Jeremiah 2:7

The priests said not, where is the Lord?.... Whose business it was to draw nigh to God, and offer the sacrifices of the people, and inquire of God for them; whose lips should keep knowledge, and at whose mouth the law should be sought, they being the messengers of the Lord of hosts, Mal 2:7,

and they that handle the law knew me not; the sanhedrim, according to Jarchi; or the lawyers and scribes, the Rabbins and doctors of the law, whose business it was to read and explain it; these did not understand it, nor the mind of God in it; and much less did they know him in a spiritual and evangelical manner; or as he is in Christ, and revealed in the Gospel:

the pastors also transgressed against me; kings, as the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi interpret it, who were pastors or shepherds in a civil sense; whose business it was to feed the people as the shepherd does his flock; that is, to guide and govern them by wholesome laws, by the laws of God; but, instead of this, they rebelled against the Lord, and transgressed his commands:

and the prophets prophesied by Baal; in his name; pretending to be inspired by that idol, and to receive the spirit of prophecy from him:

and walked after things that do not profit; the gods of the Gentiles, which could not supply them with the least temporal blessing, and much less give them spiritual and eternal ones; see Jer 14:22. This is to be understood of false prophets, as Ben Melech.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Jer 2:7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

Ver. 7. And I brought you into a plentiful country.] You lived in my good land, but not by my good laws; you had aequissima iura, sed iniquissima ingenia, most just laws but most foul nature, as was said of the Athenians; as if I had hired you to be wicked, so have you abused my mercies to my greatest dishonour.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jer 2:7-8. And I brought you into a plentiful country — Hebrew, into the land of Carmel. Carmel was so fertile a part of Judea, that the word from thence came to be used to express a fruitful place in general. Canaan was as one great, fruitful field, Deu 8:7. When ye entered, ye defiled my land — By your sins, especially by your idolatries, Psa 106:38; that sin being greatly aggravated by this circumstance, that the people thereby renounced God’s authority in that very land into which he had brought them, by a train of unparalleled wonders, and the propriety of which he had reserved to himself, though he had graciously bestowed upon them the use of it: see Lev 25:23. The priests said not, Where is the Lord? — That race of men, whom I exalted to the honourable office of ministering to me in holy things, neither inquired after me, nor cultivated any acquaintance or intercourse with me. And they that handle the law knew me not — They, whom I appointed to the important office of instructing others in the knowledge of me and their duty, (see Mal 2:6-7,) were ignorant or regardless of it themselves. And this was the principal cause of that degeneracy of manners which prevailed among the people. The pastors also transgressed against me — By pastors here, distinguished from the priests and prophets, are meant the kings, princes, and chiefs of the nation; for the word pastor is used in the prophets for a magistrate, as well as for a teacher of the people, and ecclesiastical governor. And the prophets prophesied by Baal — Gave forth prophecies in the name of Baal, with a view to recommend him as a god. Or, they that should have taught the people the true worship of God, were themselves worshippers of, and advocates for, Baal, and drew others from God to the worship of that idol; and walked after things that do not profit — Namely, after idols; things that could not possibly do them any service, but were sure to bring ruin upon them. It appears from hence, that all orders and degrees of men in authority had contributed to that general corruption of manners, whereof Jeremiah complains.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:7 defiled . . . corrupted: See Deut 4:25-28.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

By your idolatry and wicked manners, Ps. 78:58 and 106:38.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

plentiful--literally, "a land of Carmel," or "well-cultivated land": a garden land, in contrast to the "land of deserts" (Jer 2:6).

defiled--by idolatries (Jdg 2:10-17; Psa 78:58-59; Psa 106:38).

you . . . ye--change to the second person from the third, "they" (Jer 2:6), in order to bring home the guilt to the living generation.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. And I brought you into a plentiful country] The land of Canaan.

My land] The particular property of God, which he gave to them as an inheritance, they being his peculiar people.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He afterwards adds, And I brought you in, etc. Here Jeremiah introduces God as the speaker; for God had, as with his hand stretched forth, brought in the children of Abraham into the possession of the promised land, which they did not get, as it is said in Psalm 44:3, by their own power and by their own sword; for though they had to fight with many enemies, yet it was God that made them victorious. He could then truly say, that they did not otherwise enter the land than under his guidance; inasmuch as he had opened a way and passage for them, and subdued and put to flight their enemies, that they might possess the heritage promised to them. I brought you in, he says, into the land, into Carmel Some consider this to be the name of a place; and no doubt there was the mount Carmel, so called on account of its great fertility. As then its name was given to it because it was so fertile, it is nothing strange that Jeremiah compares the land of Israel to Carmel. Some will have the preposition כ, caph, to be understood, “I have brought you into a land like Carmel.” But there is no need laboriously to turn in all directions the Prophet’s words. It is, as I think, a common noun, meaning fruitful, and used here to shew that the Israelites had been brought by God’s hand into a fertile land; for its fertility is everywhere celebrated, both in the Law and in the Prophets.

That ye might eat its fruit and its abundance; that is, “I wished you to enjoy the large and rich produce of the land.” By these words God intimates that the Israelites ought to have been induced by such allurements cordially to serve him; for by such liberal treatment he kindly invited them to himself. The greater, then, the bounty of God towards the people, the greater was the indignity offered by their defection, when they despised the various and abounding blessings of God.

Hence he adds, And ye have polluted my land, and mine heritage have ye made an abomination; as though he had said, “This is the reward by which my bounty towards you has been compensated. I indeed gave you this land, but on this condition, that ye serve me faithfully in it: but ye have polluted it.” He calls it his own land, as though he had said, that he had so given the land to the Israelites, that he remained still the lord of it as a proprietor, though he granted the occupation of it to them. He hence shews that they impiously abused his bounty, in polluting that land which was sacred to his name. For the same purpose he calls it his heritage, as if he said that they possessed the land by an hereditary right, and yet the heritage belonged to their Father. They ought, therefore, to have considered, that they had entered into the land, because it had been given to Abraham and to his children for an heritage, — by whom? By God, who was the fountain of this bounty. The more detestable, then, was their ingratitude, when they made the heritage of God an abomination It follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(7) A plentiful country.—Literally, a land of Carmel, that word, as meaning a vine-clad hill, having become a type of plenty. So “the forest of his Carmel,” in Isa_37:24; elsewhere, as in Isa_10:18; Isa_32:15, “fruitful.” The LXX. treats the word as a proper name, “I brought you unto Carmel.”

When ye entered.—The words point to the rapid degeneracy of Israel after the settlement in Canaan, as seen in the false worship and foul crimes of Judges 17-21. So in Psa_78:56-58. Instead of being the pattern nation, the firstfruits of mankind, they sank to the level, or below the level, of the heathen.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. a plentiful land] lit. a land of the Carmel. The word Carmel properly means a piece of ground fertile and well-cultivated (Jer_4:26 R.V. mg.), but was commonly used as the actual name of one such spot of Palestine, the only promontory that the sea-board of the country possesses, jutting out into the Mediterranean, and bounding the great plain of Esdraelon.

defiled] with (i) idolatry, (ii) sacrifices of their children; so Ps. 104:37. The old inhabitants of Canaan were driven out for their sins (cp. Deu_9:4 ff; Deu_18:12, etc.). Israel has proved little better. See Jer_3:2; Jer_3:9.

mine heritage] Cp. Exo_15:17; Psa_79:1. Elsewhere it is generally Israel itself that goes by this name; e.g. Deu_32:9. Cp. Jer_10:16; 1Sa_10:1; 1Ki_8:51; Psa_28:9; Psa_78:71; Isa_19:25.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A plentiful country - literally, “a land of the Carmel,” a Carmel land (see 1Ki 18:19, note; Isa 29:17, note).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Carmel. That is, a fruitful, plentiful land. (Challoner) (Worthington) --- All Palestine is thus designated. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Plentiful country, Heb.

land of Carmel, Isa 29:17; understand Canaan, Num 13:27; See Poole "Isa 35:2".

To eat the fruit thereof and the goodness; to enjoy all the blessing of it.

My land, i.e. consecrated to my name, Lev 25:23; and this you have defiled by going a whoring after your idols, Jer 3:1, and many other abominations, Psa 106:29,35,37-39.

Mine heritage; in the same sense that it is said in the foregoing clause my land, and which you received from me as your heritage, the place that I chose for my church’s present habitation, and earnest of their future heavenly one.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. I brought you into a plentiful country — The original is Carmel, (כרמל) garden land, as opposed to the “wilderness.” The fruits of this “Carmel” are enumerated in Deu_8:7-9; “a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness; thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.” In order rightly to appreciate this description we must bear in mind that its background is the peninsula of Sinai and the South Country, and also that the contrast was intensified and heightened by the hardships and privations of the forty years’ wandering in this region of silence and desolation. As the traveller of to-day emerges from the wilderness of the wandering into the land of promise he exchanges gloom, sterility, solitude, and monotony for beauty, variety, and the exhilaration of life.

Ye defiled my land — It should have been, in all its length and breadth, a sanctuary; ye have made it an abomination. Its high hills have become altars of lust; its green trees coverts of uncleanness; and even its sacred temple is filled with pollutions.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A plentiful country. "A Carmel land," as it were (so Payne Smith). "Carmel" is strictly an appellative noun, meaning" garden-land," i.e., land planted with vines and other choice plants. So Jer_4:26 Isa_29:17 Isa_37:24.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

My land - Consecrated to my name; by your idols and many other abominations.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

you defiled my land, you made my inheritance an abomination!

These two phrases mean the same thing. AT: "you sinned and made the land I gave you disgusting to me!" (See: Parallelism)

you defiled my land

Here "defiled" represents making the land unacceptable to God. They did this by sinning against him there when they worshiped idols. AT: "by sinning, you made my land no good" (See: Metaphor)

you made my inheritance an abomination

"you made my inheritance disgusting by your sin" or "by sinning, you made my inheritance repulsive"

my inheritance

Possible meanings are 1) God is speaking of his land as if he had inherited it. AT: "my land" or 2) God is speaking of the land he gave to Israel as if he had given it to them as an inheritance. AT: "the land I gave you" or "the land I gave you as an inheritance" (See: Metaphor)

Where is Yahweh?

This question would have shown that they wanted to obey Yahweh. AT: "We need to obey Yahweh!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

did not care about me

"were not committed to me" or "rejected me"

The shepherds transgressed against me

The leaders are spoken of as if they were shepherds and the people who followed them were sheep. AT: "Their leaders sinned against me" (See: Metaphor)

walked after unprofitable things

Here "walked after" represents obeying or worshiping. AT: "obeyed unprofitable things" or "worshiped unprofitable things" (See: Metaphor)

unprofitable things

Unprofitable things are things that cannot help a person. Here it refers to idols.

translationWords

Carmel

fruit

defile

inherit

abomination

priest

scribe

law

shepherd

transgress

prophet

Baal

walk

profit

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

to a forest land To the land of Israel which is planted like כרמל, meaning: planted like a forest.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.