Dublin, OH
Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
2:11-19 The Need to Cry Out to God. An eyewitness who shares Jeremiah's theology notes the fate of Jerusalem's children (vv. 11-12), regrets her trust in false prophets (vv. 13-14) and status as a byword for ruin (vv. 15-16), and counsels her to cry out to the sovereign God for help (vv. 17-19).
2:11 stomach churns. See note on 1:20. my bile. Lit., "my liver," i.e., emotions. daughter of my people. A term of endearment for Jerusalem (cf. Jer. 8:19-22; 14:17; and note on Lam. 3:48). infants and babies. Jerusalem's most vulnerable inhabitants suffer because of their parents' failures (cf. 2:20; 4:10; Deut. 28:41, 50, 53-57; Jer. 10:20).
2:12 Children cry out to their mothers for food, only to die in their mothers' arms. Adult sins cause grief to children.
2:14 Judah's prophets were part of the problem (cf. Jer. 14:13-22; 23:9-40; 27:1-29:32; Ezek. 13:1-19; Hos. 4:5). false and deceptive visions. See Jer. 27:14-15; 37:18-19. not exposed your iniquity. Their sins were the ultimate source of their problems, but the prophets avoided this subject (cf. Jer. 5:30-31). to restore your fortunes. Repentance would have led to renewal, but the prophets offered only false and misleading sermons of peace (Jer. 6:14) and safety.
2:15 Jerusalem's foes mock her downfall. They even quote a line from Ps. 48:2 (which celebrates Jerusalem as the joy of all the earth) to gloat over her current woeful condition.
2:16 Jerusalem's enemies claim they have swallowed her, which vv. 2, 5, and 8 assert God has done; they were merely God's instruments in this process (Jer. 27:1-15). the day we longed for. See Obad. 10-14.
2:17 what he purposed. See 1:18 and 2:8. God banished the people because of their sins (cf. Lev. 26:14-39; Deut. 28:64-68). God carried out his word, which he delivered through Moses and the prophets (2 Kings 17:7-23). thrown down without pity. Once judgment began, it proceeded without interruption. Jerusalem had so often rejected the mercy of forgiveness received through repentance that only punishment remained as an option. he has . . . exalted . . . your foes. Rather than defeating them on Judah's behalf.
