Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

JEREMIAH 2:5KJV
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Jeremiah 2:5 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 2:5 mean?

Jeremiah 2:5 describes God asking the people of Israel what fault ("iniquity") their ancestors found in Him that caused them to turn away, chase after worthless things ("vanity"), and become empty themselves. The verse highlights God's bewilderment at their rejection, despite His faithfulness.

In this verse, God is speaking through the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Judah. The setting is a time when Israel has abandoned God to follow idols and empty pursuits. The verse uses strong language to question what possible wrongdoing or failure on God's part could have led their ancestors to stray so far, emphasizing that their turning away was not because of any fault in God but because they pursued things that had no real value.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 2:5

  • "iniquity" (עָוֶל, ʿawel; H5766): This word often means injustice or wrongdoing. Here, God is asking if there was any real injustice or wrong in Him that would justify Israel's rejection.
  • "vanity" (הֶבֶל, hevel; H1892): This word means emptiness, futility, or something that is insubstantial. God is saying the people have followed after things that are ultimately empty and meaningless.
  • "vain" (יֵהָב, yehav; H1891): This word is closely related to "vanity" and means to become empty or worthless. The verse points out that by chasing worthless things, the people themselves became empty.

Why Jeremiah 2:5 matters

  • Jeremiah 2:5 clears up the idea that God was somehow to blame for Israel's unfaithfulness; the verse insists there was no fault in God that justified their turning away.
  • The verse highlights the pattern that pursuing empty or worthless things leads to emptiness in the people themselves, a theme that runs through the prophets.
  • This question from God sets the tone for the rest of Jeremiah 2, where God lays out His case against Israel, showing their spiritual decline was a result of their own choices, not God's failure.

Where else these words appear

“vain” Hebrew H1891 · used in 5 verses

  • 2 Kings 17:15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them.
  • Job 27:12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
  • Psalms 62:10 Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.

“iniquity” Hebrew H5766 · used in 51 verses

  • Leviticus 19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
  • Job 27:4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
  • Proverbs 29:27 An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.

“far” Hebrew H7368 · used in 56 verses

  • Genesis 21:16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
  • Psalms 22:11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
  • Ecclesiastes 12:6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

“vanity” Hebrew H1892 · used in 64 verses

  • Deuteronomy 32:21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
  • Ecclesiastes 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
  • Ecclesiastes 7:6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.