, we will do.” Then Moses reported the words of the people to Adonai.
• Exodus 24:3So Moses came and told the people all the words of Adonai as well as all the ordinances. All the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which Adonai has spoken, we will do.”
• Deuteronomy 5:27Go say to them, “Return to your tents.”
• Deuteronomy 26:17Today you have affirmed Adonai as your God, that you will walk in His ways, keep His statutes, mitzvot and ordinances, and listen to His voice.
• Joshua 1:16Then they answered Joshua saying: “All that you have commanded us, we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.
• Joshua 24:26Then Joshua wrote these words in the scroll of the Torah of God. Also he took a great stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the Sanctuary of Adonai.
• 1 Samuel 12:10So they cried out to Adonai and said, ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken Adonai and have worshipped the Baalim and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us from the hand of our enemies and we will worship You.’

Commentaries on Jeremiah 2:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Of old time I have broken thy yoke - It is thought by able critics that the verbs should be read in the second person singular, Thou hast broken thy yoke, Thou hast burst thy bonds; and thus the Septuagint, , "thou hast broken thy yoke." And the Vulgate, Confregisti jugum meum, rupisti, vincula mea; "Thou hast broken my yoke; thou hast burst my bonds;" and so the Arabic. But the Chaldee gives it a meaning which removes the difficulty: "I have broken the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Transgress - Rather, as in marg. If the “yoke” and “bands” refer to the slavery in Egypt from which Yahweh freed Israel, the sense is - “For of old time I Yahweh broke thy yoke, I burst thy bands,” not that thou mightest be free to do thy own will, but that thou mightest serve me: “and thou saidst, I will not serve.” When … - “For … under every leafy tree thou” layest thyself down as a harlot. The verb indicates the eagerness with which she prostrates…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. 2020. I--the Hebrew should be pointed as the second person feminine, a form common in Jeremiah: "Thou hast broken," &c. So the Septuagint, and the sense requires it. thy yoke ... bands--the yoke and bands which I laid on thee, My laws (Jr 5:5). transgress--so the Keri, and many manuscripts read. But the Septuagint and most authorities read, "I will not serve," that is, obey. The sense of English Version is, "I broke thy yoke (in Egypt)," &c., "and (at that…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 2:20

• Church
• Yoke

In the dictionaries

• Attire
• Bitter
• Cry
• Degenerate
• Fornication
• Handle
• Hold
• Holiness
• Noble
• Band

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