Discovery BoxJeremiah 2:13 
Context2:13 “Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:
they have rejected me,
the fountain of life-giving water, 1
and they have dug cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”
Jeremiah 2:17-18
Context2:17 You have brought all this on yourself, Israel, 2
by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path. 3
2:18 What good will it do you 4 then 5 to go down to Egypt
to seek help from the Egyptians? 6
What good will it do you 7 to go over to Assyria
to seek help from the Assyrians? 8
1 tn It is difficult to decide whether to translate “fresh, running water” which the Hebrew term for “living water” often refers to (e.g., Gen 26:19; Lev 14:5), or “life-giving water” which the idiom “fountain of life” as source of life and vitality often refers to (e.g., Ps 36:9; Prov 13:14; 14:27). The contrast with cisterns, which collected and held rain water, suggests “fresh, running water,” but the reality underlying the metaphor contrasts the
2 tn Heb “Are you not bringing this on yourself.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
3 tn Heb “at the time of leading you in the way.”
4 tn Heb “What to you to the way.”
5 tn The introductory particle וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah, “and now”) carries a logical, not temporal, connotation here (cf. BDB 274 s.v. עַתָּה 2.b).
6 tn Heb “to drink water from the Shihor [a branch of the Nile].” The reference is to seeking help through political alliance with Egypt as opposed to trusting in God for help. This is an extension of the figure in 2:13.
7 tn Heb “What to you to the way.”
8 tn Heb “to drink water from the River [a common designation in biblical Hebrew for the Euphrates River].” This refers to seeking help through political alliance. See the preceding note.
