Jeremiah 2 37

Jeremiah 2:37 kjv

Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.

Jeremiah 2:37 nkjv

Indeed you will go forth from him With your hands on your head; For the LORD has rejected your trusted allies, And you will not prosper by them.

Jeremiah 2:37 niv

You will also leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not be helped by them.

Jeremiah 2:37 esv

From it too you will come away with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will not prosper by them.

Jeremiah 2:37 nlt

In despair, you will be led into exile
with your hands on your heads,
for the LORD has rejected the nations you trust.
They will not help you at all.

Jeremiah 2 verses

Jeremiah 2 37 Meaning

Jeremiah 2:37 signifies Judah's complete failure and humiliation following their misplaced reliance on human alliances, specifically Egypt. They will leave this partnership in despair and public shame because the Lord Himself has decisively rejected their confidence in worldly strength, ensuring their chosen path brings no success but only failure.

Jeremiah 2 37 Context

Jeremiah chapter 2 opens with the Lord recalling Israel’s early devotion, contrasting it with Judah's profound apostasy. Judah is depicted as having abandoned God, the source of living waters, for broken cisterns (Jer 2:13), representing foreign gods and alliances. Verses 14-19 emphasize their self-inflicted plight and the futility of turning to Egypt or Assyria. Verses 36-37 directly follow a questioning of why Judah again seeks alliance with Egypt, having been previously disappointed by Assyria. The historical context is a tumultuous period in Judah’s history (late 7th century BCE) caught between the rising Babylonian empire, a declining Assyrian empire, and a resurgent Egypt, where successive Judean kings sought geopolitical survival through strategic alliances instead of covenant loyalty to Yahweh. This verse functions as God’s verdict on Judah's political-religious unfaithfulness.

Jeremiah 2 37 Word analysis

• From him also you will come out: Points to Egypt (from Jer 2:36), indicating a definitive withdrawal or return. The outcome of their alliance is departure, not successful integration or lasting help.
• with your hands on your head: Hebrew: yādāyik ʿal rō’šek (יָדַיִךְ עַל־רֹאשֵׁךְ). This is a vivid ancient Near Eastern gesture signifying profound public humiliation, deep shame, overwhelming despair, defeat, and acute distress. It represents a state of utter hopelessness and an inability to find help, often associated with loss or captivity.
• for the LORD has rejected: Hebrew: kī mā’as Yĕhovāh (כִּי מָאַס יְהוָה). Mā’as means to reject, despise, spurn, cast off. It's a strong and active verb. This phrase is key, stating the divine cause for their failure. God Himself, whom they abandoned, is actively repudiating the very things they rely upon. His rejection is not merely passive disfavor but a deliberate act of undoing their misplaced trust.
• your confidences: Hebrew: mibṭaḥim (מִבְטַחִים), plural of mibṭaḥ (מִבְטָח), meaning trust, security, a place or object of confidence. Here, it specifically refers to their human alliances (Egypt) and military preparations—the "security blankets" Judah manufactured apart from God. They placed their trust where God was not, violating the essence of their covenant.
• and you will not prosper by them: Hebrew: wəloʾ taṣlîḥ bāhem (וְלֹא תַצְלִחַ בָּהֶם). ṣālaḥ (צָלַח) means to rush forward, succeed, prosper, be fortunate. The negation "will not" indicates utter and certain failure. Their chosen strategies, severed from divine blessing and contrary to divine will, are doomed to be barren and achieve no favorable outcome. They will find no lasting peace, security, or advantage from these false trusts.

Jeremiah 2 37 Bonus section

The posture of "hands on the head" served as a powerful public announcement of humiliation and irreversible loss, easily understood by the original audience across the ancient Near East, appearing in iconography and texts describing defeated captives or mourners. This stark visual prophesied Judah’s ultimate degradation before other nations. Furthermore, the irony lies in Judah constantly oscillating between Assyria and Egypt throughout their history, repeatedly disillusioned by both, yet continually returning to the very patterns God condemned. Their persistent pursuit of "broken cisterns" ultimately led to their national downfall and exile, exactly as predicted in this and other prophetic verses. This also highlights a theological pattern: God often allows humanity to pursue its own chosen paths so that the inherent futility of rejecting divine wisdom becomes painfully evident, ultimately revealing that true security and prosperity come only through obedient trust in Him.

Jeremiah 2 37 Commentary

Jeremiah 2:37 encapsulates Judah's profound theological failure manifested in their geopolitical strategy. By seeking alliances with formidable nations like Egypt instead of trusting Yahweh, they demonstrated a profound lack of faith and understanding of their covenant identity. The verse chillingly portrays the consequence: a return from these alliances not with glory or security, but with their "hands on their head," a universal ancient symbol of utter despair, public shame, and absolute defeat. This is not mere political misfortune; it is the direct, decisive rejection of their misguided "confidences" by the LORD Himself. Their reliance on human power and alliances, rather than the divine covenant, will invariably lead to futility and destruction, because God has divinely decreed that such self-devised solutions will never prosper. The message extends beyond ancient Judah, serving as a timeless warning against any trust placed in created things over the Creator, ensuring that every such "confidence" will ultimately be put to shame.