Jeremiah 2:21-23
New English Translation
21 I planted you in the land
like a special vine of the very best stock.
Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine
that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes?[a]
22 You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent.
You can use as much soap as you want.
But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,”[b]
says the Sovereign Lord.[c]
23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.
I have not paid allegiance to[d] the gods called Baal.’
Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom![e]
Think about the things you have done there!
You are like a flighty, young female camel
that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path.[f]
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 2:21 tc Heb “I planted you as a choice vine, all of it true seed. How then have you turned into a putrid thing to me, a strange [or wild] vine.” The question expresses surprise and consternation. The translation is based on a redivision of the Hebrew words סוּרֵי הַגֶּפֶן (sure haggefen) into סוֹרִיָּה גֶּפֶן (soriyyah gefen) and the recognition of a hapax legomenon סוֹרִיָּה (soriyyah) meaning “putrid, stinking thing.” See HALOT 749 s.v. סוֹרִי.
- Jeremiah 2:22 tn Heb “Even if you wash with natron/lye, and use much soap, your sin is a stain before me.”
- Jeremiah 2:22 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” For an explanation of this title see the study notes on 1:6.
- Jeremiah 2:23 tn Heb “I have not gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for the meaning and usage of this idiom.
- Jeremiah 2:23 tn Heb “Look at your way in the valley.” The valley is an obvious reference to the Valley of Hinnom where Baal and Molech were worshiped and child sacrifice was practiced.
- Jeremiah 2:23 sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s lack of clear direction and purpose without the Lord’s control.
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