Jeremiah 2:25

25 Keep your feet from going bare and your throat from thirst. But you say: It's hopeless;^[a] I love strangers,^[b] and I will continue to follow them.

Jeremiah 2:25 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 2:25

Withhold thy foot from being unshod
That it may not be unshod, be naked and bare. The sense is, either, as some, do not take long journeys into foreign countries for help, as into Assyria and Egypt, whither they used to go barefoot; or wore out their shoes by their long journeys, and so returned without; or refrain from idolatry, as Jarchi interprets it, that thou mayest not go naked into captivity; or this is an euphemism, as others think, forbidding adulterous actions, showing the naked foot, the putting off of the shoes, in order to lie upon the bed, and prostitute herself to her lovers; and is to be understood of idolatry: and thy throat from thirst;
after wine, which excites lust; abstain from eager and burning lust after adulterous, that is, idolatrous practices; so the Targum,

``refrain thy feet from being joined with the people, and thy mouth from worshipping the idols of the people.''

The words are paraphrased in the Talmud ^F5 thus,

``withhold thyself from sinning, that thy foot may not become naked; (the gloss is, "when thou goest into captivity") refrain thy tongue from idle words, that thy throat may not thirst:''

this was said by the Lord, or by the prophets of the Lord sent unto them, to which the following is an answer: but thou saidst, there is no hope;
of ever being prevailed upon to relinquish those idolatrous practices, or of being received into the favour of God after such provocations: no; I will never refrain from them; I will not be persuaded to leave them: for I have loved strangers;
the strange gods of the nations: and after them will I go;
and worship them; so the Targum,

``I love to he joined to the people, and after the Worship of their idols will I go.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 77. 1.

Jeremiah 2:25 In-Context

23 How can you protest: I am not defiled; I have not followed the Baals? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. [You are] a swift young camel twisting and turning on her way,

24 a wild donkey at home in the wilderness. She sniffs the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can control her passion? All who look for her will not become tired; they will find her in her mating season.

25 Keep your feet from going bare and your throat from thirst. But you say: It's hopeless; I love strangers, and I will continue to follow them.

26 Like the shame of a thief when he is caught, so the house of Israel has been put to shame. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets

27 say to a tree: You are my father, and to a stone: You gave birth to me. For they have turned their back to Me and not their face, but in their time of disaster they beg: Rise up and save us!

Footnotes

• [a]. Jr 18:12
• [b]. Jr 3:13; Dt 32:16