Jeremiah 2:3

Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
holiness	קֹ֤דֶשׁ Ko.desh	H6944	a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine singular absolute
LORD	לַיהוָ֔ה la.Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
firstfruits	רֵאשִׁ֖ית re.Shit	H7225	the first · noun, common feminine singular construct
increase	תְּבוּאָת֑וֹ te.vu.'a.To	H8393	income · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
devour	אֹכְלָ֣יו 'o.khe.Lav	H398	to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
offend	יֶאְשָׁ֔מוּ ye'.Sha.mu	H816	to be guilty · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
evil	רָעָ֛ה ra.'Ah	H7451	bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
come	תָּבֹ֥א ta.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
saith	נְאֻם ne.'um-	H5002	an oracle · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD	יְהוָֽה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Revelation 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These w…
Exodus 4:22-23 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
Deuteronomy 7:6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people t…
Isaiah 41:11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee s…
Romans 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Exodus 19:5-6 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all…
Deuteronomy 14:2 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 2:1-8

Here is, I. A command given to Jeremiah to go and carry a message from God to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He was charged in general (Jer 1:17) to go and speak to them; here he is particularly charged to go and speak this to them. Note, It is good for ministers by faith and prayer to take out a fresh commission when they address themselves solemnly to any part of their work. Let a minister carefully compare what he has to deliver with the word of God, and see that it agrees with it, that he may be able to say, not only, The Lord sent me, but, He sent me to speak this. He must go from Anathoth, where he lived in a pleasant retirement, spending his time (it is likely) among a few friends and…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jeremiah 2:3

holiness unto the Lord--that is, was consecrated to the service of Jehovah (Exo 19:5-6). They thus answered to the motto on their high priest's breastplate, "Holiness to the Lord" (Deu 7:6; Deu 14:2, Deu 14:21). first-fruits of his increase--that is, of Jehovah's produce. As the first-fruits of the whole produce of the land were devoted to God (Exo 23:19; Num 18:12-13), so Israel was devoted to Him as the first-fruit and representative nation among all nations. So the spiritual Israel (Jam 1:18; Rev 14:4). devour--carrying on the image of first-fruits which were eaten before the Lord by the priests as the Lord's representatives; all who ate (injured) Jehovah's first-fruits (Israel), cont…

Read the whole note in the console

John Gill on Jeremiah 2:3

Israel was holiness unto the Lord,.... When first brought out of Egypt into the wilderness, by the Lord's choice and separation of them to be a holy people to him above all others; by covenant with him, and profession of him; and by his giving them holy laws, and placing a sanctuary among them; and by their high priest, who represented them in the most holy place; and had on the front of his mitre written, holiness unto the Lord; so the spiritual Israel are chosen in Christ to be holy, and he is made sanctification to them; they are sanctified in him, and by his Spirit; they are called with a holy calling, and unto holiness; and, under the influence of grace, live holy lives and conversatio…

The Church Fathers

(Verse 3.) Holy is Israel to the Lord, the first fruits of his harvest: all who devour him shall be guilty; evil shall come upon them, says the Lord. When Israel speaks of the first fruits of the Lord's harvest, it shows that the people are gathered from the nations after the first fruits; according to what is written in another place: Remember your congregation, whom you have possessed from the beginning (Psalm 73:2). However, the first fruits are always owed to the priests, not to the enemies. What follows is this: All those who devour him will sin: evil will come upon them, says the Lord. This is its meaning: Just as those who devour the offerings (Numbers 5) are not from the priestly lineage, they are guilty of a sinful act, so those who defile Israel will be subjected to great evil: as it is written in the twenty-sixth psalm by the holy David: While evil men approach me to consume my flesh, my enemies who trouble me have become weak and fallen (Psalm 26:3-4). For indeed, those who carry out the sentence of God will not be exempt from punishment, and evils come upon them; for scandals must come, but woe to him through whom the scandals come (Mat. XVIII).
— Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

First Fruits · required as an offering — required as an offering
First Fruits, The · Illustrative of: The Jewish church — Illustrative of: The Jewish church
Holiness · Exemplified: Israel — Exemplified: Israel
Love · OF MAN FOR GO — OF MAN FOR GO

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Jeremiah 2:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 2:1-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jeremiah 2:3

John Gill on Jeremiah 2:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Jeremiah 2:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 2:1-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jeremiah 2:3

John Gill on Jeremiah 2:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Jeremiah 2:3

Keil & Delitzsch on Jeremiah 2:1-3

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Jeremiah 2:3

Rashi on Jeremiah 2:3