Jeremiah 2:13 Meaning and Explanation
“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.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Israel has committed a twofold evil: abandoning the living God, the source of life itself, and constructing worthless substitutes that cannot sustain them.
The Context of Jeremiah 2:13
Water is precious in the desert east of the Jordan; wells and cisterns were essential survival infrastructure. The metaphor would strike Israel with immediate force.
What Does Jeremiah 2:13 Mean?
This verse distills the whole indictment into one unforgettable image. The 'fountain of living waters' is not metaphor but the heart of the matter: God is the source of life, the spring that never runs dry, the waters that quench thirst forever. To forsake him is to turn away from the source itself. But Israel has not stopped at apostasy; it has actively 'hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.' They have labored to create false sources of life, and in doing so have created only broken vessels, defective from their inception, unable to hold what they were meant to hold.
The image is almost too stark in its truth: faithless people working hard at their faithlessness, expending energy to build systems of false salvation that inevitably fail. The cisterns are broken before they are ever filled. This is the consequence of covenant-breaking: not merely punishment imposed from outside but the internal logic of falsity, the idols cannot deliver what they promise. One runs to them in thirst only to find drought.
Jeremiah 2:13 in the Original Language
bor (בור), 'cistern' -- literally a pit hewn from rock, meant to collect and store rainwater; a broken cistern cannot retain water and becomes useless
How to Apply Jeremiah 2:13 Today
We, too, fashion broken cisterns: careers built on hollow ambition, relationships kept alive by manipulation, security sought in wealth or status. Each requires constant refilling with anxiety. The fountain of living waters, access to God's presence through Christ, is free, inexhaustible, and the only source that satisfies.
Frequently Asked Questions About Jeremiah 2:13
What does Jeremiah 2:13 mean?
Israel has committed a twofold evil: abandoning the living God, the source of life itself, and constructing worthless substitutes that cannot sustain them.
What is the context of Jeremiah 2:13?
Water is precious in the desert east of the Jordan; wells and cisterns were essential survival infrastructure. The metaphor would strike Israel with immediate force.
How can I apply Jeremiah 2:13 today?
We, too, fashion broken cisterns: careers built on hollow ambition, relationships kept alive by manipulation, security sought in wealth or status. Each requires constant refilling with anxiety. The fountain of living waters, access to God's presence through Christ, is free, inexhaustible, and the only source that satisfies.