Jeremiah 2:22

Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Lord GOD addresses Judah immediately after describing their transformation from a planted choice vine into a wild one. He speaks at a moment of confrontation to a people claiming ritual purity while actively pursuing foreign gods.

The words — נִכְתָּ֤ם (nikh.Tam) means [is] stained, and עֲוֹנֵ/ךְ (‘a.vo.ne/kh) means your iniquity. These terms anchor the verse’s claim that guilt remains visible before God despite human efforts.

The thread — This pattern of unremovable guilt runs through Jeremiah 17:1, where sin is engraved on the heart, Job 14:17, where transgression is sealed in a bag, and Hosea 13:12, where iniquity is bound up.

Why it lands — It demands the recognition that external cleansing rituals cannot erase internal moral failure. The reader must stop relying on visible piety and face the reality of unaddressed guilt before God.

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

כִּ֤יkithat אִם־'im-though תְּכַבְּסִי֙te.kha.be.Siyou will wash בַּנֶּ֔תֶרba./Ne.terwith <the>/ soda וְתַרְבִּי־ve./tar.bi-so/ you may increaseלָ֖ךְla/khfor <the>/ yourselfבֹּרִ֑יתbo.Ritsoap נִכְתָּ֤םnikh.Tam[is] stained עֲוֹנֵךְ֙'a.vo.ne/Khiniquity/ your לְפָנַ֔יle./fa.Na/i<to>/ before/ me נְאֻ֖םne.'Um[the] utterance of אֲדֹנָ֥י'a.do.Nai[the] Lord יְהוִֽה׃Yah.wehYahweh

King James Version

For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 17:1 “The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus, engraved with a diamond point on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.
Job 14:17 My transgression would be sealed in a bag, and You would cover over my iniquity.
Hosea 13:12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is stored up.
Job 9:30 If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,
Psalms 90:8 You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
Psalms 130:3 If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?
Jeremiah 16:17 For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their guilt is not concealed from My eyes.
Deuteronomy 32:34 “Have I not stored up these things, sealed up within My vaults?
Amos 8:7 The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their deeds.