The Meaning of Jeremiah 2:30 Explained

Jeremiah 2:30

KJV: In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

YLT: In vain I have smitten your sons, Instruction they have not accepted, Devoured hath your sword your prophets, As a destroying lion.

Darby: In vain have I smitten your children: they received no correction. Your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

ASV: In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

In vain  have I smitten  your children;  they received  no correction:  your own sword  hath devoured  your prophets,  like a destroying  lion. 

What does Jeremiah 2:30 Mean?

Verse Meaning

But the Lord"s discipline had not produced repentance (cf. Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34; Acts 7:52). Even the younger generation refused to learn from their chastening. If this oracle dates from the time of Josiah, as seems probable, the younger generation-of which Jeremiah was a part-would have seen the fruit of King Manasseh"s apostasy, and should have turned from it.
"In the secular realm when a great king visited an erring vassal with some kind of punishment the vassal would come to heel, at least in the normal case. But in the case of Israel the divine visitation in some form of judgment was in vain. The people would not accept correction. Rather, they turned on Yahweh"s representatives and spokesmen, the prophets, and destroyed them [1]." [2]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 2

1  God having shown his former kindness,
5  expostulates with the people on their causeless and unexampled revolt
14  They are the causes of their own calamities
18  The sins and idolatries of Judah
35  Her confidence is rejected

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 2:30 mean?

In vain I have chastened - your children correction No they received has devoured Your sword your prophets Like a lion destroying
לַשָּׁוְא֙ הִכֵּ֣יתִי אֶת־ בְּנֵיכֶ֔ם מוּסָ֖ר לֹ֣א לָקָ֑חוּ אָכְלָ֧ה חַרְבְּכֶ֛ם נְבִֽיאֵיכֶ֖ם כְּאַרְיֵ֥ה מַשְׁחִֽית

לַשָּׁוְא֙  In  vain 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שָׁוְא  
Sense: emptiness, vanity, falsehood.
הִכֵּ֣יתִי  I  have  chastened 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: נָכָה  
Sense: to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
בְּנֵיכֶ֔ם  your  children 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
מוּסָ֖ר  correction 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מוּסָר  
Sense: discipline, chastening, correction.
לֹ֣א  No 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
לָקָ֑חוּ  they  received 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.
אָכְלָ֧ה  has  devoured 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.
חַרְבְּכֶ֛ם  Your  sword 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, second person masculine plural
Root: חֶרֶב  
Sense: sword, knife.
נְבִֽיאֵיכֶ֖ם  your  prophets 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: נָבִיא  
Sense: spokesman, speaker, prophet.
כְּאַרְיֵ֥ה  Like  a  lion 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֲרִי 
Sense: lion.
מַשְׁחִֽית  destroying 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Participle, masculine singular
Root: שָׁחַת  
Sense: to destroy, corrupt, go to ruin, decay.