The Meaning of Jeremiah 2:37 Explained

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.

YLT: Also from this thou goest out, And thy hands on thy head, For Jehovah hath kicked at thy confidences, And thou dost not give prosperity to them!

Darby: Thou shalt indeed go forth from her with thy hands upon thy head; for Jehovah hath rejected those thou confidest in, and thou shalt not prosper by them.

ASV: From thence also shalt thou go forth, with thy hands upon thy head: for Jehovah hath rejected those in whom thou trustest, and thou shalt not prosper with them.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Jeremiah 2:37 Mean?

Verse Meaning

From Jerusalem (cf. Jeremiah 2:2) God"s people would depart in grief and captivity, with their hands on their heads, because Yahweh had rejected the nations in whom Israel trusted, and by whom she hoped to prosper (cf. 2 Samuel 13:19). He wanted them to trust and prosper in Him.
"It is perfectly possibly [1] that the taking of Manasseh a captive to Babylon by Assyrian generals may have shaken the confidence in Assyria of the idolatrous people of Judah, and that, their thoughts turning to Egypt, steps may have been taken for paving the way towards an alliance with this great power, even although the godly king Josiah took no part in these proceedings." [2]
Throughout this oracle, Jeremiah presented Israel"s covenant unfaithfulness to God from two perspectives: religious and political. Yahweh"s people had abandoned exclusive faith in their covenant God, and had committed spiritual adultery by participating in the Baal fertility cult. Nationally, they had ceased to recognize Yahweh"s sovereignty over them, and had turned to Egypt and Assyria for security. [3]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 2

1  God having shown his former kindness,
5  expostulates with the people on their causeless and unexampled revolt
14  They are the causes of their own calamities
18  The sins and idolatries of Judah
35  Her confidence is rejected

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 2:37 mean?

Indeed from this [one] you will go forth and with your hands on your head for has rejected Yahweh your trusted allies and not you will prosper by them
גַּ֣ם מֵאֵ֥ת זֶה֙ תֵּֽצְאִ֔י וְיָדַ֖יִךְ עַל־ רֹאשֵׁ֑ךְ כִּֽי־ מָאַ֤ס יְהֹוָה֙ בְּמִבְטַחַ֔יִךְ וְלֹ֥א תַצְלִ֖יחִי לָהֶֽם

גַּ֣ם  Indeed 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.
זֶה֙  this  [one] 
Parse: Pronoun, masculine singular
Root: זֶה  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, another, such.
תֵּֽצְאִ֔י  you  will  go  forth 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person feminine singular
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
וְיָדַ֖יִךְ  and  with  your  hands 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, fdc, second person feminine singular
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
רֹאשֵׁ֑ךְ  your  head 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person feminine singular
Root: רֹאשׁ 
Sense: head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning.
מָאַ֤ס  has  rejected 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מָאַס 
Sense: to reject, despise, refuse.
יְהֹוָה֙  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
בְּמִבְטַחַ֔יִךְ  your  trusted  allies 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine plural construct, second person feminine singular
Root: מִבְטָח  
Sense: trust, confidence, refuge.
וְלֹ֥א  and  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
תַצְלִ֖יחִי  you  will  prosper 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, second person feminine singular
Root: צָלַח 
Sense: (Qal) to rush.
לָהֶֽם  by  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural