Jeremiah 2:17

17 Whether this is not done to thee, for thou forsookest thy Lord God, in that time in which he led thee by the way? (Is this not done to thee, because thou hast deserted the Lord thy God, at that time when he led thee by the way?)

Jeremiah 2:17 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 2:17

Hast thou not procured this unto thyself
All this desolation and destruction, both from the Egyptians and the Babylonians; their sin was the cause of it, their idolatry and forsaking the Lord their God, as follows: and so the Targum,

``is not this vengeance taken upon thee?''

that is, by the Lord, for their sins and transgressions; he suffered these nations to make them desolate on that account: to which agrees the Septuagint version, "hath not he done these things unto thee?" for what the Egyptians and Babylonians did were done by the will of the Lord, who suffered them for their correction: and the Arabic version renders it, "have not I done these things unto thee?" and the Syriac as a prophecy, as indeed so is the whole, "lo, so it shall be done to thee"; as is predicted in the foregoing verses, and that for the following reason: in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God;
as in ( Jeremiah 2:13 ) , (See Gill on Jeremiah 2:13), that is, as the Targum interprets it, the worship of the Lord thy God, his service, his statutes, and his ordinances; and followed after idols, and the worship of them; which is aggravated by the circumstance of time in which this was done: when he led thee by the way?
who showed thee the right way, and thou walkedst not in it, as the Targum; the way in which they should have gone, the way of their duty, and his commandments; and which would have been pleasant and profitable to them, and secured them from ruin and destruction.

Jeremiah 2:17 In-Context

15 Lions roared on him, and gave their voice; they have set the land of him into wilderness, the cities of him be burnt [up], and none there is that dwelleth in those. (The lions roared at him, and gave out their voice; they have turned his land into a wilderness, his cities be burned down, and there is no one who liveth in them.)

16 Also the sons of Memphis and Tahpanhes have defouled thee, unto the top of the head.

17 Whether this is not done to thee, for thou forsookest thy Lord God, in that time in which he led thee by the way? (Is this not done to thee, because thou hast deserted the Lord thy God, at that time when he led thee by the way?)

18 And now what wilt thou to thee in the way of Egypt, that thou drink troubled water? And what is to thee with the way of Assyrians, that thou drink water of the flood? (And now what wilt thou do if thou go back to Egypt, shalt thou drink there the waters of Sihor, that is, of the Nile River? And what is for thee if thou go to Assyria, shalt thou drink there the waters of the Euphrates River?)

19 Thy malice shall reprove thee, and thy turning away shall blame thee; know thou and see, that it is (an) evil and bitter (thing), that thou hast forsaken thy Lord God, and that his dread is not at thee, saith the Lord God of hosts. (Thy malice shall reproach thee, and thy turning away shall rebuke thee; know thou and see, that it is an evil and a bitter thing, that thou hast deserted the Lord thy God, and that the fear of me is not in thee/and that reverence for me is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.)