Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and take a look; send to Kedar and consider carefully; see if there has ever been anything like this:
Parallel translations
- WEB For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and see; and send to Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there has been such a thing.
- KJV For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
- NKJV For pass beyond the coasts of Cyprus and see, Send to Kedar and consider diligently, And see if there has been such a thing.
- NASB “For cross to the coastlands of Kittim and see, And send to Kedar and observe closely, And see if there has been anything like this!
- NLT “Go west and look in the land of Cyprus; go east and search through the land of Kedar. Has anyone ever heard of anything as strange as this?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God invites them to look anywhere and see if any nation acted so absurdly. Israel's sin is uniquely unnatural.
Overview
Yahweh tells them to look west to Cyprus (Kittim) or east to Kedar and see if such a thing has ever happened. The challenge highlights how unprecedented and irrational Israel's apostasy is. Even pagan nations show more loyalty to their gods than Israel showed to the living God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 120:5Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!
- Jer 18:13–14Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.
- Isa 21:16For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone.
- Judg 19:30And everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has been seen or done from the day the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt until this day. Think it over, take counsel, and speak up!”
- Gen 10:4–5And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites.
- 1 Chr 1:7And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites.
- Ezek 27:6Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, inlaid with ivory.
- Gen 25:13These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
- Dan 11:30Ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and rage against the holy covenant and do damage. So he will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.
- Num 24:24Ships will come from the coasts of Cyprus; they will subdue Asshur and Eber, but they too will perish forever.”
- 1 Chr 23:12The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all.
- 1 Cor 5:1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
- 1 Chr 23:1When David was old and full of years, he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 2:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.