Jer 2:2, Hos 2:15 | JFB | STEP | 2. cry —proclaim. Jerusalem —the headquarters and center of their idolatry; therefore addressed first. thee —rather, "I remember in regard to thee " [HENDERSON ]; "for thee" [MAURER ]. kindness of thy youth —not so much Israel's kindness towards God, as the kindness which Israel experienced from God in their early history (compare ). For Israel from the first showed perversity rather than kindness towards God (compare , &c.). The greater were God's favors to them from the first, the fouler was their ingratitude in forsaking Him ( , &c.). espousals —the intervals between Israel's betrothal to God at the exodus from Egypt, and the formal execution of the marriage contract at Sinai. EWALD takes the "kindness" and "love" to be Israel's towards God at first ( ). But compare ("days of thy youth ") implies that the love here meant was on God's side, not Israel's. thou wentest after me in . . . wilderness —the next act of God's love, His leading them in the desert without needing any strange god, such as they since worshipped, to help Him ( ). shows it is God's "leading" of them, not their following after God in the wilderness, which is implied.

Jeremiah 2:2

2. cry—proclaim.

Jerusalem—the headquarters and center of their idolatry; therefore addressed first.

thee—rather, "I remember in regard to thee" [HENDERSON]; "for thee" [MAURER].

kindness of thy youth—not so much Israel's kindness towards God, as the kindness which Israel experienced from God in their early history (compare Eze 16:8, 22, 60; 23:3, 8, 19; Ho 2:15). For Israel from the first showed perversity rather than kindness towards God (compare Ex 14:11, 12; 15:24; 32:1-7, &c.). The greater were God's favors to them from the first, the fouler was their ingratitude in forsaking Him (Jer 2:3, 5, &c.).

espousals—the intervals between Israel's betrothal to God at the exodus from Egypt, and the formal execution of the marriage contract at Sinai. EWALD takes the "kindness" and "love" to be Israel's towards God at first (Ex 19:8; 24:3; 35:20-29; 36:5; Jos 24:16-17). But compare De 32:16, 17; Eze 16:5, 6, 15, 22 ("days of thy youth") implies that the love here meant was on God's side, not Israel's.

thou wentest after me in . . . wilderness—the next act of God's love, His leading them in the desert without needing any strange god, such as they since worshipped, to help Him (De 2:7; 32:12). Jer 2:6 shows it is God's "leading" of them, not their following after God in the wilderness, which is implied.

Hosea 2:15

15. from thence—returning from the wilderness. God gives Israel a fresh grant of Canaan, which she had forfeited; so of her vineyards, &c. (Ho 2:9, 12).

Achor—that is, "trouble." As formerly Israel, after their tedious journey through the wilderness, met with the trouble resulting from Achan's crime in this valley, on the very threshold of Canaan, and yet that trouble was presently turned into joy at the great victory at Ai, which threw all Canaan into their hands (Jos 7:1-8:28); so the very trouble of Israel's wilderness state will be the "door of hope" opening to better days. The valley of Achor, near Jericho, was specially fruitful (Isa 65:10); so "trouble" and "hope" are rightly blended in connection with it.

sing . . . as . . . when she came . . . out of . . . Egypt—It shall be a second exodus song, such as Israel sang after the deliverance at the Red Sea (Ex 15:1-21; compare Isa 11:15, 16); and "the song of Moses" (Re 15:2, 3) sung by those who through the Lamb overcome the beast, and so stand on the sea of glass mingled with fire, emblems of fiery trial, such as that of Israel at the Red Sea.