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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Jeremiah 2:33 How skillfully you pursue love! Even the most immoral of women could learn from your ways.</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-33.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/new9.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://biblehub.com/visuals/10/24_Jer_02_33.jpg" /><meta property="og:title" content="Jeremiah 2:33 - Israel's Unfaithfulness" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Bible Hub" /><meta property="og:description" content="How skillfully you pursue love! 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Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nlt/jeremiah/2.htm">New Living Translation</a></span><br />“How you plot and scheme to win your lovers. Even an experienced prostitute could learn from you!<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/esv/jeremiah/2.htm">English Standard Version</a></span><br />“How well you direct your course to seek love! So that even to wicked women you have taught your ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/bsb/jeremiah/2.htm">Berean Standard Bible</a></span><br />How skillfully you pursue love! Even the most immoral of women could learn from your ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/kjv/jeremiah/2.htm">King James Bible</a></span><br />Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nkjv/jeremiah/2.htm">New King James Version</a></span><br />“Why do you beautify your way to seek love? Therefore you have also taught The wicked women your ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb_/jeremiah/2.htm">New American Standard Bible</a></span><br />“How well you prepare your way To seek love! Therefore even to the wicked women You have taught your ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb/jeremiah/2.htm">NASB 1995</a></span><br />&#8220How well you prepare your way To seek love! Therefore even the wicked women You have taught your ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb77/jeremiah/2.htm">NASB 1977 </a></span><br />“How well you prepare your way To seek love! Therefore even the wicked women You have taught your ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lsb/jeremiah/2.htm">Legacy Standard Bible </a></span><br />How well you prepare your way To seek love! Therefore even the wicked women You have taught your ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/amp/jeremiah/2.htm">Amplified Bible</a></span><br />“How well you prepare your path To seek <i>and</i> obtain [adulterous] love! Even the most wicked of women Have learned [indecent] ways from you.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/csb/jeremiah/2.htm">Christian Standard Bible</a></span><br />How skillfully you pursue love; you also teach evil women your ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/hcsb/jeremiah/2.htm">Holman Christian Standard Bible</a></span><br />How skillfully you pursue love; you also teach evil women your ways. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/asv/jeremiah/2.htm">American Standard Version</a></span><br />How trimmest thou thy way to seek love! therefore even the wicked women hast thou taught thy ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/cev/jeremiah/2.htm">Contemporary English Version</a></span><br />You are so clever at finding lovers that you could give lessons to a prostitute. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/erv/jeremiah/2.htm">English Revised Version</a></span><br />How trimmest thou thy way to seek love! therefore even the wicked women hast thou taught thy ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/gwt/jeremiah/2.htm">GOD'S WORD® Translation</a></span><br />You carefully planned ways to look for love. You taught your ways to wicked women.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/gnt/jeremiah/2.htm">Good News Translation</a></span><br />You certainly know how to chase after lovers. Even the worst of women can learn from you. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/isv/jeremiah/2.htm">International Standard Version</a></span><br />How well you perfect your techniques for seeking love. Therefore you can teach even the most immoral women your techniques. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/msb/jeremiah/2.htm">Majority Standard Bible</a></span><br />How skillfully you pursue love! Even the most immoral of women could learn from your ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/net/jeremiah/2.htm">NET Bible</a></span><br />"My, how good you have become at chasing after your lovers! Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two! <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nheb/jeremiah/2.htm">New Heart English Bible</a></span><br />How well you prepare your way to seek love. Therefore you have taught even the wicked women your ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/wbt/jeremiah/2.htm">Webster's Bible Translation</a></span><br />Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/web/jeremiah/2.htm">World English Bible</a></span><br />How well you prepare your way to seek love! Therefore you have even taught the wicked women your ways. <div class="vheading2"><b>Literal Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lsv/jeremiah/2.htm">Literal Standard Version</a></span><br />Why do you make your ways pleasing to seek love? Therefore you have even taught the wicked your ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/ylt/jeremiah/2.htm">Young's Literal Translation</a></span><br /> What -- dost thou make pleasing thy ways to seek love? Therefore even the wicked thou hast taught thy ways.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/slt/jeremiah/2.htm">Smith's Literal Translation</a></span><br />How wilt thou make good thy way to seek love? for this also thou didst teach the evil ones thy ways.<div class="vheading2"><b>Catholic Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/drb/jeremiah/2.htm">Douay-Rheims Bible</a></span><br />Why dost thou endeavor to shew thy way good to seek my love, thou who has also taught thy malices to be thy ways, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/cpdv/jeremiah/2.htm">Catholic Public Domain Version</a></span><br />Why are you striving to claim that your way is good, as if to seek my love, when all the while you are also displaying your malice by your own way,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nabre/jeremiah/2.htm">New American Bible</a></span><br />How well you pick your way when seeking love! In your wickedness, you have gone by ways unclean! <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nrsvce/jeremiah/2.htm">New Revised Standard Version</a></span><br />How well you direct your course to seek lovers! So that even to wicked women you have taught your ways.<div class="vheading2"><b>Translations from Aramaic</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lamsa/jeremiah/2.htm">Lamsa Bible</a></span><br />Why do you deck yourself to induce love? For behold you have also learned evil by means of your conduct.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/hpbt/jeremiah/2.htm">Peshitta Holy Bible Translated</a></span><br />Why have you again prepared your ways to seek love? Behold, you have also learned evil in your ways<div class="vheading2"><b>OT Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/jps/jeremiah/2.htm">JPS Tanakh 1917</a></span><br />How trimmest thou thy way To seek love! Therefore--even the wicked women Hast thou taught thy ways;<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/sep/jeremiah/2.htm">Brenton Septuagint Translation</a></span><br />What fair device wilt thou yet employ in thy ways, so as to seek love? <i>it shall</i> not <i>be</i> so; moreover thou has done wickedly in corrupting thy ways;<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/parallel/jeremiah/2-33.htm">Additional Translations ...</a></span></div></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><a name="audio" id="audio"></a><div class="vheadingv"><b>Audio Bible</b></div><iframe width="100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5k55c51ZGhs?start=595" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="vheadingv"><b>Context</b></div><span class="hdg"><a href="/bsb/jeremiah/2.htm">Israel's Unfaithfulness</a></span><br>…<span class="reftext">32</span>Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number. <span class="reftext">33</span><span class="highl"><a href="/hebrew/4100.htm" title="4100: mah- (Interrog) -- What? how? anything. ">How</a> <a href="/hebrew/3190.htm" title="3190: tê·ṭi·ḇî (V-Hifil-Imperf-2fs) -- To be good, well, glad, or pleasing. A primitive root; to be make well, literally or figuratively.">skillfully</a> <a href="/hebrew/1870.htm" title="1870: dar·kêḵ (N-csc:: 2fs) -- Way, road, distance, journey, manner. From darak; a road; figuratively, a course of life or mode of action, often adverb."></a> <a href="/hebrew/1245.htm" title="1245: lə·ḇaq·qêš (Prep-l:: V-Piel-Inf) -- To seek. A primitive root; to search out; by implication, to strive after.">you pursue</a> <a href="/hebrew/160.htm" title="160: ’a·hă·ḇāh (N-fs) -- Love (noun). Feminine of 'ahab and meaning the same.">love!</a> <a href="/hebrew/3651.htm" title="3651: lā·ḵên (Adv) -- So, thus. From kuwn; properly, set upright; hence just; but usually rightly or so."></a> <a href="/hebrew/1571.htm" title="1571: gam (Conj) -- Also, moreover, yea. ">Even</a> <a href="/hebrew/853.htm" title="853: ’eṯ- (DirObjM) -- Apparent contracted from 'owth in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self."></a> <a href="/hebrew/7451.htm" title="7451: hā·rā·‘ō·wṯ (Art:: N-fp) -- Bad, evil. From ra'a'; bad or evil.">the most immoral of women</a> <a href="/hebrew/3925.htm" title="3925: lim·maḏ·tī (V-Piel-Perf-2fs) -- A primitive root; properly, to goad, i.e. to teach:(un-) accustomed, X diligently, expert, instruct, learn, skilful, teach(-er,ing).">could learn</a> <a href="/hebrew/853.htm" title="853: ’eṯ- (DirObjM) -- Apparent contracted from 'owth in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self."></a> <a href="/hebrew/1870.htm" title="1870: də·rā·ḵā·yiḵ (N-cpc:: 2fs) -- Way, road, distance, journey, manner. From darak; a road; figuratively, a course of life or mode of action, often adverb.">from your ways.</a> </span><span class="reftext">34</span>Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things…<div class="cred"><a href="//berean.bible">Berean Standard Bible</a> · <a href="//berean.bible/downloads.htm">Download</a></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="crossref" id="crossref"></a><div class="vheading">Cross References</div><div id="crf"><span class="crossverse"><a href="/hosea/2-5.htm">Hosea 2:5</a></span><br />For their mother has played the harlot and has conceived them in disgrace. For she thought, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me bread and water, wool and linen, oil and drink.’<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/ezekiel/16-25.htm">Ezekiel 16:25</a></span><br />At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/isaiah/57-8.htm">Isaiah 57:8</a></span><br />Behind the door and doorpost you have set up your memorial. Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed; you climbed up and opened it wide. And you have made a pact with those whose bed you have loved; you have gazed upon their nakedness.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/proverbs/7-10.htm">Proverbs 7:10-12</a></span><br />Then a woman came out to meet him, with the attire of a harlot and cunning of heart. / She is loud and defiant; her feet do not remain at home. / Now in the street, now in the squares, she lurks at every corner.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/ezekiel/23-40.htm">Ezekiel 23:40</a></span><br />Furthermore, you sisters sent messengers for men who came from afar; and behold, when they arrived, you bathed for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/isaiah/1-21.htm">Isaiah 1:21</a></span><br />See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/hosea/4-12.htm">Hosea 4:12-14</a></span><br />My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God. / They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery. / I will not punish your daughters when they prostitute themselves, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go off with prostitutes and offer sacrifices with shrine prostitutes. So a people without understanding will come to ruin.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/2_kings/17-15.htm">2 Kings 17:15</a></span><br />They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/ezekiel/16-33.htm">Ezekiel 16:33-34</a></span><br />Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. / So your prostitution is the opposite of that of other women: No one solicited your favors, and you paid a fee instead of receiving one; so you are the very opposite!<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/isaiah/30-1.htm">Isaiah 30:1</a></span><br />“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/james/4-4.htm">James 4:4</a></span><br />You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/matthew/12-39.htm">Matthew 12:39</a></span><br />Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/2_timothy/3-6.htm">2 Timothy 3:6</a></span><br />They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/revelation/17-1.htm">Revelation 17:1-2</a></span><br />Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. / The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/1_corinthians/6-15.htm">1 Corinthians 6:15-16</a></span><br />Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! / Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”</div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="tsk" id="tsk"><div class="vheading">Treasury of Scripture</div><p class="tsk2">Why trim you your way to seek love? therefore have you also taught the wicked ones your ways.</p><p class="hdg">why</p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/jeremiah/2-23.htm">Jeremiah 2:23,36</a></b></br> How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: <i>thou art</i> a swift dromedary traversing her ways; … </p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/jeremiah/3-1.htm">Jeremiah 3:1,2</a></b></br> They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD… </p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/isaiah/57-7.htm">Isaiah 57:7-10</a></b></br> Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice… </p><p class="hdg">hast</p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/2_chronicles/33-9.htm">2 Chronicles 33:9</a></b></br> So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, <i>and</i> to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.</p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/ezekiel/16-27.htm">Ezekiel 16:27,47,51,52</a></b></br> Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary <i>food</i>, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way… </p><div class="vheading">Jump to Previous</div><a href="/jeremiah/2-24.htm">Accustomed</a> <a href="/jeremiah/2-10.htm">Care</a> <a href="/isaiah/26-20.htm">Course</a> <a href="/isaiah/61-8.htm">Direct</a> <a href="/jeremiah/2-2.htm">Love</a> <a href="/isaiah/66-16.htm">Ones</a> <a href="/isaiah/56-2.htm">Ordered</a> <a href="/isaiah/65-11.htm">Prepare</a> <a href="/isaiah/65-2.htm">Pursuing</a> <a href="/jeremiah/2-24.htm">Seek</a> <a href="/isaiah/44-11.htm">Skilled</a> <a href="/isaiah/54-13.htm">Taught</a> <a href="/deuteronomy/21-12.htm">Trim</a> <a href="/jeremiah/2-23.htm">Way</a> <a href="/jeremiah/2-23.htm">Ways</a> <a href="/isaiah/59-3.htm">Wicked</a> <a href="/jeremiah/2-19.htm">Wickedness</a> <a href="/isaiah/32-11.htm">Women</a> <a href="/psalms/41-7.htm">Worst</a><div class="vheading2">Jump to Next</div><a href="/jeremiah/13-23.htm">Accustomed</a> <a href="/jeremiah/6-20.htm">Care</a> <a href="/jeremiah/8-6.htm">Course</a> <a href="/jeremiah/10-23.htm">Direct</a> <a href="/jeremiah/5-31.htm">Love</a> <a href="/jeremiah/5-4.htm">Ones</a> <a href="/jeremiah/7-23.htm">Ordered</a> <a href="/jeremiah/6-4.htm">Prepare</a> <a href="/hosea/5-11.htm">Pursuing</a> <a href="/jeremiah/4-6.htm">Seek</a> <a href="/jeremiah/4-22.htm">Skilled</a> <a href="/jeremiah/9-5.htm">Taught</a> <a href="/ezekiel/44-20.htm">Trim</a> <a href="/jeremiah/2-36.htm">Way</a> <a href="/jeremiah/2-36.htm">Ways</a> <a href="/jeremiah/4-14.htm">Wicked</a> <a href="/jeremiah/3-2.htm">Wickedness</a> <a href="/jeremiah/5-7.htm">Women</a> <a href="/ezekiel/7-24.htm">Worst</a><div class="vheading2">Jeremiah 2</div><span class="reftext">1. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/jeremiah/2-1.htm">God having shown his former kindness, </a></span><br><span class="reftext">5. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/jeremiah/2-5.htm">expostulates with the people on their causeless and unexampled revolt</a></span><br><span class="reftext">14. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/jeremiah/2-14.htm">They are the causes of their own calamities</a></span><br><span class="reftext">18. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/jeremiah/2-18.htm">The sins and idolatries of Judah</a></span><br><span class="reftext">35. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/jeremiah/2-35.htm">Her confidence is rejected.</a></span><br></div></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> <br /><br /> </div> </td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="combox"><div class="padcom"><a name="study" id="study"></a><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top"><a href="/study/jeremiah/2.htm">Study Bible</a></td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/study/jeremiah/" title="Book Summary and Study">Book ◦</a> <a href="/study/chapters/jeremiah/2.htm" title="Chapter summary and Study">Chapter </a></tr></table></div><b>How skillfully you pursue love!</b><br>This phrase highlights the deliberate and calculated efforts of the people of Judah in seeking alliances and relationships with foreign nations and their gods, rather than remaining faithful to Yahweh. The term "skillfully" suggests a cunning or shrewdness, indicating that the people were not merely passive in their idolatry but actively and cleverly engaged in it. This reflects the broader context of Jeremiah, where the prophet condemns Judah for forsaking God and turning to other deities (<a href="/jeremiah/2-11.htm">Jeremiah 2:11-13</a>). The pursuit of love here is metaphorical, representing the pursuit of idolatry and unfaithfulness, akin to spiritual adultery. This theme of spiritual infidelity is echoed in other prophetic books, such as Hosea, where Israel's unfaithfulness is likened to an adulterous wife (Hosea 1-3).<p><b>Even the most immoral of women could learn from your ways.</b><br>This phrase uses hyperbole to emphasize the extent of Judah's unfaithfulness. By comparing Judah to the "most immoral of women," the text underscores the depth of their spiritual corruption. In the ancient Near Eastern context, prostitution was often used as a metaphor for idolatry and covenant unfaithfulness. The comparison suggests that Judah's actions were so egregious that even those considered the most morally corrupt could learn from their behavior. This reflects the severity of their apostasy and the betrayal of their covenant relationship with God. The imagery of an unfaithful woman is a recurring motif in the prophetic literature, illustrating the broken relationship between God and His people (Ezekiel 16, <a href="/isaiah/1-21.htm">Isaiah 1:21</a>). This phrase serves as a stark warning of the consequences of abandoning God's commandments and the need for repentance and return to faithfulness.<div class="vheading2">Persons / Places / Events</div>1. <b><a href="/topical/j/jeremiah.htm">Jeremiah</a></b><br>A major prophet in the Old Testament, called by God to deliver messages of warning and hope to the people of Judah. His ministry spanned over 40 years during a tumultuous period in Israel's history.<br><br>2. <b><a href="/topical/j/judah.htm">Judah</a></b><br>The southern kingdom of Israel, which had turned away from God and was engaging in idolatry and alliances with pagan nations.<br><br>3. <b><a href="/topical/g/god.htm">God</a></b><br>The one true God, Yahweh, who is addressing His people through the prophet Jeremiah, expressing His disappointment and anger over their unfaithfulness.<br><br>4. <b><a href="/topical/i/idolatry.htm">Idolatry</a></b><br>The worship of idols or false gods, which was prevalent in Judah at the time and is a central theme in Jeremiah's prophecies.<br><br>5. <b><a href="/topical/p/pagan_nations.htm">Pagan Nations</a></b><br>The surrounding nations that Judah sought alliances with, often leading them further away from their covenant with God.<div class="vheading2">Teaching Points</div><b><a href="/topical/t/the_danger_of_spiritual_adultery.htm">The Danger of Spiritual Adultery</a></b><br>Just as Judah pursued alliances with pagan nations, Christians today must be wary of forming allegiances with worldly values that lead us away from God.<br><br><b><a href="/topical/t/the_skillfulness_of_sin.htm">The Skillfulness of Sin</a></b><br>Sin can be deceitful and cunning, often presenting itself as love or necessity. We must be vigilant and discerning to recognize and resist its allure.<br><br><b><a href="/topical/g/god's_call_to_repentance.htm">God's Call to Repentance</a></b><br>Despite Judah's unfaithfulness, God's message through Jeremiah is ultimately one of repentance and return. God desires restoration and relationship with His people.<br><br><b><a href="/topical/l/learning_from_negative_examples.htm">Learning from Negative Examples</a></b><br>The phrase "Even the worst of women can learn from your ways" serves as a warning. We should learn from the mistakes of others and strive to remain faithful to God.<br><br><b><a href="/topical/t/the_importance_of_faithfulness.htm">The Importance of Faithfulness</a></b><br>Our relationship with God should be marked by faithfulness and devotion, avoiding the pitfalls of idolatry and spiritual compromise.<div class="vheading2">Lists and Questions</div><a href="/top10/lessons_from_jeremiah_2.htm">Top 10 Lessons from Jeremiah 2</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/q/what_careers_suit_christians.htm">What careers are suitable for Christians to pursue?</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/q/why_don't_records_show_israel's_apostasy.htm">Jeremiah 2:32-33 portrays Israel as actively seeking other gods; why do extra-biblical records not corroborate such a widespread apostasy at this particular time?</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/q/why_are_samaria_and_jerusalem_immoral.htm">Why does Ezekiel 23:4 personify Samaria and Jerusalem as immoral sisters, and is there historical or archeological evidence to support these specific accusations?</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/q/did_adam_and_eve_possess_belly_buttons.htm">What does Matthew 6:33 mean?</a><a name="commentary" id="commentary"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/jeremiah/2.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(33) <span class= "bld">Why trimmest thou thy way . . .?</span>--The verb is the same as that rendered <span class= "ital">"</span>amend" in <a href="/jeremiah/7-3.htm" title="Thus said the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.">Jeremiah 7:3</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/7-5.htm" title="For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor;">Jeremiah 7:5</a>, and was probably often on the lips of those who made a show of reformation. Here it is used with a scornful irony, "What means this reform, this show of amendment of thy ways, which leads only to a further indulgence in adulterous love?"<p><span class= "bld">Hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.</span>--Better, <span class= "ital">hast thou also taught thy ways wickednesses. </span>The professed change for the better was really for the worse.<p><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/jeremiah/2.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 33.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Why trimmest thou thy way I rather</span>, H<span class="accented">ow well thou contrivest thy way</span>, etc.? <span class="cmt_word">Therefore hast thou also taught</span>, etc. The meaning which floated before our trans-labors seems to be this: "<span class="accented">so</span> utterly immoral is thy course of life, that even the worst of women ['wicked ones' is in the feminine] have been able to learn something from thee" (so the great Dutch scholar, De Dieu,in 1548). But a more natural rendering is, "Therefore [i.e. to gain thine ends] thou hast accustomed thy ways to those evil <span class="accented">things</span>." <span class="accented">Nemo repente fuit tupissimus</span>. It required a deliberate "accustoming," or "training" (such is the literal meaning of <span class="accented">limad</span>), <span class="accented">to</span> produce such a habit (<span class="greek">ἕξις</span>) as is here rebuked. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/commentaries/jeremiah/2-33.htm">Parallel Commentaries ...</a></span><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span><a name="lexicon" id="lexicon"></a><div class="vheading">Hebrew</div><span class="word">How</span><br /><span class="heb">מַה־</span> <span class="translit">(mah-)</span><br /><span class="parse">Interrogative<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_4100.htm">Strong's 4100: </a> </span><span class="str2">What?, what!, indefinitely what</span><br /><br /><span class="word">skillfully</span><br /><span class="heb">תֵּיטִ֥בִי</span> <span class="translit">(tê·ṭi·ḇî)</span><br /><span class="parse">Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person feminine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_3190.htm">Strong's 3190: </a> </span><span class="str2">To be good, well, glad, or pleasing</span><br /><br /><span class="word">you pursue</span><br /><span class="heb">לְבַקֵּ֣שׁ</span> <span class="translit">(lə·ḇaq·qêš)</span><br /><span class="parse">Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_1245.htm">Strong's 1245: </a> </span><span class="str2">To search out, to strive after</span><br /><br /><span class="word">love;</span><br /><span class="heb">אַהֲבָ֑ה</span> <span class="translit">(’a·hă·ḇāh)</span><br /><span class="parse">Noun - feminine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_160.htm">Strong's 160: </a> </span><span class="str2">Love (noun)</span><br /><br /><span class="word">even</span><br /><span class="heb">גַּ֣ם</span> <span class="translit">(gam)</span><br /><span class="parse">Conjunction<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_1571.htm">Strong's 1571: </a> </span><span class="str2">Assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, and</span><br /><br /><span class="word">the most immoral of women</span><br /><span class="heb">הָרָע֔וֹת</span> <span class="translit">(hā·rā·‘ō·wṯ)</span><br /><span class="parse">Article | Noun - feminine plural<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_7451.htm">Strong's 7451: </a> </span><span class="str2">Bad, evil</span><br /><br /><span class="word">could learn</span><br /><span class="heb">לִמַּ֖דְתְּ</span> <span class="translit">(lim·maḏt)</span><br /><span class="parse">Verb - Piel - Perfect - second person feminine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_3925.htm">Strong's 3925: </a> </span><span class="str2">To exercise in, learn</span><br /><br /><span class="word">from your ways.</span><br /><span class="heb">דְּרָכָֽיִךְ׃</span> <span class="translit">(də·rā·ḵā·yiḵ)</span><br /><span class="parse">Noun - common plural construct | second person feminine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_1870.htm">Strong's 1870: </a> </span><span class="str2">A road, a course of life, mode of action</span><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading">Links</div><a href="/niv/jeremiah/2-33.htm">Jeremiah 2:33 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/jeremiah/2-33.htm">Jeremiah 2:33 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/jeremiah/2-33.htm">Jeremiah 2:33 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/jeremiah/2-33.htm">Jeremiah 2:33 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/jeremiah/2-33.htm">Jeremiah 2:33 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="//bibleapps.com/jeremiah/2-33.htm">Jeremiah 2:33 BibleApps.com</a><br /><a href="//bibliaparalela.com/jeremiah/2-33.htm">Jeremiah 2:33 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="//holybible.com.cn/jeremiah/2-33.htm">Jeremiah 2:33 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="//saintebible.com/jeremiah/2-33.htm">Jeremiah 2:33 French Bible</a><br /><a href="/catholic/jeremiah/2-33.htm">Jeremiah 2:33 Catholic Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/jeremiah/2-33.htm">OT Prophets: Jeremiah 2:33 How trimmest you your way to seek (Jer.) </a></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="/jeremiah/2-32.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Jeremiah 2:32"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Jeremiah 2:32" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="/jeremiah/2-34.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Jeremiah 2:34"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Jeremiah 2:34" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>