Jeremiah 2:20
<< Jeremiah 2:20 >>
New International Version (©1984)
"Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, 'I will not serve you!' Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute.

New Living Translation (©2007)
"Long ago I broke the yoke that oppressed you and tore away the chains of your slavery, but still you said, 'I will not serve you.' On every hill and under every green tree, you have prostituted yourselves by bowing down to idols.

English Standard Version (©2001)
“For long ago I broke your yoke and burst your bonds; but you said, ‘I will not serve.’ Yes, on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed down like a whore.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"For long ago I broke your yoke And tore off your bonds; But you said, 'I will not serve!' For on every high hill And under every green tree You have lain down as a harlot.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
"Long ago you broke off your yoke, tore off your chains, and said that you wouldn't be a slave. You lay down and acted like a prostitute on every high hill and under every large tree.

King James Bible
For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

American King James Version
For of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bands; and you said, I will not transgress; when on every high hill and under every green tree you wander, playing the harlot.

American Standard Version
For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bonds; and thou saidst, I will not serve; for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the harlot.

Bible in Basic English
For in the past, your yoke was broken by your hands and your cords parted; and you said, I will not be your servant; for on every high hill and under every branching tree, your behaviour was like that of a loose woman

Douay-Rheims Bible
Of old time thou hast broken my yoke, thou hast burst my bands, and thou saidst: I will not serve. For on every high hill, and under every green tree thou didst prostitute thyself.

Darby Bible Translation
For of old thou hast broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not serve. For upon every high hill, and under every green tree, thou bowest down, playing the harlot.

English Revised Version
For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not serve; for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the harlot.

Webster's Bible Translation
For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

World English Bible
"For of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bonds; and you said, 'I will not serve;' for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute.

Young's Literal Translation
For from of old thou hast broken thy yoke, Drawn away thy bands, and sayest, 'I do not serve,' For, on every high height, and under every green tree, Thou art wandering -- a harlot.

Geneva Study Bible

For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, {f} I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

(f) When I delivered you out of Egypt, Ex 19:8, De 5:27, Jos 24:16, Ezr 10:12, He 8:6.

Wesley's Notes

2:20 Broken - The bondage and tyranny that thou wert under in old time in Egypt, as also divers times besides. Tree - Under these shades idolaters thought there lay some hidden deity. Wanderest - The word properly signifies, making hast from one tree to another, or from one idol to another. Playing - Committing idolatry, which is a spiritual harlotry, chap.3:1,2.

King James Translators' Notes

transgress: or, serve

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

20. I-the Hebrew should be pointed as the second person feminine, a form common in Jeremiah: "Thou hast broken," &c. So the Septuagint, and the sense requires it.

thy yoke . bands-the yoke and bands which I laid on thee, My laws (Jer 5:5).

transgress-so the Keri, and many manuscripts read. But the Septuagint and most authorities read, "I will not serve," that is, obey. The sense of English Version is, "I broke thy yoke (in Egypt)," &c., "and (at that time) thou saidst, I will not transgress; whereas thou hast (since then) wandered (from Me)" (Ex 19:8).

hill . green tree-the scene of idolatries (De 12:2; Isa 57:5, 7).

wanderest-rather, "thou hast bowed down thyself" (for the act of adultery: figurative of shameless idolatry, Ex 34:15, 16; compare Job 31:10).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:20-28 Notwithstanding all their advantages, Israel had become like the wild vine that bears poisonous fruit. Men are often as much under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful lusts, as the brute beasts. But the Lord here warns them not to weary themselves in pursuits which could only bring distress and misery. As we must not despair of the mercy of God, but believe that to be sufficient for the pardon of our sins, so neither must we despair of the grace of God, but believe that it is able to subdue our corruptions, though ever so strong.


Leviticus 26:13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.
Deuteronomy 12:2 "You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.
Isaiah 57:5 Who inflame yourselves among the oaks, Under every luxuriant tree, Who slaughter the children in the ravines, Under the clefts of the crags?
Isaiah 57:7 "Upon a high and lofty mountain You have made your bed. You also went up there to offer sacrifice.
Jeremiah 3:2 "Lift up your eyes to the bare heights and see; Where have you not been violated? By the roads you have sat for them Like an Arab in the desert, And you have polluted a land With your harlotry and with your wickedness.
Jeremiah 3:6 Then the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, "Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there.
Jeremiah 17:2 As they remember their children, So they remember their altars and their Asherim By green trees on the high hills. (NASB ©1995)

Ago Bands Bonds Bow Broke Broken Burst Cords Green Hands Harlot High Hill Indeed Leafy Parted Past Playing Prostitute Recline Serve Spreading Thyself Time Tore Transgress Tree Yoke


For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

for of Jer 30:8 Ex 3:8 Le 26:13 De 4:20,34 15:15 Isa 9:4 10:27 14:25 Na 1:13

and thou saidst Ex 19:8 24:3 De 5:27 26:17 Jos 1:16 24:26-24 1Sa 12:10

transgress. or, serve. when upon Jer 3:6 De 12:2 1Ki 12:32 Ps 78:58 Isa 57:5-7 Eze 16:24,25,31 20:28

playing Jer 3:1,6-8 Ex 34:14-16 De 12:2 Isa 1:21 Eze 16:15,16,28,41 23:5 Ho 2:5 3:3

Bible Gateway: Jeremiah Chapter 2 Verse 20 NIV ESV NKJV NLT KJV Message Amplified

Alphabetical: a ago and as bonds broke But down every For green harlot have high hill I Indeed lain lay Long not off on prostitute said serve spreading tore tree under will yoke you your

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