Jeremiah 2:5
Douay-Rheims
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?
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
iniquity--wrong done to them (Isa 5:4; Mic 6:3; compare Deu 32:4). walked after vanity--contrasted with "walkest after me in the wilderness" (Jer 2:2): then I was their guide in the barren desert; now they take idols as their guides. vanity . . . vain--An idol is not only vain (impotent and empty), but vanity itself. Its worshippers acquire its character, becoming vain as it is (Deu 7:26; Psa 115:8). A people's character never rises above that of its gods, which are its "better nature" [BACON] (Kg2 17:15; Jon 2:8).
Source details
1871 · Jeremiah 2:5
Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.