Limitless Word
Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
Jeremiah 2:32 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number.
  • KJV Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
  • NKJV Can a virgin forget her ornaments, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.
  • NASB “Can a virgin forget her jewelry, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me For days without number.
  • NLT Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? Yet for years on end my people have forgotten me.

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

A bride never forgets her finery, yet Israel forgot God for ages. Their forgetfulness is unnatural and shocking.

Overview

Yahweh observes that a young woman would not forget her jewelry nor a bride her wedding dress, yet His people have forgotten Him beyond counting. The comparison exposes the abnormality of neglecting the God who is infinitely more precious. Forgetting God is portrayed as a deep perversion of the heart's proper affections.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 19

  • Ps 106:21They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt,
  • Jer 13:25This is your lot, the portion I have measured to you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.
  • Jer 3:21A voice is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, because they have perverted their ways and forgotten the LORD their God.
  • Jer 2:11Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
  • Isa 17:10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—
  • Isa 61:10I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
  • Hos 8:14Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has multiplied its fortified cities. But I will send fire upon their cities, and it will consume their citadels.
  • Ps 9:17The wicked will return to Sheol—all the nations who forget God.
  • Jer 18:15Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.
  • Jer 13:10These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this loincloth—of no use at all.
  • Gen 24:22And after the camels had finished drinking, he took out a gold ring weighing a beka, and two gold bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels.
  • Rev 21:2I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
  • 1 Pet 3:3–5Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes,
  • Ezek 22:12In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.
  • Gen 24:53Then he brought out jewels of silver and gold, and articles of clothing, and he gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother.
  • 2 Sam 1:24O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and luxury, who decked your garments with ornaments of gold.
  • Gen 24:30As soon as he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and heard Rebekah’s words, “The man said this to me,” he went and found the man standing by the camels near the spring.
  • Ezek 16:10–13I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.
  • Ps 45:13–14All glorious is the princess in her chamber; her gown is embroidered with gold.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Jeremiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Jeremiah 2:32YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JeremiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 2:32 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.