Jeremiah 2:13
for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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The "two evils" aren't just forsaking God and turning to idols; they're actively constructing their own flawed solutions. God is a life-giving, ever-flowing spring, but they're digging out and laboring to build leaky, broken tanks that can't even hold their own meager collection. This highlights not just a lack of faith, but a deliberate, exhausting pursuit of self-made, ultimately empty, satisfaction.
Jeremiah is addressing the people of Judah, who have strayed from their covenant with God. He begins by calling out their two primary sins: abandoning God, the ultimate source of life and sustenance, and seeking satisfaction from empty, unreliable alternatives that cannot truly fulfill them. This sets the stage for God's declaration of judgment against their unfaithfulness.
Why would anyone trade an endless supply of pure, life-giving water for a leaky bucket? Jeremiah uses a powerful image to expose a profound spiritual problem.
Jeremiah calls God the "fountain of living waters." This isn't just any water; it's a spring that never runs dry, a source of constant refreshment and life.
A Source of Life
The people didn't just leave God; they actively tried to create their own solutions. But these 'cisterns' were flawed from the start.
The 'cisterns' represent the things people turn to instead of God – idols, worldly pursuits, self-reliance, or even faulty religious systems.
The Danger of False Hope
Understand the original words
ra'ah · Hebrew Noun
A moral or spiritual failing that contradicts God's law or His character. In Scripture, evil is not just a mistake but an active rebellion against the divine order.
'azab · Hebrew Verb
To abandon, leave behind, or turn away from someone or something. In a covenantal context, it describes the act of apostasy or willful turning away from God to pursue idols.
maqor mayim hayyim · Hebrew Noun phrase
A metaphor for God as the perpetual, self-sustaining source of life, grace, and spiritual refreshment. Unlike a stagnant pool, "living water" refers to flowing, life-giving water.
bor · Hebrew Noun
The imagery of forsaking a life-giving fountain for broken cisterns powerfully illustrates the people's foolish choice to abandon the enduring, life-sustaining presence and provision of God for temporary, unreliable, and ultimately empty human or idolatrous alternatives, a pattern tragically culminating in the destruction of their nation and Temple.
Late 8th century BC
Assyrian Captivity of Northern Kingdom
The Northern Kingdom of Israel (ten tribes) is conquered by Assyria, and many of its people are exiled. This event serves as a stark warning to the Southern Kingdom of Judah about the consequences of turning away from God.
626 BC
Jeremiah Begins Prophesying
Jeremiah is called by God to prophesy to Judah. His ministry occurs during a period of great moral and spiritual decay, and he confronts the people with their unfaithfulness.
c. 612 BC
Fall of Nineveh
The capital of the Assyrian Empire falls to the Babylonians and Medes. This event signals a shift in regional power, with Babylon emerging as the dominant force.
605 BC
First Deportation to Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquers Judah and deports a group of Israelites, including the prophet Daniel, to Babylon. This marks the beginning of Judah's Babylonian exile.
Jesus himself uses the imagery of living water when speaking to the Samaritan woman, directly contrasting it with the 'water' she draws, highlighting the divine, life-giving source that only He provides.
Psalm 36:9This psalm beautifully echoes the 'fountain of living waters' concept, describing God as the source of life and light, reinforcing the idea that true sustenance comes from Him alone.
Isaiah 44:3Here, God promises to pour out His Spirit on His people, described as 'water' and 'streams' upon dry ground, illustrating the life-restoring and abundant nature of His provision, which Israel was forsaking.
Jeremiah 17:13This verse also from Jeremiah labels those who forsake the Lord as 'the hope of Israel' as 'fountains' that dry up, directly paralleling the 'broken cisterns' imagery and the consequence of turning away from God.
clarkeJeremiah 2:13: "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."
Two evils - First, they forsook God, the Fountain of life, light, prosperity, and happiness. Secondly, they hewed out broken cisterns; they joined themselves to idols, from whom they could receive neither temporal nor spiritual good! Their conduct was the excess of folly and blindness. What we call here broken cistern…
pulpitJeremiah 2:13: "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."
Verse 13. - Two evils. Israel has not merely offended, like the heathen, by idolatry, but by deserting the only God who can satisfy the needs of human nature. The fountain of living waters. So Jeremiah 17:13 (comp. Psalm 36:9). Fountain; literally, tank or reservoir. Such reservoirs were "dug in the ground (see on Jer…
The "two evils" aren't just forsaking God and turning to idols; they're actively constructing their own flawed solutions. God is a life-giving, ever-flowing spring, but they're digging out and laboring to build leaky, broken tanks that can't even hold their own meager collection. This highlights not just a lack of faith, but a deliberate, exhausting pursuit of self-made, ultimately empty, satisfaction.
Jeremiah is addressing the people of Judah, who have strayed from their covenant with God. He begins by calling out their two primary sins: abandoning God, the ultimate source of life and sustenance, and seeking satisfaction from empty, unreliable alternatives that cannot truly fulfill them. This sets the stage for God's declaration of judgment against their unfaithfulness.
Jeremiah is addressing the people of Judah, who have strayed from their covenant with God. He begins by calling out their two primary sins: abandoning God, the ultimate source of life and sustenance, and seeking satisfaction from empty, unreliable alternatives that cannot truly fulfill them. This sets the stage for God's declaration of judgment against their unfaithfulness.
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Man-made receptacles intended to store rainwater. Biblically, they represent human attempts to create their own security, satisfaction, or salvation apart from God, which ultimately prove ineffective.
597 BC
Second Deportation to Babylon
Babylon deports another significant group of Judeans, including the prophet Ezekiel, to Babylon. King Jehoiachin is deposed and taken captive.
586 BC
Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple
Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and its magnificent Temple, the center of Israel's worship. The remaining population is largely exiled to Babylon, fulfilling Jeremiah's prophecies.
c. 586 BC— this verse
Jeremiah's Rebuke of Broken Cisterns
During the final years of Judah, or in the immediate aftermath of its destruction, Jeremiah passionately condemns the people's spiritual adultery. He likens their turning away from God to forsaking a life-giving fountain for leaky, broken cisterns.
"for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water." — The "two evils" aren't just forsaking God and turning to idols; they're actively constructing their own flawed solutions. God is a life-giving, ever-flowing spring, but they're digging out and labo…
