Jeremiah 2:7

7 ¹And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, ²you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.

Jeremiah 2:7 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 2:7

And I brought you into a plentiful country
"Into the land of Carmel", as in the Hebrew text; that is,

``into the land of Israel, which was planted as Carmel,''

as the Targum paraphrases it; with wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olives; a land flowing with milk and honey, ( Deuteronomy 8:8 ) , so Ben Melech: to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof;
of vineyards and oliveyards, which they had not planted, and for which they had never laboured, ( Joshua 24:13 ) : but when ye entered ye defiled my land;
which the Lord had chosen above all lands, where he would have a temple built for his worship, and where he would cause his Shechinah or glorious Majesty to dwell; but this they defiled by their sins and transgressions, and particularly by their idolatry, as follows: that made mine heritage an abomination;
by devoting it to the worship of idols, as the Targum paraphrases it.

Jeremiah 2:7 In-Context

5 Thus says the Lord: “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?

6 They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells? ’

7 And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.

8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord? ’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.

9 “Therefore I still contend with you, declares the Lord, and with your children’s children I will contend.

Cross References

• 1. 2:7 See Deut. 8:7-10
• 2. 2:7 Ps. 106:38; [Lev. 18:24, 25]