Jeremiah 2:13

13 "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The ¹fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves ²cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.

Jeremiah 2:13 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 2:13

For my people have committed two evils
Not but that they had committed more, but there were two principal ones they were guilty of, hereafter mentioned; and it was an aggravation of these crimes, that they were the professing people of God who had committed them: and it may be observed, that such sin; they are not without it, nor the commission of it; and may be left to fall into great sins, and yet remain his people; covenant interest cannot be dissolved; this should be considered not as an encouragement to sin, but as a relief under a sense of sin: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters;
this is said of Christ, ( Song of Solomon 4:15 ) ( Jeremiah 17:13 Jeremiah 17:4 ) , grace in him is compared to "water", it being cooling and refreshing, cleansing and fructifying; and to living water, because it quickens dead sinners, revives drooping saints, supports and maintains spiritual life, and issues in eternal life; and because it is perpetual and ever flowing; and to a "fountain", denoting that the original of it is in Christ, and the great abundance of it which is in him; it is as water in a fountain, in us as in streams: now to forsake this fountain is the first of these evils; which is done when the people of God are remiss in the exercise of faith on Christ; grow cold in their affections to him, and neglect his word and ordinances. And hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water;
this is the other evil; and such are the world, and the things in it, when cleaved unto, and rest and satisfaction are taken in them; the inventions and ordinances of men, when followed and attended to; moral duties, and evangelical services, when depended on; and even spiritual frames, when these are lived upon, and put in the room of Christ; yea, acts of faith, when they are rested in, and the object not so much regarded as should be: moreover, what may principally be intended are, in the first place, forsaking the worship of God, as the Targum interprets it, the assembling of themselves together to attend his service and ordinances, which is to forsake their own mercies; and, in the next place, following after idols, as the same paraphrase explains it, which have no divinity in them, and can yield no help and relief, or give any comfort, or afford any supply in time of distress and need. It is egregious folly to leave a fountain for a cistern, and especially a broken one: in a fountain the water is living, and always running, and ever springing up; not so in a cistern, and in a broken cistern there is none at all.

Jeremiah 2:13 In-Context

11 "Has a nation changed gods When they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit.

12 "Be appalled, O heavens, at this, And shudder, be very desolate," declares the LORD .

13 "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.

14 "Is Israel a slave? Or is he a homeborn servant? Why has he become a prey?

15 "The young lions have roared at him, They have roared loudly . And they have made his land a waste; His cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 36:9; Jeremiah 17:13; John 4:14
• 2. Jeremiah 14:3