[2] The original text of this chapter, as with the rest of the Book of Jeremiah, was written in the Hebrew language.

[3] There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE.

Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B;

This chapter belongs to a section comprising Jeremiah 2:1–25:38 about the 'Divine Judgment' on Judah and Jerusalem.

[2] The poem in 2:1–3:5 shows the evidence of a broken covenant against Israel, addresses alternately between the two personae of Judah (or Jerusalem) as a female wife (using Hebrew feminine singular grammatical forms in 2:2; 2:17–25; 2:33–3:5) and the "male Israel" (using masculine singular and plural forms in 2:3; 2:4–16; 2:26–32).

[13] The futility of relying on Egypt and Assyria was stated by other prophets (cf.

[15] This points to the early period of Jeremiah's ministry, when the two nations held the "balance of power in the Middle East"; this ends when Assyria collapsed in 612 BCE.