The Divine Lamp

To see previous entries on Jeremiah click on my “Notes on Jeremiah” page in the link field under this blogs header.

The material found in Jeremiah 2:1-6:30 is generally dated to early in his prophetic career; probably during the reform of King Josiah which began in 627 (see 2 Kings 22-23;  2 Chron. 34-35).  The first part of this collection  of sermons or, rather, these excerpts of sermons (2:1-4:4), appear to be intended as giving the reason for the boiling cauldron vision the prophet had in chapter 1.  The second part of the collection (4:5-6:30) appears to be a description of the destructive power that will be wrought by the boiling cauldron (an image of the Babylonian Empire).

Jer 2:1  And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: As already stated in my notes on chapter one, this or like phrases are typical prophetic stock, denoting the origin and authority of the revelation.

Jer 2:1  Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying: Thus saith the Lord: I have remembered thee, pitying thy youth, and the love of thy espousals, when thou followedst me in the desert, in a land that is not sown.

Go.  A common word in prophetic missioning texts.  Apparently Jeremiah is being bidden to go (literally, “walk”) to Jerusalem, the religious and political capital of the kingdom of Judea.

Cry in the ears of Jerusalem.  The Hebrew  וקראת “cry” actually has the sense of “accost.”  It is a reminder that the prophet’s function is often one of confrontation.

I remembered thee, pitying thy youth.  The Hebrew לך  חסד (kheh-sed), can be translated as “pitying,” but also as “kindness” (KJV), “devotion (NAB, RSV).  If “pitying thy youth” is accepted as the reading it would mean that God’s remembrance of Israel’s bride-like love for Him causes him pain due to the present situation of infidelity.  If the reading “kindness/devotion” is accepted, then God’s remembrance forms the basis for his current condemnation.  In the present context “devotion” makes better sense.  The DR translation of “pitying” may have been influenced by the imagery Ezek 16:8.

The love of thy espousals. “espousals” translates a word meaning ‘bridehood.”  The meaning is: “how you loved me like a bride (see NAB, RSV).

When thou followedst me in the desert, in a land that is not sown.  A reference to the early desert wanderings of Israel, before the sin of the Golden Calf (Ex 32).  This was the Golden Age of Israel (see Hos 2:16-17).  It should be noted that the image of marriage which opens chapter two of Jeremiah reappears in 3:1-5, marking 2:1-3:5 as a literary unit (see Hosea 1:2-3:5).  Israel is here being presented as a devoted bride who loved her husband even though he had not at the time anything of substance to offer her.  God is like a young groom who has big plans for the future and glories in his wife’s devotion.

Jer 2:3   Israel is holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his increase: all they that devour him offend: evils shall come upon them, saith the Lord.

The Hebrew word for holy is קדש ׁ (qodesh=ko’-desh).  The word has the basic meaning of “to be separate.”  When applied to God it is not merely an attribute of His; He does not have holiness, He is holy .  It is, as it were, His very essence “in which He radically transcends all that is created” (see Hosea 11:9; and see footnote 1 below).  “in creatures the quality (of holiness) is derived from the divine by some peculiar contact” (see fn 2).  When something is consecrated (made holy) it is separated from the profane and dedicated to the service of God.  God’s act of choosing Israel as His special possession was an act of consecration by which they were to be a “holy nation” (Ex 19:5-7).  This consecration of Israel to holy use meant that the people had to remove themselves from a profane existence, hence the giving of the law in Exodus 20ff.

The first-fruit of His increase (i.e., His abundant harvest).  Israel is here compared to the first-fruits of the harvest.  According to the law of Exodus 22:28 and 23:19 the first-fruits of the land had to be offered to God and were, for that very reason, considered holy (Leviticus 22:20).  For this reason neither an alien, nor the average Israelite were allowed to partake of them, but only the specially consecrated priests and (under certain conditions) those who belonged to his household (Lev 22:15-20).

all they that devour him offend: evils shall come upon them, saith the Lord.  Do “devour” Israel would be a greater sacrilege than consuming the first-fruits of the harvest.  As Just mentioned, priests were allowed to partake of those fruits, but if anyone (”all they that devour”) devours Israel they offend God and will suffer “evil” (punishment).

These first three verses of chapter two prepare for the accusations that follow in 2:4-3:5.  In 2:5 the people are accused of breaking the first commandment.  In 2:6-9 they are accused of forgetting the favors God had done for them and for going after useless idols; in 2:10-11 they are accused of being worse than the pagans, for pagans do not abandon their gods as Israel has abandoned THE God.  After this they are compared to a fool who forsakes “living water” (i.e., fresh, flowing water which symbolizes God and His help)  in order to dig for himself  broken cisterns (2:12-13).  This image prepares for 2:14-19.  They sought help from the waters of the Nile (Egypt and its gods), and from the Euphrates (Assyria and its gods) and, as a result, have paid the penalty.  As 2:20-25 makes clear, their sins are not new .  They have constantly gone awhoring after false gods, acting like senseless beasts in heat.  As a result of all of this, they will be confounded (2:26) and then attempt to return to God, only to hear him declare his indignation and level further accusations (2:27-3:5).

Footnotes:

#1 From the article HOLY in THE NEW WORLD DICTIONARY-CONCORDANCE TO THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE.

#2 From the article HOLY in McKENZIE’S DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE.

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