Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
two evils—not merely one evil, like the idolaters who know no better; besides simple idolatry, My people add the sin of forsaking the true God whom they have known; the heathen, though having the sin of idolatry, are free from the further sin of changing the true God for idols (Jeremiah 2:11).
forsaken me—The Hebrew collocation brings out the only living God into more prominent contrast with idol nonentities. "Me they have forsaken, the Fountain," etc. (Jeremiah 17:13; Psalms 36:9; John 4:14).
broken cisterns—tanks for rain water, common in the East, where wells are scarce. The tanks not only cannot give forth an ever-flowing fresh supply as fountains can, but cannot even retain the water poured into them; the stonework within being broken, the earth drinks up the collected water. So, in general, all earthly, compared with heavenly, means of satisfying man's highest wants (Isaiah 55:1-2; compare Luke 12:33).
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Jeremiah 2:13:
Job 6:15
Psalms 106:15
Isaiah 35:7
Jeremiah 2:18
Jeremiah 5:19
Jeremiah 17:13
Jeremiah 18:14
Jonah 2:8
Zephaniah 1:6
Haggai 1:6
Haggai 1:10
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