Bible Strands
Jeremiah 2:10
Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and take a look; send to Kedar and consider carefully; see if there has ever been anything like this:
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — YHWH addresses the covenant people of Israel through the prophet during a formal legal confrontation over their abandonment of exclusive loyalty. The declaration occurs as part of a divine lawsuit that will immediately contrast Israel’s actions with the religious practices of distant regions.
The words — עִבְרוּ ('ivru) means pass over or cross, and הִתְבּוֹנְנוּ (hitbonnu) means consider carefully or examine. These verbs frame the command to travel to Kittim and Kedar to search for a comparable historical precedent.
The thread — The geographical markers Kittim (Cyprus) and Kedar (Ishmaelite territory) appear in Genesis 10:4 and Psalm 120:5, establishing the known world from west to east. The rhetorical pattern of searching for a precedent continues directly into Jeremiah 2:11, which asks whether any nation has ever exchanged its gods.
Why it lands — The text demands a comparative assessment of Israel’s unique breach of covenant against the established religious practices of surrounding nations. It forces the reader to confront the logical absurdity of exchanging divine glory for manufactured idols when no other culture has committed a comparable act.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
Cross-references
- Psalms 120:5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!
- Genesis 10:4 And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites.
- Genesis 25:13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
- Numbers 24:24 Ships will come from the coasts of Cyprus; they will subdue Asshur and Eber, but they too will perish forever.”
- Judges 19:30 And everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has been seen or done from the day the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt until this day. Think it over, take counsel, and speak up!”
- 1 Chronicles 1:7 And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites.
- 1 Chronicles 23:1 When David was old and full of years, he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.
- 1 Chronicles 23:12 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all.
- Isaiah 21:16 For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone.
- Jeremiah 18:13 Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.