For of old time, &c.— I indeed long since have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bonds; but thou saidst, I will not serve: upon every high hill, and under every green tree, I will lay myself down, and play the harlot. Houbigant. From this translation, which seems very just and unexceptionable, the meaning of the passage is extremely clear; that the Jews had been guilty of the utmost ingratitude in breaking the divine law and covenant, against idolatry in particular, even after they had been freed by God from their Egyptian bondage, and admitted into an immediate covenant and alliance with him. There is a variety of metaphors and references in this and the subsequent prophets, similar to those which have occurred in the book of Isaiah, and which, being explained there, will be no farther taken notice of in the subsequent observations.
Related Commentaries of Jeremiah 2:20
Jeremiah 2:20
20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress;e when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.