Chapter 2: A prophecy of admonishment

(37 Pesukim)

1.      A prophecy of praise of Israel: (2:1-2)

• The word of Hashem came to Yirmiyahu telling him as follows: Go call upon the ears of Jerusalem and tell them that I Hashem [would have[1]] remembered the kindness of their youth and the love which they have shown in the past when they went with blind faith into the unplanted desert [in the times of Moshe, when they left Egypt without any provisions, and trusted in Me to provide you food[2]]. [I would have remembered this if the Jewish people would just reciprocate back to Me by returning to Me.[3]]

2.      Israel as Hashem’s Holy Grain (2:3)

• The first of Hashem’s grain: The Jewish people are holy to Hashem and are the first of His grain [which is forbidden to be eaten before the Omer, and whoever eats it is punished, so too whoever harms the Jewish people will be punished[4]]. Whenever a nation eats this grain [i.e. harms the Jewish people] they will be held accountable and have evil befall them, so says Hashem.

3.      Chastising the Betrayal of the Jewish people: (2:3-13)

• Taking them through the desert: So says Hashem, what have your forefathers [who were the first generations which entered Israel and served idolatry[5]] found to draw them to leave Me and follow the vanity of deities, and cause themselves to become like vanity. [Where is their gratitude?[6]] Despite all that He had done for them, they [not even the priests and scholars[7]] never paused to ask, “Where is Hashem?”—the One Who brought them out of Egypt and led them through a desolate, dangerous wilderness, a land of pits, darkness, and emptiness where no person had ever dwelled.
• Bringing them to Eretz Yisrael: Hashem reminds them that He brought them into the Land of Carmel [i.e. Eretz Yisrael[8]], a fruitful, rich land [filled with vineyards and fields[9]] so they could enjoy its goodness. Instead of gratitude, they defiled His land and turned His heritage into an abomination.
• The lacking of the leaders: Even the leaders—those meant to guide the people—failed in their duties: the priests did not seek Hashem, the Torah scholars [i.e. including the Sanhedrin[10]] did not truly know Him [as they did not study Torah Lishma[11]], the rulers [i.e. Kings[12], such as Achaz, Menashe, Yehoyakim, and the kings of Israel[13]] rebelled, and the [false[14]] prophets prophesied in the name of Baal, following that which offers no benefit.
• Sending true prophets to help them return: Hashem declares that He will continue to contend with Israel [by chastising them further[15], and by sending them prophets to help them return to Him[16]] and He will continue to so even to future generations [despite the many years of betrayal[17]].
• Taking a lesson from the gentile nations: He challenges them to look across distant nations—from the isles of the Kittites in the west to Kedar in the east [in which there live nomadic shepherds who serve fire or water[18] and carry their deities with them in their travel, while I carried you in your travel in the desert[19]]—and observe whether any nation has ever exchanged its gods, even though their gods are not real [as they themselves can see from the fact that water extinguishes fire[20], and these gods cant benefit them or harm them in any way[21]]. Yet Israel has exchanged its own glory—Hashem—for worthless, powerless idols.
• Shumu Shamayim Al Zos: The heavens should scream in astonishment about this, and the world deserves to be devastated due to this unprecedented corruption.
• The two evils of leaving Hashem and going to vanity: Hashem identifies two core evils His people have committed: [Not only have[22]] they abandoned Hashem, the eternal spring of living waters, but furthermore, they have chosen to carve out broken cisterns—false sources of sustenance—that cannot hold water at all, [in place of Hashem[23]].
• My Children: Hashem challenges Israel with a piercing question: Is Israel a slave by nature, that he should be debased? [Meaning, why do they act like a slave whose master is not emotionally connected with them if they desert him. In truth the Jewish people are Hashem’s children, and He has deep emotional connection to them.[24]]

4.      Recalling of the Punishments (2:14-19)

• Gentile Nations Conquer Israel: Young lions [symbolizing foreign powers[25]] have roared against Israel, laying the land waste and burning its cities until none remain inhabited. Even [Egypt—represented by[26]] Noph and Tahpanhes—has struck at Israel’s dignity [by killing King Yoshiyahu who was murdered by Pharoah Nacha[27]], breaking its pride.
• Hashem makes clear that this devastation is the consequence of Israel’s own abandonment of Him, even as He was guiding them on the right path.
• Turning to foreign nations for help: He asks why they now turn to Egypt to drink from the waters of the Shihor [which contains the blood of the sons of Israel who were drowned in the Nile river[28]], or to Assyria for the waters of the great river [Nehar Perath[29]]—metaphors for seeking help and influence from foreign nations rather than relying on Hashem.
• Israel’s own fault: Ultimately, Israel’s own evil and unfaithfulness will become their chastisement. Their backsliding will expose the bitter truth: forsaking Hashem leads only to suffering, and their downfall stems from losing the awe of Hashem, the Master of Hosts.

5. Israel Compared to a Wayward Vine and Restless Animals (2:20–25)

• Hashem redeemed us: Hashem reminds Israel that long ago He broke their yoke and freed them from bondage, and they pledged, “I will not transgress.”
• Our sins of idolatry: Yet immediately they betrayed that promise, engaging in idolatry on every high hill and under every leafy tree like a wayward harlot.
• A wild vine: Though Hashem planted Israel as a choice, noble vine of pure seed, the nation has transformed itself into a corrupt, wild vine.
• No Cleansing of sin: Even attempts at purification are futile—no amount of natron or soap can wash away the deep stain of their iniquity before Hashem.
• Trying to hide their sin: Israel protests that they have not defiled themselves or followed the Baalim, but Hashem directs them to look at their conduct, likening them to a restless young camel or a wild desert donkey driven by unrestrained desire, impossible to hinder. Their pursuit of foreign gods is so relentless that those who seek Israel’s idolatry will easily find it.
• Love for idolatry: Hashem warns them to restrain themselves, to stop running barefoot in pursuit of these desires and stop parching their throats in spiritual thirst. But the people despair of returning, declaring their love for foreign gods and insisting they will follow them instead.

6. National Shame and Reliance on Worthless Idols (2:26–28)

• Shame covers Israel like a thief caught in the act—affecting kings, princes, priests, and prophets alike.
• Omrim Lieitz Avi Ata: Israel bows to wood and stone, calling them “father” and “creator,” turning their backs to Hashem and not their faces. Yet in times of distress, they cry out to Him, “Arise and save us!” Hashem responds by challenging them to call upon their idols—those as numerous as their cities in Judah—to save them instead.

7. Israel’s Rebellion Despite Hashem’s Guidance (2:29–32)

• Hashem asks why they continue to contend with Him when all have rebelled.
• Futile Mussar: He has struck them to guide them, but they refused correction, even turning their swords against His prophets.
• Yirmiyahu calls this generation to witness the word of Hashem [by taking out a jar of Mun and showing it to them[30]]: Has He ever been like a barren desert to them, or a land of darkness? Why then does Israel say, “We will no longer come to You”?
• He points out the absurdity of their abandonment: a maiden does not forget her jewelry or a bride her ornaments, yet Israel has forgotten Him for countless days.

8. Israel’s Moral Corruption and Denial of Sin (2:33–35)

• They have refined their ways to seek illicit love, going so far as to adapt themselves even to those most steeped in wickedness.
• Their skirts bear the blood of the innocent poor—not from self-defense but from wrongdoing—yet they still proclaim their innocence, insisting Hashem’s anger has passed.
• Hashem declares that He will judge them precisely because they claim they have not sinned.

9. Futile Alliances with Egypt and Assyria (2:36–37)

• In their desperation to change alliances, they have disgraced themselves, turning now to Egypt as they once did to Assyria.
• Just as they were shamed by Assyria, so will they be shamed by Egypt.
• Ultimately, they will depart with hands on their heads in humiliation, for those in whom they place their trust will be rejected by Hashem, and they will find no success in relying on them.

[1] Rashi 2:1

[2] Rashi 2:1

[3] Rashi 2:1

[4] Rashi 2:2

[5] Radak 2:6

[6] Riy Karo 2:5

[7] Riy Karo 2:6

[8] Rashi 2:7

[9] Metzudas Tziyon and Metzudos David 2:7

[10] Rashi 2:8

[11] Radak 2:8

[12] Rashi 2:8

[13] Riy Karo 2:8

[14] Radak 2:8; Metzudos David 2:8

[15] Metzudos David and Riy Karo 2:9

[16] Rashi 2:9

[17] Rashi 2:9

[18] Rashi and Radak 2:10

[19] Rashi 2:10; However, see Metzudos David 2:10 that the Kittim are the Romans while the Kadarim are the Arabs

[20] Rashi 2:10

[21] Riy Karo 2:10

[22] Rashi, Riy Karo, Metzudis David 2:13

[23] Rashi 2:13

[24] See Radak and Metzudos David 2:14

[25] See Rashi and Radak 2:15

[26] Rashi 2:16

[27] Riy Karoh 2:17

[28] Rashi 2:18

[29] Rashi 2:18

[30] Rashi 2:31