Jeremiah 2:35

35 And thou hast said: I am without sin and am innocent: and therefore let thy anger be turned away from me. Behold, I will contend with thee in judgment, because thou hast said: I have not sinned.

Jeremiah 2:35 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 2:35

Yet thou sayest, because I am innocent
Or, "that I am innocent"; though guilty of such flagrant and notorious crimes, acting like the adulterous woman, ( Proverbs 30:20 ) to whom the Jews are all along compared in this chapter; which shows the hardness of their hearts, and their impudence in sinning: surely his anger shall turn from me;
the anger of God, since innocent; or, "let his anger be turned from me", as the Septuagint and Arabic versions; pleading for the removing of judgments upon the foot of innocency, which is pretended: behold, I will plead with thee;
enter into judgment with thee, and examine the case closely and thoroughly: because thou sayest, I have not sinned;
it would have been much better to have acknowledged sin, and pleaded for mercy, than to insist upon innocence, when the proof was so evident; nothing can be got by entering into judgment with God, upon such a foundation; and to sin, and deny it, is an aggravation of it: the denial of sin is a double sin, as the wise man says, whom Kimchi cites.

Jeremiah 2:35 In-Context

33 Why dost thou endeavour to shew thy way good to seek my love, thou who hast also taught thy malices to be thy ways,

34 And in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor and innocent? not in ditches have I found them, but in all places, which I mentioned before.

35 And thou hast said: I am without sin and am innocent: and therefore let thy anger be turned away from me. Behold, I will contend with thee in judgment, because thou hast said: I have not sinned.

36 How exceeding base art thou become, going the same ways over again! and thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.

37 For from thence thou shalt go, and thy hand shall be upon thy head: for the Lord hath destroyed thy trust, and thou shalt have nothing prosperous therein.