Jeremiah 2:25

You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The prophet Jeremiah addresses the house of Israel in a covenant lawsuit, contrasting their former wilderness provision with their present idolatrous rebellion.

The words — מִנְעִ֤י (min.'I) means "restrain," and נוֹאָ֔שׁ (no.'Ash) translates literally as "despairing" or "hopeless."

The thread — This claim of hopeless idolatry runs parallel to Deut 32:16, Jer 3:13, and Jer 18:12 where stubborn self-will replaces covenant obedience.

Why it lands — The text demands that readers recognize the declaration "it is hopeless" as a deliberate lie masking chosen rebellion against divine provision.

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

מִנְעִ֤יmin.'Irestrain רַגְלֵךְ֙rag.le/Khfoot/ your מִיָּחֵ֔ףmi./ya.Cheffrom/ barefoot וּגְרוֹנֵ֖ךְu./go.ro.ne/khand/ throat/ your מִצִּמְאָ֑הmi./tzim.'Ahfrom/ thirst וַתֹּאמְרִ֣יva./tom.Riand/ you said נוֹאָ֔שׁno.'Ashdespairing ל֕וֹאLo'In-כִּֽי־ki-deed אָהַ֥בְתִּי'a.Hav.tiI love זָרִ֖יםza.Rimstrange [gods]וְאַחֲרֵיהֶ֥םve./'a.cha.rei./Hemand/ after/ them אֵלֵֽךְ׃'e.LekhI will walk

King James Version

Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 32:16 They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.
Jeremiah 3:13 Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice,’” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 18:12 But they will reply, ‘It is hopeless. We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
Romans 8:24 For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?
Deuteronomy 28:48 you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
Deuteronomy 29:19 because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
2 Chronicles 28:22 In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.
Isaiah 2:6 For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
Isaiah 20:2 the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet.” And Isaiah did so, walking around naked and barefoot.
Isaiah 57:10 You are wearied by your many journeys, but you did not say, “There is no hope!” You found renewal of your strength; therefore you did not grow weak.