“‘Long ago you broke your yoke.
You burst your bonds.
You said.
‘I will not serve.’
On every high hill,
Under every green tree,
You sprawled.
You played the whore.
Yet I planted you
As a choice vine.
You were from the purest stock.
How then did you turn degenerate?
How did you become a wild vine?
Though you wash yourself with lye,
Even if you use much soap,
The stain of your guilt is still before me.’
Says Yahweh God.”
Jeremiah has another oracle of Yahweh about the unfaithfulness of Israel. It is just not recently. Long ago, they threw off the yoke of Yahweh and burst out of their bonds, since they said that they would not serve. They ran to every high mountain and under the green oak trees to worship false gods. They lay there sprawling and playing the whore or prostitute. Yahweh had planted them as a vineyard from the purest stock. However, they had become degenerate and a wild vine. No amount of lye or soap could cleanse them from this stain of guilt. What was he to do with these unfaithful Israelites?
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 