Jeremiah 2:25

25 Don't run until your feet are bare and your throats are dry. But you say that it's useless. You love foreign gods and 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.''

---

FOOTNOTES:

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

Jeremiah 2:25 In-Context

23 "How can you say that you haven't dishonored yourselves and haven't followed other gods--the Baals? Look how you've behaved in the valley. Acknowledge what you've done. You are like a young camel that swiftly runs here and there.

24 You are like a wild donkey that is used to the desert, sniffing the wind while in heat. All who look for you won't get tired. They will find you during your monthly period.

25 Don't run until your feet are bare and your throats are dry. But you say that it's useless. You love foreign gods and follow them.

26 "As a thief feels ashamed when he's caught, so the nation of Israel will feel ashamed. Their kings, princes, priests, and prophets will also feel ashamed.

27 You call wood your father. You call stone your mother. You've turned your backs, not your faces, to me. But when you're in trouble, you ask me to come and rescue you.