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21 I planted you in the land
like a special vine of the very best stock.
Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine
that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes?[a]
22 You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent.
You can use as much soap as you want.
But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,”[b]
says the Sovereign Lord.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 2:21 tc Heb “I planted you as a choice vine, all of it true seed. How then have you turned into a putrid thing to me, a strange [or wild] vine.” The question expresses surprise and consternation. The translation is based on a redivision of the Hebrew words סוּרֵי הַגֶּפֶן (sure haggefen) into סוֹרִיָּה גֶּפֶן (soriyyah gefen) and the recognition of a hapax legomenon סוֹרִיָּה (soriyyah) meaning “putrid, stinking thing.” See HALOT 749 s.v. סוֹרִי.
  2. Jeremiah 2:22 tn Heb “Even if you wash with natron/lye, and use much soap, your sin is a stain before me.”
  3. Jeremiah 2:22 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” For an explanation of this title see the study notes on 1:6.

21 I had planted(A) you like a choice vine(B)
    of sound and reliable stock.
How then did you turn against me
    into a corrupt,(C) wild vine?
22 Although you wash(D) yourself with soap(E)
    and use an abundance of cleansing powder,
    the stain of your guilt is still before me,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.(F)

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