Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, commanded by the Lord to stand at the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim the word of the Lord.
The Temple Sermon: Do Not Trust in Deceptive Words
The Lord rejects Judah's false temple security because worship without obedience, justice, truth, and exclusive loyalty turns sacred space into a hiding place for rebellion.
Reading a chapter
What this page is: Each chapter page shows the big idea, the argument flow, key original-language terms, doctrine connections, and passage units, all in one place.
How to use it: Start with the Overview tab to get the chapter's main point. Then move to Passages to study individual units, or Language to trace key terms.
Going deeper: The Doctrines and Motifs tabs show how this chapter connects to the broader biblical story.
The Lord rejects Judah's false temple security because worship without obedience, justice, truth, and exclusive loyalty turns sacred space into a hiding place for rebellion.
Jeremiah 7 argues that religious institutions, temple access, sacrifices, and slogans cannot protect people who reject the Lord's word, oppress the vulnerable, practice idolatry, and refuse obedient covenant relationship.
All Judah coming through the gates to worship the Lord, especially those trusting in the temple while refusing covenant obedience.
Jeremiah 7 begins the famous temple sermon. After the opening indictment cycle of Jeremiah 2-6, the Lord sends Jeremiah to the temple gate to confront Judah's false confidence in sacred space, sacrificial worship, and religious identity.
The Lord rejects Judah's false temple security because worship without obedience, justice, truth, and exclusive loyalty turns sacred space into a hiding place for rebellion.
Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, commanded by the Lord to stand at the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim the word of the Lord.
All Judah coming through the gates to worship the Lord, especially those trusting in the temple while refusing covenant obedience.
Jeremiah 7 begins the famous temple sermon. After the opening indictment cycle of Jeremiah 2-6, the Lord sends Jeremiah to the temple gate to confront Judah's false confidence in sacred space, sacrificial worship, and religious identity.
- Judah is clinging to temple security, religious slogans, sacrificial rituals, and the assumption that the Lord's house guarantees protection. At the same time, the people practice injustice, oppression, theft, murder, adultery, false oaths, Baal worship, and idolatry.
The chapter assumes temple worship, sacrificial practice, covenant law, the memory of Shiloh's destruction, high-place idolatry, child sacrifice in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, and funeral-lament customs that will be overturned by coming judgment.
Jeremiah 7 is a decisive covenant lawsuit against false temple confidence. It shows that sacred institutions cannot protect a people who reject the Lord's word. The chapter anticipates Jerusalem's destruction, temple judgment, and the need for a deeper covenant obedience later answered in Jeremiah's new covenant promises.
The chapter moves from Jeremiah's temple-gate proclamation, to the exposure of deceptive temple slogans, to the demand for amended ways and justice, to the warning from Shiloh, to the Lord's refusal to receive intercession, to the exposure of household-wide idolatry, to the rejection of sacrifice without obedience, and finally to the judgment of Topheth and the end of joy in Judah.
Theological exposition and fulfillment
Jeremiah 7 clarifies the gospel by exposing false refuge in religion. The people stand in the temple but remain guilty. They offer sacrifices but refuse obedience. They claim safety but continue in injustice and idolatry. The gospel does not affirm such false security. It announces Christ, the true temple, obedient Son, acceptable sacrifice, and final intercessor.
Through his cross and resurrection, sinners are not hidden in a den of robbers but cleansed, forgiven, brought near to God, and formed into a people who worship in Spirit and truth.
Jeremiah is sent to confront worshipers who trust temple slogans while refusing reform.
The Lord defines amended ways through justice, protection of the vulnerable, rejection of violence, and exclusive worship.
The people use the temple as religious cover for theft, murder, adultery, false oaths, and idolatry.
The Lord warns that Jerusalem's temple can fall just as Shiloh did.
The people's hardened rebellion has reached a point where Jeremiah is not to plead for them.
Whole households participate in idolatrous worship, provoking the Lord's poured-out wrath.
Sacrifices cannot substitute for obedient hearing and covenant loyalty.
Jeremiah must speak to a people who will not listen; truth has disappeared from their lips.
Judah must mourn because the Lord has rejected the generation under his wrath.
Idolatry in temple and valley leads to corpse-filled judgment and the silencing of joy.
- 7:1-2: Jeremiah must confront worshipers at the very place where they feel most secure.
- 7:3-4: The people must amend their ways and stop trusting the slogan of temple security.
- 7:5-7: True repentance requires justice, protection of the vulnerable, rejection of innocent bloodshed, and refusal of other gods.
- 7:8-11: The people commit covenant sins, stand in the Lord's house, and claim safety without repentance.
- 7:12-15: Shiloh proves that sacred location will not protect a rebellious people.
- 7:16: Judgment is so certain that Jeremiah is told not to plead for this people.
- 7:17-20: Families together provoke the Lord by worshiping the Queen of Heaven and other gods.
- 7:21-26: The Lord reminds Judah that covenant life centers on obedient hearing: 'Obey me, and I will be your God.'
- 7:27-28: Jeremiah must speak to resistant hearers because truth has perished from their lips.
- 7:29: Judah must lament because the Lord has rejected the generation under his wrath.
- 7:30-34: The people's detestable idolatry and child sacrifice bring catastrophic judgment and the end of gladness in Judah.
Pastoral Entry
בַּיִת is one of the most mobile nouns in the Hebrew Bible. Its basic referent is a physical structure — the house where people dwell, sleep, gather, eat, and shelter. But the word never stays merely architectural for long. Almost from its first appearance the word bends toward the people inside the building, the generations they produce, the obligations they carry, and the God who dwells among them. No single English word can hold all of this: house, home, household, family, lineage, dynasty, palace, and temple all translate בַּיִת at different points, depending on what kind of belonging and what kind of space the text is naming.
At its most personal, בַּיִת names the household — the living unit of belonging that includes blood relatives, servants, resident foreigners, and dependents. When God commands Noah to enter the ark, He calls his household with him. When Joshua makes his famous declaration, he speaks not only for himself but for his house. The word carries the weight of covenant solidarity: to belong to a house is to share its fate, its identity, its obligations before God.
At its most dynastic, בַּיִת names a royal line or tribal succession. The house of David is not merely David's residence; it is a covenant promise, a lineage through which God pledges to work. The nations encounter Israel as the house of Jacob, the house of Israel, the house of Judah — household names that signal covenantal history and divine purpose, not mere geography.
At its most sacred, בַּיִת becomes the temple — the house of the Lord (בֵּית יְהוָה), the dwelling-place of God's name and presence among Israel. Here the word reaches its highest theological register: the question of where God lives, and whether His people may dwell with Him.
The pastoral richness of בַּיִת lies in this layered movement from shelter to family to dynasty to sanctuary. Scripture does not treat these as separate meanings that happen to share a word. They are concentric expansions of a single theological instinct: God is a God who builds households, holds lineages accountable, promises futures, and ultimately desires to dwell in the midst of His people.
Sense house of the LORD, temple
Definition The temple as the place associated with the LORD's name and worship.
References Jeremiah 7:2, 7:10-11, 7:14, 7:30
Lexicon house of the LORD, temple
Why it matters The people trust the temple while refusing obedience, making sacred space the center of false security.
Cross-language bridge 4 links · View in lexicon
Pastoral Entry
יָטַב (yatav) is the Hebrew verb for being good, doing good, and going well — and in its Deuteronomic form it is the covenantal promise and obligation that structures the whole of Israel's life in the land. 'Keep his statutes, that it may go well (yitav) with you' is the great covenant summary: right relationship with YHWH produces the good of yatav in every domain of life. The local Hebrew artifact indexes this verb at about 112 OT occurrences.
Deuteronomy 6:18 gives yatav its core covenant-good use: 'And you shall do what is right and good (hatov vehayashar) in the sight of YHWH, that it may go well (yitav) with you and that you may go in and take possession of the good land.' The yatav flows from covenant faithfulness: do what is good and right in YHWH's sight, and it will go well with you. The yatav is not the achievement of circumstances but the consequence of covenant orientation.
Deuteronomy 4:40 gives yatav its generational form: 'Keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well (yitav) with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that YHWH your God is giving you for all time.' The yatav of covenant faithfulness extends across generations: the child who inherits a parent who feared YHWH inherits the yatav-consequence of that faithfulness. The covenant blessing is not exhausted in one generation.
Genesis 4:7 gives yatav its moral-threshold form: 'If you do well (hetev), will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.' YHWH's word to Cain before the murder of Abel is the earliest use of yatav's moral-threshold meaning: the one who does well (yatav in the Hiphil, hetev) is accepted; the one who does not, faces the crouching power of sin. The yatav is the covenant-good that deflects the alternative.
Psalm 119:68 gives yatav its divine-character use: 'You are good (tov) and do good (meitiv); teach me your statutes.' YHWH himself is the supreme yatav — he is good by nature, and his doing-good (meitiv, Hiphil of yatav) flows from what he is. The psalmist's request to be taught YHWH's statutes rests on YHWH's own goodness: you who are good and do good — teach me to be like you.
Deuteronomy 8:16 gives yatav its providential-suffering form: 'He who fed you in the wilderness with manna... that he might humble you and test you, to do you good (leheitiv lakh) in the end.' YHWH's purpose in the wilderness testing was yatav: the humbling and testing were not ends in themselves but means to the ultimate yatav — doing good to Israel in the end. The suffering that precedes the yatav is not evidence of YHWH's unfaithfulness but of his deeper faithfulness.
For the preacher, יָטַב (yatav) gives the congregation the covenant logic of the good life: what goes well is the consequence of what is done well in YHWH's sight. And YHWH himself is the supreme yatav-one: tov umeitiv, good and doing good.
Form in passage Hiphil · Sequential imperfect · 2nd Person · Masculine · Plural What is this?
Sense to do good, make good, amend
Definition To make good, improve, or act rightly.
References Jeremiah 7:3, 7:5
Lexicon to do good, make good, amend
Why it matters The Lord calls Judah to amend their ways and actions, showing repentance must become concrete.
Pastoral Entry
דֶּרֶךְ begins with ground underfoot — a road worn into the earth by repeated passage, a path shaped by the feet of those who have walked it before. But the Old Testament rarely lets the word stay merely physical. Almost from the beginning, דֶּרֶךְ describes something more searching: the course a human life is taking, the direction in which a person, a nation, or even God himself is moving. It is one of the most frequently used nouns in the Hebrew Bible for good reason — few categories cut closer to what Scripture wants to say about human existence before God.
As a word for human life and conduct, דֶּרֶךְ carries moral weight without being merely moralistic. When wisdom literature speaks of the way of the righteous or the way of the wicked, it is not simply cataloguing behaviors. It is describing the direction in which a life is oriented, the trajectory on which a person's habits, affections, choices, and loyalties have set them. A way, once established, goes somewhere. That is the pastoral gravity of the word: every human life is on a path headed toward a destination. The question Torah and Wisdom press is always which way.
DEREK also carries a divine dimension that must not be missed. Scripture speaks of the ways of God — not merely his commands but the character and pattern of his own action, the coherence and faithfulness with which he moves through history, the manner in which he redeems, disciplines, provides, and leads. God's ways are consistently declared to be higher, holier, and more reliable than human ways. To learn the ways of God is not to master a technique but to submit to a Lord whose paths are always just and always good.
Pastorally, דֶּרֶךְ holds together what we are prone to separate: outward conduct and inward direction, single decisions and life patterns, individual discipleship and communal formation. The person who walks in the way of wisdom is not merely doing correct things — their whole life is moving in a direction shaped by the fear of the Lord. And the Lord himself, as Hosea 14:9 declares, walks in ways that are right, along which the righteous walk but in which the rebellious stumble. The word therefore is not neutral. Every way reveals something about who is being trusted, what is being loved, and where life is ultimately being headed.
Sense ways, paths, conduct
Definition A path or manner of life; conduct.
References Jeremiah 7:3, 7:5
Lexicon ways, paths, conduct
Why it matters Judah must reform not merely words but ways and actions.
Sense deeds, practices, actions
Definition Acts, practices, or conduct.
References Jeremiah 7:3, 7:5
Lexicon deeds, practices, actions
Why it matters The Lord demands reform in actual behavior, not only religious speech.
Sense lying words, deceptive words
Definition Words that mislead, deceive, or provide false assurance.
References Jeremiah 7:4, 7:8
Lexicon lying words, deceptive words
Why it matters The temple slogan becomes deceptive because it promises safety apart from repentance.
Pastoral Entry
הֵיכַל (hekhal) is the Hebrew word for the great house — the palace of a king or the temple of God. It covers both the earthly palace of human rulers and the temple of YHWH in Jerusalem, and by extension the heavenly dwelling of YHWH himself. Appearing 80 times in the indexed biblical text, hekhal is the spatial vocabulary of divine presence: the place where YHWH dwells, where he is worshipped, where his glory is encountered, and where his decrees go forth. The hekhal of YHWH is not merely a religious building but the earthly footprint of heaven's throne room.
Psalm 29:9 gives hekhal its most doxological context: the sevenfold qol YHWH — the voice of YHWH that breaks cedars, shakes the wilderness, makes the deer give birth — ends in a simple declaration: 'in his hekhal all cry, Glory (kavod)!' The cosmic storm-qol of YHWH produces the congregational response. The hekhal is the place where the power of the divine qol is registered and answered with worship. The hekhal is not sealed from the storm outside; it is the place where the storm's power is translated into praise.
Isaiah 6:1 is the OT's most famous hekhal encounter: 'In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the hem of his robe filled the hekhal.' The hekhal here is simultaneously the Jerusalem temple and the heavenly throne room — Isaiah's vision collapses the earthly and heavenly into a single encounter. The seraphim cry Holy, holy, holy (v. 3), the thresholds shake (v. 4), and the hekhal fills with smoke. The hekhal is the meeting point of heaven and earth, and the encounter within it transforms the one who enters: Isaiah is undone, cleansed, and commissioned.
Psalm 11:4 gives hekhal its theological anchor point: 'YHWH is in his holy hekhal; YHWH's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.' The heavenly hekhal is the source of YHWH's sovereign gaze — his eyes see from his hekhal. The earthly hekhal is the address at which YHWH can be found (1 Sam 1:9, Hannah before the hekhal) because it participates in and points to the heavenly one. The hekhal is not where God is confined; it is where he has chosen to be accessible.
First Samuel 3:3 gives hekhal one of its most tender narrative uses: 'the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the hekhal of YHWH where the ark of God was.' The boy Samuel sleeping in the hekhal — the lamp still burning, the ark present — is the setting for the divine call that inaugurates prophetic ministry. The hekhal is the place of calling, of divine initiation, of the voice that comes in the night to those who are sleeping in God's presence.
For the preacher, הֵיכַל (hekhal) asks: where does God make himself accessible, and how do we enter that presence?
Form in passage Masculine · Singular · Construct What is this?
Sense temple, palace, sanctuary
Definition A palace or temple, here the sanctuary of the LORD.
References Jeremiah 7:4
Lexicon temple, palace, sanctuary
Why it matters The repeated slogan 'the temple of the Lord' exposes false confidence in sacred architecture.
Pastoral Entry
מִשְׁפָּט is one of the great load-bearing words of the Old Testament, with the local OT index currently counting about 424 uses and carrying a range of meaning that English forces us to spread across several words: justice, judgment, ordinance, legal right, custom, due order. The breadth is not imprecision — it reflects the Hebrew imagination that saw these as related aspects of ordered covenant life.
At its judicial core, מִשְׁפָּט names the act of rendering a verdict — the formal determination of what is right in a contested situation, pronounced by someone with authority to settle it. It can cover the arc of a legal matter: the case brought, the hearing held, the sentence declared, and the penalty carried out. In Israel's public life, מִשְׁפָּט named the work of judges at the gate, the decisions of kings in their courts, and the ordinances by which the community ordered itself.
But מִשְׁפָּט is more than procedural correctness. The prophets reveal that it names God's own character expressed in the ordering of human society. When justice flows down like water, it is not merely a reform agenda — it is the shape of God's rule made visible in the world. The word carries weight on both sides: it protects those who are wronged, giving them what is their due, and it confronts those who bend the process in favor of power. In this sense מִשְׁפָּט is covenant justice — the justice that belongs to a God who is neither partial nor purchasable.
Pastorally, the word resists reduction. It cannot be domesticated into private virtue alone or inflated into a vague social cause. מִשְׁפָּט is concrete and relational: a widow receiving what is owed her, an orphan's case heard fairly, a poor man's dignity defended at the gate, a people whose king governs in the fear of God. And because God himself is described as a lover of מִשְׁפָּט, the word finally names not merely an obligation but a delight — justice that springs from who God is and that he calls his people to embody.
Sense justice, judgment, right order
Definition Justice or right judgment according to God's standards.
References Jeremiah 7:5
Lexicon justice, judgment, right order
Why it matters True reform requires justice between people.
Form in passage Qal · Imperfect · 2nd Person · Masculine · Plural What is this?
Sense to oppress, exploit, defraud
Definition To exploit, oppress, or wrong another.
References Jeremiah 7:6
Lexicon to oppress, exploit, defraud
Why it matters Oppression of the vulnerable is incompatible with true temple worship.
Pastoral Entry
גֵּר (ger) is the Hebrew word for the sojourner or resident alien — the person who lives among YHWH's covenant people but is not ethnically Israelite. The local Hebrew artifact indexes this word at about 92 OT occurrences. The ger is the subject of more Torah legislation than any other vulnerable category, and one recurring motivating reason for that legislation is the same: 'you were gerim in Egypt.' Israel's social ethics toward the sojourner is grounded in covenant memory — the experience of vulnerability as aliens is to be transformed into solidarity with the vulnerable alien.
Leviticus 19:34 gives ger its most comprehensive command: 'The ger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were gerim in the land of Egypt: I am YHWH your God.' The two-clause structure is definitive: the command to love the ger as yourself (the neighbor-love of Lev 19:18 extended beyond ethnic Israel to the resident alien) is grounded in the Exodus-memory and sealed with the divine identity statement ('I am YHWH'). The ger-love is not optional; it is covenant obligation grounded in Exodus theology.
Deuteronomy 10:18-19 gives ger its YHWH-advocacy use: 'He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the ger, giving him food and clothing. Love the ger, therefore, for you were gerim in Egypt.' YHWH himself is described as one who loves the ger — the covenant people's treatment of the sojourner is a participation in or a contradiction of YHWH's own character. The ger who is loved by YHWH and neglected by Israel exposes the covenant community's failure to imitate the God they worship.
Genesis 15:13 gives ger its covenantal-identity use: YHWH tells Abram that his offspring will be gerim in a land not theirs for four hundred years, oppressed and enslaved. The entire nation of Israel is born as a gerim-community — sojourners first in Canaan (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), then enslaved aliens in Egypt. This identity-as-ger is the theological foundation for every Torah command about the sojourner: 'you know the soul of the ger, for you were gerim in Egypt' (Exod 23:9). Israel's ger-empathy is experiential, not merely commanded.
Psalm 146:9 gives ger its doxological use: 'YHWH watches over the sojourners (gerim); he upholds the fatherless and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.' YHWH's care for the ger is part of his praiseworthy character — the God who made heaven and earth (v. 6) is the God who watches over the ger (v. 9). The praise of YHWH is inseparable from the acknowledgment of his care for the vulnerable alien.
For the preacher, גֵּר (ger) gives the theological grounding for the church's care of the migrant, the refugee, and the socially marginalized: the covenant people who were once gerim are to love the ger with the same love YHWH showed them in Egypt and beyond. The NT church as 'strangers and exiles' (1 Pet 1:1, 2:11) inherits the ger-identity: the covenant community is itself a community of sojourners before the living God.
Form in passage Masculine · Singular · Absolute What is this?
Sense resident foreigner, sojourner
Definition A non-native resident living among Israel, often socially vulnerable.
References Jeremiah 7:6
Lexicon resident foreigner, sojourner
Why it matters The treatment of the foreigner reveals whether Judah reflects the Lord's justice.
Form in passage Masculine · Singular · Absolute What is this?
Sense orphan, fatherless
Definition A fatherless child, representing vulnerability.
References Jeremiah 7:6
Lexicon orphan, fatherless
Why it matters The fatherless are named as those Judah must not oppress.
Sense widow
Definition A woman whose husband has died, often economically and socially vulnerable.
References Jeremiah 7:6
Lexicon widow
Why it matters The widow is a covenant test of justice and mercy.
Sense innocent blood
Definition Bloodshed of those not deserving death.
References Jeremiah 7:6
Lexicon innocent blood
Why it matters Shedding innocent blood defiles the land and exposes covenant rebellion.
Sense Baal, lord, Canaanite deity
Definition A title meaning lord or master, often referring to the Canaanite fertility deity.
References Jeremiah 7:9
Lexicon Baal, lord, Canaanite deity
Why it matters Burning incense to Baal reveals Judah's syncretistic idolatry.
Cross-language bridge 2 links · View in lexicon
Pastoral Entry
נָצַל is the verb of urgent rescue — the act of snatching someone from a grip that holds them. Where גָּאַל (H1350) describes redemption through the obligation of kinship, נָצַל describes the physical force of the rescue act itself: to deliver, to pull free, to snatch away from danger. BDB's primary definition is 'to snatch away, deliver, rescue' — the image is of something pulled out of the hand of an enemy, stripped away from a power that had hold of it.
The verb appears more than 200 times in the OT and spans a remarkable range from the most immediate physical danger (the lion that tears the sheep, the enemy who captures the prisoner) to the broadest theological claim (God who delivers his people from every hand that holds them). The word's directness distinguishes it from the covenantal vocabulary of גָּאַל.
נָצַל is not the vocabulary of prior obligation or kinship right — it is the vocabulary of the decisive intervention itself, the moment when the delivering God moves between his people and what threatens them. The Psalms are saturated with נָצַל. 'Deliver me from my enemies, O my God' (Ps 59:1). 'He delivers the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him who has no helper' (Ps 72:12).
'You who love the Lord, hate evil. He preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked' (Ps 97:10). The word carries an urgency the covenantal redemption terms do not: this is the person in the lion's mouth, the prisoner in the enemy's hand, the drowning man — and נָצַל is the word for the grip being broken. In the prophets, נָצַל describes both God's past deliverance of Israel from Egypt and his promised future deliverance from exile.
In the NT, σῴζω (to save) and ῥύομαι (to rescue/deliver) carry the weight of נָצַל in the salvation vocabulary — the urgent rescue of those who cannot rescue themselves.
Form in passage Niphal · Perfect · 1st Person · Common · Plural What is this?
Sense to be delivered, rescued, spared
Definition To be delivered or rescued from danger.
References Jeremiah 7:10
Lexicon to be delivered, rescued, spared
Why it matters The people claim safety while continuing sin, exposing false assurance.
Sense cave, den, hideout
Definition A cave or hiding place.
References Jeremiah 7:11
Lexicon cave, den, hideout
Why it matters The temple has become a hideout for rebels instead of a place of obedient worship.
Form in passage Masculine · Plural · Absolute What is this?
Sense violent men, robbers, lawless attackers
Definition Violent persons, robbers, or lawless men.
References Jeremiah 7:11
Lexicon violent men, robbers, lawless attackers
Why it matters The den-of-robbers image condemns worship that hides violence and rebellion.
Sense Shiloh, early sanctuary site
Definition A central Israelite sanctuary site before Jerusalem's temple.
References Jeremiah 7:12, 7:14
Lexicon Shiloh, early sanctuary site
Why it matters Shiloh proves that sacred places can be judged when the Lord's people rebel.
Pastoral Entry
פָּלַל is the word the Hebrew Bible uses when a person or a people addresses God directly in sustained, personal, earnest prayer. In its Hithpael form — which accounts for the overwhelming majority of its 84 occurrences — the verb carries a reflexive force: to place oneself before God, to prostrate oneself in appeal. The BDB traces the root sense to 'intervene' and 'judge,' suggesting that פָּלַל originally referred to an act of mediation or assessment, and that the verb's development into the primary word for prayer reflects an understanding of prayer itself as a kind of mediated standing before God — the person who prays is the one who dares to come before the Judge and speak.
This etymology is pastorally significant without being pastorally controlling. What it tells us is that prayer in the OT is not casual conversation. It is a deliberate coming before One who is greater, a positioning of the self in the posture of the creature addressing the Creator and Lord. When Hannah 'prayed (hithpael) to the Lord and wept bitterly' (1 Sam. 1:10), the verb names not simply a quiet interior moment but a decisive turning of the whole self toward God in her extremity. When Solomon stands before the altar of the Lord at the temple dedication and spreads out his hands toward heaven (1 Kgs. 8:22), the חָּלַל that follows names the whole of that great royal act of speech before God — the intercession, the petition, the theological argument, the appeal to God's covenant name.
The range of people who are described as פָּלַל in the OT is instructive. Prophets pray: Moses intercedes for Israel at every crisis (Num. 11:2; Num. 21:7). Abraham is named as a prophet whose prayer heals Abimelech (Gen. 20:7). Samuel's ministry is inseparable from his prayer-life (1 Sam. 7:5; 12:19). But commoners pray too: Hannah, barren and grief-stricken, pours out her soul (1 Sam. 1:10, 27). The whole congregation prays in national crisis. Exilic individuals — Nehemiah, Daniel — pray in foreign lands with the same posture that Israel used in the temple. The word belongs to no single class. Any person who turns toward God in earnest appeal may פָּלַל.
What makes פָּלַל pastorally irreplaceable is that it names the act of prayer as something the whole person does before the whole God. It is not a technique or a formula. It is the self presented before God in speech — with petition, with confession, with intercession, with lamentation, with praise. When Daniel opens his windows toward Jerusalem and prays three times a day (Dan. 6:10), the habit he maintains is not routine observance. It is the sustained practice of a human life oriented toward God, kept honest and alive through the regular act of פָּלַל.
Form in passage Hithpael · Jussive · 2nd Person · Masculine · Singular What is this?
Sense to pray, intercede
Definition To pray or make intercession.
References Jeremiah 7:16
Lexicon to pray, intercede
Why it matters Jeremiah is forbidden to pray for the people, showing the severity of judgment.
Sense Queen of Heaven
Definition A title associated with a female astral or fertility deity worshiped in Judah's idolatry.
References Jeremiah 7:18
Lexicon Queen of Heaven
Why it matters This worship reveals household-level idolatry and syncretistic rebellion.
Pastoral Entry
שָׁמַע is among the most theologically important verbs in the Hebrew Bible because it holds together what English separates: hearing and obeying. In Hebrew, to šāmaʿ to someone is not merely to receive audio input; it is to hear in a way that results in a response. The same verb describes physical hearing (Gen 3:10: Adam heard the sound of the Lord), understanding (Gen 11:7: so that they may not understand one another's speech), and obedience (Exod 19:5: if you will indeed obey my voice).
The theological weight of this semantic fusion is immense: the God who speaks expects a šāmaʿ that moves, not merely a šāmaʿ that registers. The Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4 — Shĕmaʿ Yiśrāʾēl, YHWH ʾĕlōhênû YHWH ʾeḥād — is one of the most important sentences in the OT. Its imperative is šāmaʿ. Israel is summoned not merely to hear a proposition about divine unity but to hear-and-obey the reality that the Lord alone is God.
Covenant renewal in the OT is repeatedly framed as a call to shama; apostasy is frequently characterized as not hearing, not heeding, refusing to listen. The prophets diagnose Israel's failure in šāmaʿ terms: 'they have ears but do not hear' (Jer 5:21; Ezek 12:2). Jesus takes this language directly: 'he who has ears to hear, let him hear' (Matt 11:15; 13:9) — the repeated call to šāmaʿ that characterizes prophetic address, applied to the hearing of the kingdom.
Sense to hear, listen, obey
Definition To hear with response, often meaning obey.
References Jeremiah 7:23-24, 7:26-28
Lexicon to hear, listen, obey
Why it matters The heart of the covenant summons is obedient hearing of the Lord's voice.
Pastoral Entry
קוֹל (qol) is the Hebrew word for voice and sound — the primary word for auditory experience in the OT, appearing 505 times. It covers every kind of sound: the human voice, the divine voice at Sinai and Horeb, the sevenfold voice of YHWH in the storm of Psalm 29, the still small voice after the fire at Horeb (1 Kgs 19:12), the voice crying in the wilderness of Isaiah 40, and the voice of the beloved in the Song of Songs. The qol is never merely acoustic — it is always relational and transformative.
Genesis 3:8 gives qol its first theological use and its most haunting context: 'They heard the sound (qol) of YHWH God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of YHWH God.' The qol of YHWH was heard before the fall — it was the expected sound of the daily walk together. After the fall, the qol is still heard, but the response has changed: they hide. The first consequence of sin is not that the qol goes silent but that the hearers go into hiding. The entire redemptive story is, in one sense, YHWH's pursuit of people who are hiding from his qol.
Psalm 29 is the OT's great qol text — the sevenfold qol YHWH in the storm: 'The qol of YHWH is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, YHWH, over many waters. The qol of YHWH is powerful (bekhoach); the qol of YHWH is full of majesty (behadar). The qol of YHWH breaks (shever) the cedars... The qol of YHWH flashes forth flames of fire. The qol of YHWH shakes the wilderness. The qol of YHWH makes the deer give birth... In his temple all cry, "Glory!"' Seven attributes and seven effects of the divine qol, structured around the sevenfold repetition of qol YHWH. The qol of YHWH does not merely announce — it acts.
First Kings 19:12 gives qol its most paradoxical form: 'after the fire a still small voice (qol demamah daqah, a voice of gentle stillness or a thin, quiet sound).' Elijah, who fled from Jezebel, encounters YHWH not in the wind that tears mountains (the cherev of Ps 29's qol), not in the earthquake, not in the fire — but in the demamah daqah. The qol YHWH can be the overwhelming sevenfold storm of Psalm 29 or the gentle stillness of Horeb. The theological point is the same: YHWH speaks, and the task is to listen.
Isaiah 40:3 introduces the qol of the herald: 'A qol of one crying: In the wilderness prepare the way of YHWH; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.' The qol is heard before the speaker is identified. All four Gospels apply this qol to John the Baptist (Matt 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4, John 1:23). The qol prepares before the one it announces arrives.
For the preacher, קוֹל (qol) asks the fundamental question of every sermon: are we hiding from YHWH's voice, or are we listening for the still, quiet sound that Elijah needed to hear?
Sense voice, sound
Definition Voice or sound, here the LORD's commanding speech.
References Jeremiah 7:23, 7:28
Lexicon voice, sound
Why it matters The people are called to obey the Lord's voice, but they refuse.
Cross-language bridge 2 links · View in lexicon
Sense stubbornness, obstinacy
Definition Stubborn self-will and hardened resistance.
References Jeremiah 7:24
Lexicon stubbornness, obstinacy
Why it matters Judah follows the stubbornness of evil hearts rather than the Lord's voice.
Pastoral Entry
אֱמוּנָה is the Hebrew noun for faithfulness, reliability, and steadfastness — and it is the word Habakkuk 2:4 uses when it says 'the righteous shall live by his אֱמוּנָה.' The English tradition debates whether that verse means faith (the believer's trust) or faithfulness (the believer's consistent conduct) — but the Hebrew word encompasses both, because in the OT the two are not separable.
אֱמוּנָה is the quality of being אֱמֶת — true, reliable, trustworthy — embodied in consistent action over time. BDB's primary range includes: firmness, steadiness, fidelity, trust, honesty. The word derives from the root אָמַן (to be firm, stable, trustworthy), the same root that gives אָמֵן (amen) its meaning: this is firm, this can be counted on, this is established.
אֱמוּנָה is indexed in the local Hebrew artifact at about 49 OT occurrences, primarily in the Psalms. It describes both God's faithfulness (Ps 36:5 — 'your faithfulness reaches to the skies'; Ps 92:2 — declaring God's אֱמוּנָה every morning) and the human character that the covenant calls for (Ps 119:30 — 'I have chosen the way of faithfulness'). The Psalmists repeatedly appeal to God's אֱמוּנָה as the basis for their confidence that he will act: what God has been, he will continue to be.
He is not unpredictable, not capricious, not liable to change the covenant on a whim. His אֱמוּנָה is the stability of the universe — 'your faithfulness is established in the very heavens' (Ps 89:2). For the preacher, אֱמוּנָה is the word that connects the doctrine of God's trustworthiness to the practice of human trust. When Habakkuk says the righteous shall live by אֱמוּנָה, he is saying that the life of the צַדִּיק is sustained by both God's faithful reliability (which creates the conditions for life) and the human response of trusting steadfastness (which is how that life is lived).
The NT's justification vocabulary inherits this double register: the faith through which we are justified (Rom 1:17) is the human response to the faithfulness that God has always been.
Sense truth, faithfulness, reliability
Definition Truthfulness, reliability, or faithfulness.
References Jeremiah 7:28
Lexicon truth, faithfulness, reliability
Why it matters Truth has perished and disappeared from the people's lips.
Form in passage Qal · Perfect · 3rd Person · Masculine · Singular What is this?
Sense to reject, despise
Definition To reject, refuse, or despise.
References Jeremiah 7:29
Lexicon to reject, despise
Why it matters The Lord has rejected the generation under his wrath.
Sense Topheth, place of burning or abominable sacrifice
Definition A site in the Valley of Ben Hinnom associated with child sacrifice.
References Jeremiah 7:31-32
Lexicon Topheth, place of burning or abominable sacrifice
Why it matters Topheth represents the horrifying endpoint of Judah's idolatry and becomes a place of judgment.
Sense Valley of the son of Hinnom
Definition A valley near Jerusalem associated with idolatry and later judgment imagery.
References Jeremiah 7:31-32
Lexicon Valley of the son of Hinnom
Why it matters The valley is renamed the Valley of Slaughter because of Judah's detestable practices.
Sense Valley of Slaughter
Definition Judgment name for Topheth because the dead will be buried there until no room remains.
References Jeremiah 7:32
Lexicon Valley of Slaughter
Why it matters The renamed valley turns idolatry's place into a sign of catastrophic judgment.
Pastoral Entry
גֵּר (ger) is the Hebrew word for the sojourner or resident alien — the person who lives among YHWH's covenant people but is not ethnically Israelite. The local Hebrew artifact indexes this word at about 92 OT occurrences. The ger is the subject of more Torah legislation than any other vulnerable category, and one recurring motivating reason for that legislation is the same: 'you were gerim in Egypt.' Israel's social ethics toward the sojourner is grounded in covenant memory — the experience of vulnerability as aliens is to be transformed into solidarity with the vulnerable alien.
Leviticus 19:34 gives ger its most comprehensive command: 'The ger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were gerim in the land of Egypt: I am YHWH your God.' The two-clause structure is definitive: the command to love the ger as yourself (the neighbor-love of Lev 19:18 extended beyond ethnic Israel to the resident alien) is grounded in the Exodus-memory and sealed with the divine identity statement ('I am YHWH'). The ger-love is not optional; it is covenant obligation grounded in Exodus theology.
Deuteronomy 10:18-19 gives ger its YHWH-advocacy use: 'He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the ger, giving him food and clothing. Love the ger, therefore, for you were gerim in Egypt.' YHWH himself is described as one who loves the ger — the covenant people's treatment of the sojourner is a participation in or a contradiction of YHWH's own character. The ger who is loved by YHWH and neglected by Israel exposes the covenant community's failure to imitate the God they worship.
Genesis 15:13 gives ger its covenantal-identity use: YHWH tells Abram that his offspring will be gerim in a land not theirs for four hundred years, oppressed and enslaved. The entire nation of Israel is born as a gerim-community — sojourners first in Canaan (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), then enslaved aliens in Egypt. This identity-as-ger is the theological foundation for every Torah command about the sojourner: 'you know the soul of the ger, for you were gerim in Egypt' (Exod 23:9). Israel's ger-empathy is experiential, not merely commanded.
Psalm 146:9 gives ger its doxological use: 'YHWH watches over the sojourners (gerim); he upholds the fatherless and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.' YHWH's care for the ger is part of his praiseworthy character — the God who made heaven and earth (v. 6) is the God who watches over the ger (v. 9). The praise of YHWH is inseparable from the acknowledgment of his care for the vulnerable alien.
For the preacher, גֵּר (ger) gives the theological grounding for the church's care of the migrant, the refugee, and the socially marginalized: the covenant people who were once gerim are to love the ger with the same love YHWH showed them in Egypt and beyond. The NT church as 'strangers and exiles' (1 Pet 1:1, 2:11) inherits the ger-identity: the covenant community is itself a community of sojourners before the living God.
Sense resident foreigner or sojourner
Definition resident foreigner or sojourner
Why it matters The vulnerable foreigner is a covenant test of true worship.
Sense hideout of violent robbers
Definition hideout of violent robbers
Why it matters The temple has become a religious hideout for those refusing repentance.
Lexicon data: MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML (CC0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (CC BY 4.0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon (CC BY 4.0) · STEPBible Data (CC BY 4.0) · Full details
| v.1 | H1961הָיָהQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.10 | H7121קָרָאNiphal · Perfect · IndicativeH5337נָצַלNiphal · Perfect · IndicativeH6213עָשָׂהQal · Infinitive construct |
| v.11 | H1961הָיָהQal · Perfect · IndicativeH7121קָרָאNiphal · Perfect · IndicativeH7200רָאָהQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.12 | H3212יָלַךְQal · Imperative · ImperativeH7931שָׁכַןPiel · Perfect · IndicativeH6213עָשָׂהQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.13 | H7925שָׁכַםHiphil · Infinitive absoluteH8085שָׁמַעQal · Perfect · IndicativeH6030עָנָהQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.14 | H7121קָרָאNiphal · Perfect · IndicativeH982בָּטַחQal · ParticipleH5414נָתַןQal · Perfect · IndicativeH6213עָשָׂהQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.15 | H7993שָׁלַךְHiphil · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.16 | H6419פָּלַלHithpael · Imperfect · JussiveH5375נָשָׂאQal · Imperfect · JussiveH6293פָּגַעQal · Imperfect · JussiveH8085שָׁמַעQal · Participle |
| v.17 | H7200רָאָהQal · ParticipleH6213עָשָׂהQal · Participle |
| v.18 | H3950לָקַטPiel · ParticipleH1197בָּעַרPiel · ParticipleH3888Qal · Participle |
| v.19 | H3707כַּעַסHiphil · Participle |
| v.2 | H5975עָמַדQal · Imperative · ImperativeH8085שָׁמַעQal · Imperative · Imperative |
| v.20 | H559אָמַרQal · Perfect · IndicativeH5413Niphal · Participle passiveH3518כָּבָהQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.21 | H559אָמַרQal · Perfect · IndicativeH5595סָפָהQal · Imperative · Imperative |
| v.22 | H1696דָבַרPiel · Perfect · IndicativeH3318יָצָאHiphil · Infinitive construct |
| v.23 | H6680צָוָהPiel · Perfect · IndicativeH8085שָׁמַעQal · Imperative · ImperativeH1961הָיָהQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH6680צָוָהPiel · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortativeH3190יָטַבQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.24 | H8085שָׁמַעQal · Perfect · IndicativeH5186נָטָהHiphil · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.25 | H3318יָצָאQal · Perfect · IndicativeH7925שָׁכַםHiphil · Infinitive absolute |
| v.26 | H8085שָׁמַעQal · Perfect · IndicativeH5186נָטָהHiphil · Perfect · IndicativeH7489רָעַעHiphil · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.27 | H8085שָׁמַעQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.28 | H8085שָׁמַעQal · Perfect · IndicativeH3947לָקַחQal · Perfect · IndicativeH6אָבַדQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.29 | H1494גָּזַזQal · Imperative · ImperativeH3988מָאַסQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.3 | H559אָמַרQal · Perfect · IndicativeH3190יָטַבHiphil · Imperative · Imperative |
| v.30 | H6213עָשָׂהQal · Perfect · IndicativeH7760שׂוּםQal · Perfect · IndicativeH7121קָרָאNiphal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.31 | H6680צָוָהPiel · Perfect · IndicativeH5927עָלָהQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.32 | H935בּוֹאQal · ParticipleH559אָמַרNiphal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.33 | H2729חָרַדHiphil · Participle |
| v.34 | H1961הָיָהQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.4 | H982בָּטַחQal · Imperfect · Jussive |
| v.5 | H3190יָטַבHiphil · Infinitive absoluteH3190יָטַבHiphil · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH6213עָשָׂהQal · Infinitive absoluteH6213עָשָׂהQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.6 | H6231עָשַׁקQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH8210שָׁפַךְQal · Imperfect · JussiveH3212יָלַךְQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.7 | H5414נָתַןQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.8 | H982בָּטַחQal · ParticipleH3276יָעַלHiphil · Infinitive construct |
| v.9 | H7523רָצַחQal · Infinitive absoluteH3045יָדַעQal · Perfect · Indicative |
Aspect in Hebrew is grammatical form, not tense. Perfect = completed action; Imperfect = incomplete/ongoing. Stem modifies action type (Qal=simple, Niphal=passive, Piel=intensive).
Morphology: OSHB WLC (Open Scriptures, CC BY 4.0) · STEPBible TEHMC (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0)
Theological Argument
Jeremiah 7 argues that religious institutions, temple access, sacrifices, and slogans cannot protect people who reject the Lord's word, oppress the vulnerable, practice idolatry, and refuse obedient covenant relationship.
From temple-gate proclamation to deceptive words, from deceptive words to true reform, from true reform rejected to Shiloh's warning, from Shiloh's warning to forbidden intercession, from idolatrous households to rejected sacrifices, and from rejected sacrifices to Topheth's judgment.
- 1.Sacred space does not secure an unrepentant people.
- 2.True repentance must take visible ethical and covenantal shape.
- 3.Religious confidence becomes deceptive when it covers ongoing rebellion.
- 4.Past acts of divine dwelling do not prevent future judgment.
- 5.Persistent rebellion can reach a point where intercession is refused.
- 6.Idolatry can become household discipleship in rebellion.
- 7.Sacrifice without obedience is covenantally useless.
- 8.A people who will not listen lose truth from their mouths.
- 9.Idolatry produces catastrophic defilement and judgment.
Theological Focus
- False temple security
- Deceptive words
- Covenant obedience
- Justice
- Care for the foreigner, fatherless, and widow
- Innocent blood
- Idolatry
- Baal worship
- Den of robbers
- Shiloh as warning
- Forbidden intercession
- Household idolatry
- Queen of Heaven worship
- Obedience over sacrifice
- Stubborn evil hearts
- Prophetic rejection
- Truth perished
- Divine rejection
- Topheth
- Child sacrifice
- Judgment and the end of joy
- False Religious Security
- Worship and Ethics
- The Vulnerable as Covenant Test
- The Den of Robbers
- Shiloh's Warning
- Limits of Intercession
- Household Formation in Idolatry
- Obedient Hearing
- Truth Perished
- Topheth and Defiled Worship
- The Word of God
- Worship and Obedience
- Human Sin and Idolatry
- Divine Judgment
- Intercession
- Covenant Relationship
- Christ the True Temple
- Christ the Atoning Sacrifice
Theological Themes
Judah trusts the temple slogan while refusing the Lord's commands, showing that religious proximity cannot substitute for covenant obedience.
The Lord joins worship with justice, mercy, and obedience. Temple attendance cannot cover oppression and idolatry.
Treatment of the foreigner, fatherless, and widow reveals whether the people are actually walking in the Lord's ways.
The temple becomes a refuge for rebels when sinners use worship to claim safety without repentance.
Shiloh proves that the Lord's name attached to a place does not guarantee protection when the people despise his word.
The command not to pray reveals the terrifying seriousness of persistent covenant refusal.
Idolatry is passed through family participation, showing that false worship can become a domestic culture.
The Lord's central summons is not ritual performance first, but obedient hearing: 'Obey me.'
When the people refuse correction and the Lord's word, truth disappears from their lips.
The horror of child sacrifice reveals the end of idolatry's logic and the certainty of judgment.
Covenant Significance
Jeremiah 7 confronts Judah's misuse of covenant symbols. The temple, sacrifices, and covenant identity are treated as protections while the people reject covenant obligations. The Lord calls them back to the covenant core: obey his voice, walk in his ways, do justice, refuse idolatry, and care for the vulnerable. Their refusal turns privilege into liability.
- Temple privilege misused - The people treat the Lord's house as a guarantee of safety while ignoring the Lord's commands.
- Covenant ethics required - Justice, mercy toward the vulnerable, and rejection of innocent bloodshed are necessary expressions of covenant faithfulness.
- Exclusive worship required - Following other gods violates the foundational covenant demand of loyalty to the Lord alone.
- Sacrificial worship relativized by obedience - The Lord rejects ritual when obedient hearing is absent.
- Historical precedent of Shiloh - Shiloh demonstrates that the Lord may judge even places associated with his name.
- Covenant curse intensified - Topheth becomes the Valley of Slaughter, and joy ceases from the land.
- Exodus 19:5-6 - Israel's treasured status is tied to obeying the Lord's voice and keeping his covenant.
- Exodus 22:21-24 - The law protects the vulnerable, whom Jeremiah 7 says Judah must not oppress.
- Deuteronomy 10:17-19 - The Lord loves the foreigner and defends the fatherless and widow, grounding Judah's obligation.
- Deuteronomy 12:29-31 - Israel is forbidden to imitate nations who burn children in worship.
- 1 Samuel 4:1-22 - The Shiloh tradition shows that sacred objects and places do not protect disobedient people.
- 1 Samuel 15:22 - To obey is better than sacrifice, a principle Jeremiah 7 presses sharply.
- Psalm 78:56-64 - The psalm remembers the Lord abandoning the tabernacle at Shiloh because of Israel's rebellion.
Canonical Connections
Shiloh warns that sacred location does not protect disobedient people from judgment.
Jeremiah 7 belongs to the broader biblical witness that ritual without obedience is unacceptable.
The foreigner, fatherless, and widow are covenant tests of true worship.
Jesus cites Jeremiah 7:11 when confronting corrupt temple worship.
The failure of temple confidence prepares for Christ as the true temple and presence of God.
The statement 'I will be your God and you will be my people' runs through Scripture and is tied here to obedient hearing.
Topheth shows the horror of idolatry that the Torah forbids and later kings practiced.
The loss of truth from the people's lips connects to Jeremiah's broader indictment of falsehood and to the gospel's restoration of truth in Christ.
Cross References
Canon-Wide Connections
Cross-reference data: OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Jeremiah 7 clarifies the gospel by exposing false refuge in religion. The people stand in the temple but remain guilty. They offer sacrifices but refuse obedience. They claim safety but continue in injustice and idolatry. The gospel does not affirm such false security. It announces Christ, the true temple, obedient Son, acceptable sacrifice, and final intercessor.
Through his cross and resurrection, sinners are not hidden in a den of robbers but cleansed, forgiven, brought near to God, and formed into a people who worship in Spirit and truth.
- The human problem - Sinners can use religious practices to hide from the very God they claim to worship.
- False security exposed - Temple access, slogans, sacrifices, and sacred history cannot save the unrepentant.
- The need for obedience - The Lord desires obedient hearing, not ritual separated from covenant faithfulness.
- The need for justice - True worship cannot be separated from mercy and righteousness toward others.
- Christ the true temple - In Christ, God's presence with his people is fulfilled and no longer tied to false confidence in a building.
- Christ the acceptable sacrifice - Where Judah's sacrifices are rejected, Christ offers himself in perfect obedience.
- Christ the cleansing Lord - Jesus confronts den-of-robbers worship and cleanses sinners through his atoning work.
- Christ the final intercessor - Jeremiah is forbidden to intercede, but Christ's intercession rests on his finished sacrifice and secures his people.
- Do not preach Jeremiah 7 as anti-temple or anti-worship. It is anti-hypocrisy, anti-idolatry, and anti-disobedience.
- Do not offer gospel comfort while leaving people in false religious security.
- Do not separate Christ's forgiveness from repentance and new obedience.
- Do not treat justice for the vulnerable as unrelated to worship.
- Do not present church attendance, baptism, membership, ministry activity, or tradition as substitutes for faith in Christ and obedience to his word.
- Do not flatten Jesus' temple cleansing into moral outrage only · it is tied to his identity, mission, judgment, and fulfillment of temple realities.
- Do not ignore the horror of Topheth. Idolatry destroys what it claims to bless.
Primary Emphasis
Jeremiah 7 prepares for Christ by exposing the failure of temple-centered religion without obedient faith. The people stand in the house bearing the Lord's name while practicing sin and idolatry. Christ later cites the 'den of robbers' indictment when cleansing the temple, showing continuity between Jeremiah's warning and Jesus' confrontation of corrupt worship.
Yet Christ is more than the temple reformer. He is the true temple, the obedient Son, the acceptable sacrifice, the final intercessor, and the one who bears judgment so sinners may be cleansed and brought near to God.
Chapter Contribution
Jeremiah 7 argues that religious institutions, temple access, sacrifices, and slogans cannot protect people who reject the Lord's word, oppress the vulnerable, practice idolatry, and refuse obedient covenant relationship.
Track judgment as covenant accountability, divine justice, and eschatological reckoning.
Study temple presence, worship, corruption, judgment, and renewal across Scripture.
Study holiness as divine character, covenant identity, and sanctified life across Scripture.
Trace the Spirit's presence, empowerment, renewal, and mission-bearing work across Scripture.
God’s voice and instruction carry supreme authority over His people.
Remaining in the land depended upon covenant obedience.
Judah’s judgment arises from their violation of the covenant relationship with the Lord.
God’s covenant with Israel involved listening to His voice and walking in His ways.
God judges societies that persist in abominations and reject His commands.
God judges hypocrisy and covenant violation even within His own covenant community.
People often trust external religious structures instead of pursuing genuine repentance.
There are moments when persistent rebellion results in judgment that will not be delayed.
God faithfully sends prophets to call His people back to obedience.
The sacrifice of children represents a profound violation of God’s moral order.
Authentic worship involves obedience, justice, and faithfulness rather than mere religious ritual.
The chapter is driven by the word of the Lord that confronts deceptive words and disobedient worship.
Sacrifice and temple worship are rejected when separated from obedient hearing.
Judah trusts temple slogans while refusing repentance, showing the danger of religious presumption.
The Lord requires just dealings and protection of the vulnerable as part of covenant faithfulness.
The chapter exposes Baal worship, other gods, Queen of Heaven worship, detestable practices, and child sacrifice.
The Lord will judge Jerusalem like Shiloh and turn Topheth into the Valley of Slaughter.
The command not to pray for the people reveals the severity of persistent rebellion under judgment.
The covenant formula 'I will be your God and you will be my people' is tied to obeying the Lord's voice.
The failure of false temple confidence prepares for Christ as the true presence of God with his people.
Rejected sacrifice without obedience points forward to Christ's obedient and acceptable offering.
Theological exposition and fulfillment
- Jeremiah 7 clarifies the gospel by exposing false refuge in religion. The people stand in the temple but remain guilty. They offer sacrifices but refuse obedience. They claim safety but continue in injustice and idolatry. The gospel does not affirm such false security. It announces Christ, the true temple, obedient Son, acceptable sacrifice, and final intercessor. Through his cross and resurrection, sinners are not hidden in a den of robbers but cleansed, forgiven, brought near to God, and formed into a people who worship in Spirit and truth.
The Lord refuses to be used as religious cover for rebellion; his people must obey his voice, practice justice, reject idols, and worship in truth.
Help God's people examine whether they are trusting religious nearness while avoiding repentance, and call them toward obedient worship grounded in Christ.
Humble obedience, truthful repentance, justice, mercy toward the vulnerable, exclusive devotion to the Lord, rejection of false security, and worship joined to life.
- Identify one religious phrase or habit that could become a substitute for obedience.
- Ask whether worship gatherings are making you more obedient, just, merciful, and truthful.
- Examine your treatment of vulnerable people as a covenant-health diagnostic.
- Name any area where you say, 'I am safe,' while continuing in sin.
- Study Shiloh as a warning against presuming on sacred history.
- Evaluate household rhythms: are they forming love for the Lord or loyalty to idols?
- Pray for worship that is joined to obedience rather than religious activity that conceals rebellion.
- Look to Christ as the true temple and acceptable sacrifice rather than trusting religious externals.
- Jeremiah 7 gives a severe warning against trusting religious institutions, sacred buildings, worship attendance, slogans, sacrifices, or inherited identity while refusing obedience, justice, mercy, truth, and exclusive loyalty to the Lord.
- Treating the temple sermon as anti-temple. - The chapter is not against the temple as the Lord instituted it. It is against trusting the temple while rejecting the Lord's word.
- Using 'den of robbers' only for commercial abuse. - In Jeremiah 7, the phrase means the people use the Lord's house as a safe hideout after committing covenant sins.
- Separating worship from justice. - The Lord explicitly ties true reform to justice, protection of the vulnerable, and rejection of innocent bloodshed.
- Thinking sacrifice itself is rejected absolutely. - The Lord rejects sacrifice that is detached from obedience. The issue is ritual without covenant hearing.
- Minimizing the command not to pray. - This command shows the severity of hardened rebellion and imminent judgment. It should not be generalized carelessly but must be felt soberly.
- Treating idolatry as merely individual preference. - The chapter shows idolatry as household formation and communal rebellion involving children, fathers, and women.
- Reading Topheth as a peripheral detail. - Topheth reveals the horrific endpoint of idolatry and becomes a central sign of coming judgment.
- Assuming Christian church attendance functions differently if obedience is absent. - The passage warns all covenant communities against religious confidence that evades repentance, justice, and obedience to God's word.
- What religious words, habits, or places am I tempted to trust while avoiding obedience?
- Where do my ways and actions need to be amended before the Lord?
- Do I treat worship as a hiding place from conviction or as surrender before God?
- How do I treat the foreigner, fatherless, widow, poor, and vulnerable people around me?
- Where am I asking God for safety while continuing in something he has condemned?
- What would Shiloh teach me about the danger of assuming sacred history guarantees present faithfulness?
- Is my worship joined to obedience, or am I offering religious activity while refusing the Lord's voice?
- What household patterns are forming love for the Lord or normalizing idols?
- Where has truth perished from my lips because I refused correction?
- How does Christ cleanse false worship and bring me near to God in truth?
- Jeremiah 7 should be preached as a direct warning against religious confidence without repentance, justice, obedience, and exclusive loyalty to the Lord.
- The chapter confronts churches that trust buildings, history, programs, denominational identity, attendance, or liturgy while ignoring obedience to God's word.
- Worship must not be used to soothe rebellion. Songs, prayers, giving, and attendance are unacceptable when knowingly divorced from obedience.
- The den-of-robbers image helps expose patterns where people seek spiritual reassurance while refusing to forsake sin.
- The household idolatry section warns that family systems can disciple children into false worship as powerfully as into truth.
- The treatment of foreigners, fatherless, and widows should be treated as a spiritual health indicator, not an optional ministry interest.
- The command not to pray should sober leaders about the danger of persistent refusal, even while ordinary pastoral ministry continues to call people to repentance before judgment.
- The chapter opens a path to proclaim Christ as true temple, acceptable sacrifice, obedient Son, and cleansing Savior.
The chapter moves hearers away from deceptive religious speech toward amended ways and actions.
Entering the temple is not the same as obeying the Lord who owns the temple.
The people say, 'We are safe,' but the Lord names their theft, murder, adultery, false oaths, and idolatry.
Shiloh destroys the assumption that past divine presence protects present rebellion.
The chapter exposes how families can organize themselves around false worship.
The Lord brings the people back to the covenant center: obey my voice.
The gospel restores truth through Christ, the faithful Word and obedient Son.
The horror of false sacrifice contrasts with Christ's holy, willing, once-for-all sacrifice.
C.F. Keil & F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–91) — public domain
The Biblical World
Chapter At A Glance
The chapter moves from Jeremiah's temple-gate proclamation, to the exposure of deceptive temple slogans, to the demand for amended ways and justice, to the warning from Shiloh, to the Lord's refusal to receive intercession, to the exposure of household-wide idolatry, to the rejection of sacrifice without obedience, and finally to the judgment of Topheth and the end of joy in Judah.
Jeremiah 7 confronts Judah's misuse of covenant symbols. The temple, sacrifices, and covenant identity are treated as protections while the people reject covenant obligations. The Lord calls them back to the covenant core: obey his voice, walk in his ways, do justice, refuse idolatry, and care for the vulnerable. Their refusal turns privilege into liability.
Jeremiah 7 clarifies the gospel by exposing false refuge in religion. The people stand in the temple but remain guilty. They offer sacrifices but refuse obedience. They claim safety but continue in injustice and idolatry. The gospel does not affirm such false security. It announces Christ, the true temple, obedient Son, acceptable sacrifice, and final intercessor.
Through his cross and resurrection, sinners are not hidden in a den of robbers but cleansed, forgiven, brought near to God, and formed into a people who worship in Spirit and truth.
Humble obedience, truthful repentance, justice, mercy toward the vulnerable, exclusive devotion to the Lord, rejection of false security, and worship joined to life.
Focus Points
- False temple security
- Deceptive words
- Covenant obedience
- Justice
- Care for the foreigner, fatherless, and widow
- Innocent blood
- Idolatry
- Baal worship
- Den of robbers
- Shiloh as warning
- Forbidden intercession
- Household idolatry
- Queen of Heaven worship
- Obedience over sacrifice
- Stubborn evil hearts
- Prophetic rejection
- Truth perished
- Divine rejection
- Topheth
- Child sacrifice
- Judgment and the end of joy
- False Religious Security
- Worship and Ethics
- The Vulnerable as Covenant Test
- The Den of Robbers
- Shiloh's Warning
- Limits of Intercession
- Household Formation in Idolatry
- Obedient Hearing
- Topheth and Defiled Worship
- The Word of God
- Worship and Obedience
- Human Sin and Idolatry
- Divine Judgment
- Intercession
- Covenant Relationship
- Christ the True Temple
- Christ the Atoning Sacrifice
Cross References
Passages
Chapter opening: Jeremiah 7:1-7
Jer 7:5-7 Over against such sayings Jeremiah puts that which is the indispensable condition of continued sojourn in the land. כּי, Jer 7:5, after a preceding negative clause, means: but on the contrary. This condition is a life morally good, that shall show itself in doing justice, in putting away all unrighteousness, and in giving up idolatry. With אם begins a list of the things that belong to the making of one’s ways and doings good.
The adjunct to משׁפּט, right, "between the man and his neighbour," shows that the justice meant is that they should help one man to his rights against another. The law attached penalties to the oppression of those who needed protection - strangers, orphans, widows; cf. Exo 22:21. , Deu 24:17. , Jer 27:19; and the prophets often denounce the same; cf. Isa 1:17, Isa 1:23; Isa 10:2; Eze 22:7; Zec 7:10; Mal 3:5; Psa 94:6, etc.
for 'לא־ת is noteworthy, but is not a simple equivalent for it. Like ου ̓ μή, כ̓ב implies a deeper interest on the part of the speaker, and the sense here is: and ye be really determined not to shed innocent blood (cf. Ew. §320, b ). Hitz.' s explanation, that אל is equal to אשׁר לא or אם לא, and that it her resumes again the now remote אם, is overturned by the consideration that אל is not at the beginning of the clause; and there is not the slightest probability in Graf’s view, that the אל must have come into the text through the copyist, who had in his mind the similar clause in Jer 22:3.
Shedding innocent blood refers in part to judicial murders (condemnation of innocent persons), in part to violent attacks made by the kings on prophets and godly men, such as we hear of in Manasseh’s case, 2Ki 21:16. In this place (Jer 7:7), i. e. , first and foremost Jerusalem, the metropolis, where moral corruption had its chief seat; in a wider sense, however, it means the whole kingdom of Judah (Jer 7:3 and Jer 7:7).
"To your hurt" belongs to all the above-mentioned transgressions of the law; cf. Jer 25:7. "In the land," etc. , explains "this place." "From eternity to eternity" is a rhetorically heightened expression for the promise given to the patriarchs, that God would give the land of Canaan to their posterity for an everlasting possession, Gen 17:8; although here it belongs not to the relative clause, "that I gave," but to the principal clause, "cause you to dwell," as in Exo 32:13.
Jer 7:5-7 Over against such sayings Jeremiah puts that which is the indispensable condition of continued sojourn in the land. כּי, Jer 7:5, after a preceding negative clause, means: but on the contrary. This condition is a life morally good, that shall show itself in doing justice, in putting away all unrighteousness, and in giving up idolatry. With אם begins a list of the things that belong to the making of one’s ways and doings good.
The adjunct to משׁפּט, right, "between the man and his neighbour," shows that the justice meant is that they should help one man to his rights against another. The law attached penalties to the oppression of those who needed protection - strangers, orphans, widows; cf. Exo 22:21. , Deu 24:17. , Jer 27:19; and the prophets often denounce the same; cf. Isa 1:17, Isa 1:23; Isa 10:2; Eze 22:7; Zec 7:10; Mal 3:5; Psa 94:6, etc.
for 'לא־ת is noteworthy, but is not a simple equivalent for it. Like ου ̓ μή, כ̓ב implies a deeper interest on the part of the speaker, and the sense here is: and ye be really determined not to shed innocent blood (cf. Ew. §320, b ). Hitz.' s explanation, that אל is equal to אשׁר לא or אם לא, and that it her resumes again the now remote אם, is overturned by the consideration that אל is not at the beginning of the clause; and there is not the slightest probability in Graf’s view, that the אל must have come into the text through the copyist, who had in his mind the similar clause in Jer 22:3.
Shedding innocent blood refers in part to judicial murders (condemnation of innocent persons), in part to violent attacks made by the kings on prophets and godly men, such as we hear of in Manasseh’s case, 2Ki 21:16. In this place (Jer 7:7), i. e. , first and foremost Jerusalem, the metropolis, where moral corruption had its chief seat; in a wider sense, however, it means the whole kingdom of Judah (Jer 7:3 and Jer 7:7).
"To your hurt" belongs to all the above-mentioned transgressions of the law; cf. Jer 25:7. "In the land," etc. , explains "this place." "From eternity to eternity" is a rhetorically heightened expression for the promise given to the patriarchs, that God would give the land of Canaan to their posterity for an everlasting possession, Gen 17:8; although here it belongs not to the relative clause, "that I gave," but to the principal clause, "cause you to dwell," as in Exo 32:13.
Jer 7:8 In Jer 7:8 there is a recurrence to the warning of Jer 7:4, under the form of a statement of fact; and in Jer 7:9-11 it is expanded to this effect: The affirmation that the temple of the Lord affords protection is a sheer delusion, so long as all God’s commandments are being audaciously broken. לבלתּי הועיל, lit., to no profiting: ye rely on lying words, without there being any possibility that they should profit you.
Jer 7:9 The query before the infin. absoll. is the expression of wonder and indignation; and the infinitives are used with special emphasis for the verb. fin.: How? to steal, kill, etc., is your practice, and then ye come....
Jer 7:10 Breaches of almost all the commandments are specified; first the eighth, sixth, and seventh of the second table, and then two commandments of the first table; cf. Hos 4:2. Swearing falsely is an abuse of God’s name. In "offer odours to Baal," Baal is the representation of the false gods. The phrase, other gods, points to the first commandment, Exo 20:3; and the relative clause: whom ye knew not, stands in opposition to: I am Jahveh your God, who hath brought you out of Egypt.
They knew not the other gods, because they had not made themselves known to them in benefits and blessings; cf. Jer 19:4. While they so daringly break all God’s commands, they yet come before His face in the temple which Jahveh has chosen to reveal His name there. 'אשׁר נקרא is not: which bears my name (Hitz.) ; or: on which my name is bestowed, which is named after me (Graf).
The name of Jahveh is the revelation of Himself, and the meaning is: on which I have set my glory, in which I have made my glorious being known; see on Deu 28:10 and Amo 9:12. We are saved, sc. from all the evils that threaten us, i. e. , we are concealed, have nothing to fear; cf. Eze 14:16, Eze 14:18; Amo 3:12. The perfect denotat firmam persuasionem incolumitatis .
Chr. B. Mich. By changing נצּלנוּ into נצּלנוּ, as Ewald, following the Syr. , reads, the sense is weakened. 'למען עשׂות וגו is neither: as regards what we have done, nor: because = while or whereas ye have done (Hitz.) , but: in order to do that ye may do. למען with the infin . , as with the perf . , has never the signif. , because of or in reference to something past and done, but always means, with the view of doing something; English: to the end that.
The thought is simply this: Ye appear in my temple to sacrifice and worship, thinking thus to appease my wrath and turn aside all punishment, that so ye may go on doing all these (in Jer 7:9 enumerated) abominations. By frequenting the temple, they thought to procure an indulgence for their wicked ongoings, not merely for what they had already done, but for what they do from day to day.
Jer 7:11 To expose the senselessness of such an idea, God asks if they take the temple for a den of robbers? "In your eyes" goes with היה : is it become in your eyes, i. e. , do ye take it for such? If thieves, murderers, adulterers, etc. , gathered to the temple, and supposed that by appearing there they procured the absolution of their sins, they were in very act declaring the temple to be a robbers’ retreat.
פּריץ, the violent, here: the house-breaker, robber. I, too, have seen, sc. that the temple is made by you a den of thieves, and will deal accordingly. This completion of the thought appears from the context.
Jer 7:12-14 The temple is to undergo the fate of the former sanctuary at Shiloh. This threat is introduced by a grounding כּי, for. This for refers to the central idea of the last verse, that they must not build their expectations on the temple, hold it to be a pledge for their safety. For since the Lord has seen how they have profaned and still profane it, He will destroy it, as the sanctuary at Shiloh was destroyed.
The rhetorical mode of utterance, Go to the place, etc. , contributes to strengthen the threatening. They were to behold with their own eyes the fate of the sanctuary at Shiloh, that so they might understand that the sacredness of a place does not save it from overthrow, if men have desecrated it by their wickedness. We have no historical notice of the event to which Jeremiah refers.
At Shiloh, now Seilân (in ruins) the Mosaic tabernacle was erected after the conquest of Canaan (Jos 18:1), and there it was still standing in the time of the high priest Eli, 1Sa 1:1-3; but the ark, which had fallen into the hands of the Philistines at the time of their victory (1 Sam 4), was not brought back to the tabernacle when it was restored again to the Israelites. In the reign of Saul we find the tabernacle at Nob (1Sa 21:2.)
The words of Jer 7:12 intimate, that at that time "the place of God at Shiloh" was lying in ruins. As Hitz. justly remarks, the destruction of it is not to be understood of its gradual decay after the removal of the ark (1Sa 4:11; 1Sa 7:1.) ; the words imply a devastation or destruction, not of the place of God at Shiloh only, but of the place Shiloh itself.
This is clearly seen from Jer 7:14 : I will do unto this house (the temple), and the place which I gave to your fathers, as I have done unto Shiloh. This destruction did not take place when the Assyrians overthrew the kingdom of the ten tribes, but much earlier. It may, indeed, be gathered from Jdg 18:20, Jdg 18:31 (see the comment. on this passage), that it was as early as the time of Saul, during a Syrian invasion.
By the destruction of the place of God at Shiloh, we need not understand that the tabernacle itself, with its altar and other sacred furniture (except the ark), was swept away. Such a view is contradicted by the statement in 1Ch 21:29; 2Ch 1:3, according to which the tabernacle built by Moses in the wilderness was still standing at Gibeon in David’s time, and in the beginning of Solomon’s reign; cf.
with 2Ch 1:5, when the brazen altar of burnt-offering is expressly mentioned as that which was made by Bezaleel. Hence it is clear that the Mosaic tabernacle, with its altar of burnt-offering, had been preserved, and consequently that it must have been moved first from Shiloh to Nob, and then, when Saul sacked this town (1 Sam 22), to Gibeon. The destruction of the place of God in Shiloh must accordingly have consisted in this, that not only was the tabernacle with the altar carried off from thence, but the buildings necessary in connection with the maintenance of the public worship which surrounded it were swept away when the city was plundered, so that of the place of the sanctuary nothing was left remaining.
It is clear that about the tabernacle there were various buildings which, along with the tabernacle and its altars, constituted "the house of God at Shiloh;" for in 1 Sam 3 we are told that Samuel slept in the temple of Jahveh (1Sa 3:3), and that in the morning he opened the doors of the house of God (1Sa 3:15). Hence we may gather, that round about the court of the tabernacle there were buildings erected, which were used partly as a dwelling-place for the officiating priests and Levites, and partly for storing up the heave-offerings, and for preparing the thank-offerings at the sacrificial meals (1Sa 2:11-21).
This whole system of buildings surrounding the tabernacle, with its court and altar of burnt-offering, was called the "house of God;" from which name Graf erroneously inferred that there was at Shiloh a temple like the one in Jerusalem. The wickedness of my people, is the Israelites’ fall into idolatry in Eli’s time, because of which the Lord gave up Israel into the power of the Philistines and other enemies (Jdg 13:1; cf.
1Sa 7:3). "These deeds" (Jer 7:13) are the sins named in Jer 7:9. ואדבּר is a continuation of the infinitive sentence, and is still dependent on יען. Speaking from early morn, i. e. , speaking earnestly and unremittingly; cf. Gesen. §131, 3, b . I have called you, i. e. , to repent, and ye have not answered, i. e. , have not repented and turned to me.
Jer 7:12-14 The temple is to undergo the fate of the former sanctuary at Shiloh. This threat is introduced by a grounding כּי, for. This for refers to the central idea of the last verse, that they must not build their expectations on the temple, hold it to be a pledge for their safety. For since the Lord has seen how they have profaned and still profane it, He will destroy it, as the sanctuary at Shiloh was destroyed.
The rhetorical mode of utterance, Go to the place, etc. , contributes to strengthen the threatening. They were to behold with their own eyes the fate of the sanctuary at Shiloh, that so they might understand that the sacredness of a place does not save it from overthrow, if men have desecrated it by their wickedness. We have no historical notice of the event to which Jeremiah refers.
At Shiloh, now Seilân (in ruins) the Mosaic tabernacle was erected after the conquest of Canaan (Jos 18:1), and there it was still standing in the time of the high priest Eli, 1Sa 1:1-3; but the ark, which had fallen into the hands of the Philistines at the time of their victory (1 Sam 4), was not brought back to the tabernacle when it was restored again to the Israelites. In the reign of Saul we find the tabernacle at Nob (1Sa 21:2.)
The words of Jer 7:12 intimate, that at that time "the place of God at Shiloh" was lying in ruins. As Hitz. justly remarks, the destruction of it is not to be understood of its gradual decay after the removal of the ark (1Sa 4:11; 1Sa 7:1.) ; the words imply a devastation or destruction, not of the place of God at Shiloh only, but of the place Shiloh itself.
This is clearly seen from Jer 7:14 : I will do unto this house (the temple), and the place which I gave to your fathers, as I have done unto Shiloh. This destruction did not take place when the Assyrians overthrew the kingdom of the ten tribes, but much earlier. It may, indeed, be gathered from Jdg 18:20, Jdg 18:31 (see the comment. on this passage), that it was as early as the time of Saul, during a Syrian invasion.
By the destruction of the place of God at Shiloh, we need not understand that the tabernacle itself, with its altar and other sacred furniture (except the ark), was swept away. Such a view is contradicted by the statement in 1Ch 21:29; 2Ch 1:3, according to which the tabernacle built by Moses in the wilderness was still standing at Gibeon in David’s time, and in the beginning of Solomon’s reign; cf.
with 2Ch 1:5, when the brazen altar of burnt-offering is expressly mentioned as that which was made by Bezaleel. Hence it is clear that the Mosaic tabernacle, with its altar of burnt-offering, had been preserved, and consequently that it must have been moved first from Shiloh to Nob, and then, when Saul sacked this town (1 Sam 22), to Gibeon. The destruction of the place of God in Shiloh must accordingly have consisted in this, that not only was the tabernacle with the altar carried off from thence, but the buildings necessary in connection with the maintenance of the public worship which surrounded it were swept away when the city was plundered, so that of the place of the sanctuary nothing was left remaining.
It is clear that about the tabernacle there were various buildings which, along with the tabernacle and its altars, constituted "the house of God at Shiloh;" for in 1 Sam 3 we are told that Samuel slept in the temple of Jahveh (1Sa 3:3), and that in the morning he opened the doors of the house of God (1Sa 3:15). Hence we may gather, that round about the court of the tabernacle there were buildings erected, which were used partly as a dwelling-place for the officiating priests and Levites, and partly for storing up the heave-offerings, and for preparing the thank-offerings at the sacrificial meals (1Sa 2:11-21).
This whole system of buildings surrounding the tabernacle, with its court and altar of burnt-offering, was called the "house of God;" from which name Graf erroneously inferred that there was at Shiloh a temple like the one in Jerusalem. The wickedness of my people, is the Israelites’ fall into idolatry in Eli’s time, because of which the Lord gave up Israel into the power of the Philistines and other enemies (Jdg 13:1; cf.
1Sa 7:3). "These deeds" (Jer 7:13) are the sins named in Jer 7:9. ואדבּר is a continuation of the infinitive sentence, and is still dependent on יען. Speaking from early morn, i. e. , speaking earnestly and unremittingly; cf. Gesen. §131, 3, b . I have called you, i. e. , to repent, and ye have not answered, i. e. , have not repented and turned to me.
Jer 7:12-14 The temple is to undergo the fate of the former sanctuary at Shiloh. This threat is introduced by a grounding כּי, for. This for refers to the central idea of the last verse, that they must not build their expectations on the temple, hold it to be a pledge for their safety. For since the Lord has seen how they have profaned and still profane it, He will destroy it, as the sanctuary at Shiloh was destroyed.
The rhetorical mode of utterance, Go to the place, etc. , contributes to strengthen the threatening. They were to behold with their own eyes the fate of the sanctuary at Shiloh, that so they might understand that the sacredness of a place does not save it from overthrow, if men have desecrated it by their wickedness. We have no historical notice of the event to which Jeremiah refers.
At Shiloh, now Seilân (in ruins) the Mosaic tabernacle was erected after the conquest of Canaan (Jos 18:1), and there it was still standing in the time of the high priest Eli, 1Sa 1:1-3; but the ark, which had fallen into the hands of the Philistines at the time of their victory (1 Sam 4), was not brought back to the tabernacle when it was restored again to the Israelites. In the reign of Saul we find the tabernacle at Nob (1Sa 21:2.)
The words of Jer 7:12 intimate, that at that time "the place of God at Shiloh" was lying in ruins. As Hitz. justly remarks, the destruction of it is not to be understood of its gradual decay after the removal of the ark (1Sa 4:11; 1Sa 7:1.) ; the words imply a devastation or destruction, not of the place of God at Shiloh only, but of the place Shiloh itself.
This is clearly seen from Jer 7:14 : I will do unto this house (the temple), and the place which I gave to your fathers, as I have done unto Shiloh. This destruction did not take place when the Assyrians overthrew the kingdom of the ten tribes, but much earlier. It may, indeed, be gathered from Jdg 18:20, Jdg 18:31 (see the comment. on this passage), that it was as early as the time of Saul, during a Syrian invasion.
By the destruction of the place of God at Shiloh, we need not understand that the tabernacle itself, with its altar and other sacred furniture (except the ark), was swept away. Such a view is contradicted by the statement in 1Ch 21:29; 2Ch 1:3, according to which the tabernacle built by Moses in the wilderness was still standing at Gibeon in David’s time, and in the beginning of Solomon’s reign; cf.
with 2Ch 1:5, when the brazen altar of burnt-offering is expressly mentioned as that which was made by Bezaleel. Hence it is clear that the Mosaic tabernacle, with its altar of burnt-offering, had been preserved, and consequently that it must have been moved first from Shiloh to Nob, and then, when Saul sacked this town (1 Sam 22), to Gibeon. The destruction of the place of God in Shiloh must accordingly have consisted in this, that not only was the tabernacle with the altar carried off from thence, but the buildings necessary in connection with the maintenance of the public worship which surrounded it were swept away when the city was plundered, so that of the place of the sanctuary nothing was left remaining.
It is clear that about the tabernacle there were various buildings which, along with the tabernacle and its altars, constituted "the house of God at Shiloh;" for in 1 Sam 3 we are told that Samuel slept in the temple of Jahveh (1Sa 3:3), and that in the morning he opened the doors of the house of God (1Sa 3:15). Hence we may gather, that round about the court of the tabernacle there were buildings erected, which were used partly as a dwelling-place for the officiating priests and Levites, and partly for storing up the heave-offerings, and for preparing the thank-offerings at the sacrificial meals (1Sa 2:11-21).
This whole system of buildings surrounding the tabernacle, with its court and altar of burnt-offering, was called the "house of God;" from which name Graf erroneously inferred that there was at Shiloh a temple like the one in Jerusalem. The wickedness of my people, is the Israelites’ fall into idolatry in Eli’s time, because of which the Lord gave up Israel into the power of the Philistines and other enemies (Jdg 13:1; cf.
1Sa 7:3). "These deeds" (Jer 7:13) are the sins named in Jer 7:9. ואדבּר is a continuation of the infinitive sentence, and is still dependent on יען. Speaking from early morn, i. e. , speaking earnestly and unremittingly; cf. Gesen. §131, 3, b . I have called you, i. e. , to repent, and ye have not answered, i. e. , have not repented and turned to me.
Jer 7:15 I cast you out from my sight, i.e., drive you forth amongst the heathen; cf. Deu 29:27; and with the second clause cf. 2Ki 17:20. The whole seed of Ephraim is the ten tribes.
Jer 7:16-28 This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re 2 fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee.
Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provoke they me, saith Jahveh, not themselves, to the shaming of their face?
Jer 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jahveh, Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and shall burn, and not be quenched. Jer 7:21. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Your burnt-offerings add to your slain-offerings, and eat flesh. Jer 7:22.
For I spake not with your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt-offering or slain-offering. Jer 7:23. But this word commanded I them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.
Jer 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, and walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and turned to me the back, and not the face. Jer 7:25. Since the day that your fathers went forth of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily from early morn sending them; Jer 7:26. But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, and were stiffnecked, and did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27. And though thou speakest all these words unto them, yet will they not hearken unto thee; and though thou callest unto them, yet will they not answer thee. Jer 7:28. Thus speak to them: This is the people that hearken not unto the voice of Jahveh its God, and that receive not correction. Perished is faithfulness, cut off from their mouth." The purport of Jer 7:16, that God will not suffer Himself to be moved by any entreaties to revoke the doom pronounced on the wicked people, is expressed by way of a command from God to the prophet not to pray for the people.
That Jeremiah did sometimes pray thus, however, we see from Jer 14:19. (cf. Jer 18:20), when to his prayer the same answer is given as we have here, and all intercession for the corrupt race is characterized as in vain. The second clause: lift not up for them crying, i. e. , supplicatory prayer, expresses the same, only more strongly; while the third clause: urge me not, cuts off all hope of success from even the most importunate intercession.
The reason for this command to desist is shown in Jer 7:17, by a reference to the idolatry which was openly practised throughout the land by young and old, men and women. Each takes part according to strength and capacity: the sons gather wood together, the fathers set the fire in order, etc. The deity so zealously worshipped by the people is called the Queen of heaven, and is mentioned only by Jeremiah.
Besides here, there is reference to her in Jer 44:17, where we see that her worship was very diligently cultivated, and that she was adored as the bestower of earthly possessions. (מלכת is stat. constr . , either from the Chald. form מלך, or from מליכה, after the analogy of גּברת, st. constr . of גּבירה; but perhaps it has מלכת in stat. abs .) This worship was combined with that of the stars, the host of heaven, which especially prevailed under Manasseh (2Ki 21:5).
Thence it may be presumed that the Queen of heaven was one of the deities who came to Western Asia with the Assyrians, and that she corresponds to the Assyrian-Persian Tanais and Artemis , who in the course of time took the place once occupied by the closely related Phoenician Astarte. She is originally a deification of the moon, the Assyrian Selene and Virgo caelestis , who, as supreme female deity, was companion to Baal-Moloch as sun-god; cf.
Movers, Phönizier , i. S. 623ff. With this accords the statement of Steph. Byz. , that σελήνη is also πήπανον τι τῷ ἄστρω παραπλήσιον. The offerings which, acc. to this verse and Jer 44:19, were brought to her, are called כּוּנים, a word which would appear to have come to the Hebrews along with the foreign cultus. By the lxx it was Grecized into χαυῶνας, for which we find in glossators and codd .
καυῶνας and χαβῶνας. They were, acc. to the Etymol. magn. and Suidas, ἄρτοι ἐλαίῳ ἀναφυραθέντες or λάχανα ὄπτα (? cooked vegetables); acc. to Jerome, χαυῶνας, quas nos placentas interpretati sumus . In any case, they were some kind of sacrificial cakes, which Vitr. put alongside of the πόπανα of Aristophanes and Lucian; cf. the various interpretations in Schleussner, Lexic .
in lxx s. v . χαυών. These cakes were kindled on the altar (cf. מקטּרים, Jer 44:19) as a kind of Minchah (meat-offering), and with this Minchah a libation or drink-offering (נסכים) was combined. הסּך corresponds to לעשׂות, so that ל has to be repeated; cf. Jer 44:19, Jer 44:25, where we find libations poured out to the Queen of heaven. In the 18th verse the expression is generalized into "other gods," with reference to the fact that the service of the Queen of heaven was but one kind of idolatry along with others, since other strange gods were worshipped by sacrifices and libations.
To provoke me; cf. Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16, etc.
Jer 7:16-28 This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re 2 fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee.
Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provoke they me, saith Jahveh, not themselves, to the shaming of their face?
Jer 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jahveh, Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and shall burn, and not be quenched. Jer 7:21. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Your burnt-offerings add to your slain-offerings, and eat flesh. Jer 7:22.
For I spake not with your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt-offering or slain-offering. Jer 7:23. But this word commanded I them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.
Jer 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, and walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and turned to me the back, and not the face. Jer 7:25. Since the day that your fathers went forth of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily from early morn sending them; Jer 7:26. But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, and were stiffnecked, and did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27. And though thou speakest all these words unto them, yet will they not hearken unto thee; and though thou callest unto them, yet will they not answer thee. Jer 7:28. Thus speak to them: This is the people that hearken not unto the voice of Jahveh its God, and that receive not correction. Perished is faithfulness, cut off from their mouth." The purport of Jer 7:16, that God will not suffer Himself to be moved by any entreaties to revoke the doom pronounced on the wicked people, is expressed by way of a command from God to the prophet not to pray for the people.
That Jeremiah did sometimes pray thus, however, we see from Jer 14:19. (cf. Jer 18:20), when to his prayer the same answer is given as we have here, and all intercession for the corrupt race is characterized as in vain. The second clause: lift not up for them crying, i. e. , supplicatory prayer, expresses the same, only more strongly; while the third clause: urge me not, cuts off all hope of success from even the most importunate intercession.
The reason for this command to desist is shown in Jer 7:17, by a reference to the idolatry which was openly practised throughout the land by young and old, men and women. Each takes part according to strength and capacity: the sons gather wood together, the fathers set the fire in order, etc. The deity so zealously worshipped by the people is called the Queen of heaven, and is mentioned only by Jeremiah.
Besides here, there is reference to her in Jer 44:17, where we see that her worship was very diligently cultivated, and that she was adored as the bestower of earthly possessions. (מלכת is stat. constr . , either from the Chald. form מלך, or from מליכה, after the analogy of גּברת, st. constr . of גּבירה; but perhaps it has מלכת in stat. abs .) This worship was combined with that of the stars, the host of heaven, which especially prevailed under Manasseh (2Ki 21:5).
Thence it may be presumed that the Queen of heaven was one of the deities who came to Western Asia with the Assyrians, and that she corresponds to the Assyrian-Persian Tanais and Artemis , who in the course of time took the place once occupied by the closely related Phoenician Astarte. She is originally a deification of the moon, the Assyrian Selene and Virgo caelestis , who, as supreme female deity, was companion to Baal-Moloch as sun-god; cf.
Movers, Phönizier , i. S. 623ff. With this accords the statement of Steph. Byz. , that σελήνη is also πήπανον τι τῷ ἄστρω παραπλήσιον. The offerings which, acc. to this verse and Jer 44:19, were brought to her, are called כּוּנים, a word which would appear to have come to the Hebrews along with the foreign cultus. By the lxx it was Grecized into χαυῶνας, for which we find in glossators and codd .
καυῶνας and χαβῶνας. They were, acc. to the Etymol. magn. and Suidas, ἄρτοι ἐλαίῳ ἀναφυραθέντες or λάχανα ὄπτα (? cooked vegetables); acc. to Jerome, χαυῶνας, quas nos placentas interpretati sumus . In any case, they were some kind of sacrificial cakes, which Vitr. put alongside of the πόπανα of Aristophanes and Lucian; cf. the various interpretations in Schleussner, Lexic .
in lxx s. v . χαυών. These cakes were kindled on the altar (cf. מקטּרים, Jer 44:19) as a kind of Minchah (meat-offering), and with this Minchah a libation or drink-offering (נסכים) was combined. הסּך corresponds to לעשׂות, so that ל has to be repeated; cf. Jer 44:19, Jer 44:25, where we find libations poured out to the Queen of heaven. In the 18th verse the expression is generalized into "other gods," with reference to the fact that the service of the Queen of heaven was but one kind of idolatry along with others, since other strange gods were worshipped by sacrifices and libations.
To provoke me; cf. Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16, etc.
Jer 7:16-28 This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re 2 fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee.
Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provoke they me, saith Jahveh, not themselves, to the shaming of their face?
Jer 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jahveh, Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and shall burn, and not be quenched. Jer 7:21. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Your burnt-offerings add to your slain-offerings, and eat flesh. Jer 7:22.
For I spake not with your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt-offering or slain-offering. Jer 7:23. But this word commanded I them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.
Jer 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, and walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and turned to me the back, and not the face. Jer 7:25. Since the day that your fathers went forth of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily from early morn sending them; Jer 7:26. But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, and were stiffnecked, and did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27. And though thou speakest all these words unto them, yet will they not hearken unto thee; and though thou callest unto them, yet will they not answer thee. Jer 7:28. Thus speak to them: This is the people that hearken not unto the voice of Jahveh its God, and that receive not correction. Perished is faithfulness, cut off from their mouth." The purport of Jer 7:16, that God will not suffer Himself to be moved by any entreaties to revoke the doom pronounced on the wicked people, is expressed by way of a command from God to the prophet not to pray for the people.
That Jeremiah did sometimes pray thus, however, we see from Jer 14:19. (cf. Jer 18:20), when to his prayer the same answer is given as we have here, and all intercession for the corrupt race is characterized as in vain. The second clause: lift not up for them crying, i. e. , supplicatory prayer, expresses the same, only more strongly; while the third clause: urge me not, cuts off all hope of success from even the most importunate intercession.
The reason for this command to desist is shown in Jer 7:17, by a reference to the idolatry which was openly practised throughout the land by young and old, men and women. Each takes part according to strength and capacity: the sons gather wood together, the fathers set the fire in order, etc. The deity so zealously worshipped by the people is called the Queen of heaven, and is mentioned only by Jeremiah.
Besides here, there is reference to her in Jer 44:17, where we see that her worship was very diligently cultivated, and that she was adored as the bestower of earthly possessions. (מלכת is stat. constr . , either from the Chald. form מלך, or from מליכה, after the analogy of גּברת, st. constr . of גּבירה; but perhaps it has מלכת in stat. abs .) This worship was combined with that of the stars, the host of heaven, which especially prevailed under Manasseh (2Ki 21:5).
Thence it may be presumed that the Queen of heaven was one of the deities who came to Western Asia with the Assyrians, and that she corresponds to the Assyrian-Persian Tanais and Artemis , who in the course of time took the place once occupied by the closely related Phoenician Astarte. She is originally a deification of the moon, the Assyrian Selene and Virgo caelestis , who, as supreme female deity, was companion to Baal-Moloch as sun-god; cf.
Movers, Phönizier , i. S. 623ff. With this accords the statement of Steph. Byz. , that σελήνη is also πήπανον τι τῷ ἄστρω παραπλήσιον. The offerings which, acc. to this verse and Jer 44:19, were brought to her, are called כּוּנים, a word which would appear to have come to the Hebrews along with the foreign cultus. By the lxx it was Grecized into χαυῶνας, for which we find in glossators and codd .
καυῶνας and χαβῶνας. They were, acc. to the Etymol. magn. and Suidas, ἄρτοι ἐλαίῳ ἀναφυραθέντες or λάχανα ὄπτα (? cooked vegetables); acc. to Jerome, χαυῶνας, quas nos placentas interpretati sumus . In any case, they were some kind of sacrificial cakes, which Vitr. put alongside of the πόπανα of Aristophanes and Lucian; cf. the various interpretations in Schleussner, Lexic .
in lxx s. v . χαυών. These cakes were kindled on the altar (cf. מקטּרים, Jer 44:19) as a kind of Minchah (meat-offering), and with this Minchah a libation or drink-offering (נסכים) was combined. הסּך corresponds to לעשׂות, so that ל has to be repeated; cf. Jer 44:19, Jer 44:25, where we find libations poured out to the Queen of heaven. In the 18th verse the expression is generalized into "other gods," with reference to the fact that the service of the Queen of heaven was but one kind of idolatry along with others, since other strange gods were worshipped by sacrifices and libations.
To provoke me; cf. Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16, etc.
Jer 7:16-28 This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re 2 fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee.
Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provoke they me, saith Jahveh, not themselves, to the shaming of their face?
Jer 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jahveh, Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and shall burn, and not be quenched. Jer 7:21. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Your burnt-offerings add to your slain-offerings, and eat flesh. Jer 7:22.
For I spake not with your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt-offering or slain-offering. Jer 7:23. But this word commanded I them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.
Jer 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, and walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and turned to me the back, and not the face. Jer 7:25. Since the day that your fathers went forth of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily from early morn sending them; Jer 7:26. But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, and were stiffnecked, and did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27. And though thou speakest all these words unto them, yet will they not hearken unto thee; and though thou callest unto them, yet will they not answer thee. Jer 7:28. Thus speak to them: This is the people that hearken not unto the voice of Jahveh its God, and that receive not correction. Perished is faithfulness, cut off from their mouth." The purport of Jer 7:16, that God will not suffer Himself to be moved by any entreaties to revoke the doom pronounced on the wicked people, is expressed by way of a command from God to the prophet not to pray for the people.
That Jeremiah did sometimes pray thus, however, we see from Jer 14:19. (cf. Jer 18:20), when to his prayer the same answer is given as we have here, and all intercession for the corrupt race is characterized as in vain. The second clause: lift not up for them crying, i. e. , supplicatory prayer, expresses the same, only more strongly; while the third clause: urge me not, cuts off all hope of success from even the most importunate intercession.
The reason for this command to desist is shown in Jer 7:17, by a reference to the idolatry which was openly practised throughout the land by young and old, men and women. Each takes part according to strength and capacity: the sons gather wood together, the fathers set the fire in order, etc. The deity so zealously worshipped by the people is called the Queen of heaven, and is mentioned only by Jeremiah.
Besides here, there is reference to her in Jer 44:17, where we see that her worship was very diligently cultivated, and that she was adored as the bestower of earthly possessions. (מלכת is stat. constr . , either from the Chald. form מלך, or from מליכה, after the analogy of גּברת, st. constr . of גּבירה; but perhaps it has מלכת in stat. abs .) This worship was combined with that of the stars, the host of heaven, which especially prevailed under Manasseh (2Ki 21:5).
Thence it may be presumed that the Queen of heaven was one of the deities who came to Western Asia with the Assyrians, and that she corresponds to the Assyrian-Persian Tanais and Artemis , who in the course of time took the place once occupied by the closely related Phoenician Astarte. She is originally a deification of the moon, the Assyrian Selene and Virgo caelestis , who, as supreme female deity, was companion to Baal-Moloch as sun-god; cf.
Movers, Phönizier , i. S. 623ff. With this accords the statement of Steph. Byz. , that σελήνη is also πήπανον τι τῷ ἄστρω παραπλήσιον. The offerings which, acc. to this verse and Jer 44:19, were brought to her, are called כּוּנים, a word which would appear to have come to the Hebrews along with the foreign cultus. By the lxx it was Grecized into χαυῶνας, for which we find in glossators and codd .
καυῶνας and χαβῶνας. They were, acc. to the Etymol. magn. and Suidas, ἄρτοι ἐλαίῳ ἀναφυραθέντες or λάχανα ὄπτα (? cooked vegetables); acc. to Jerome, χαυῶνας, quas nos placentas interpretati sumus . In any case, they were some kind of sacrificial cakes, which Vitr. put alongside of the πόπανα of Aristophanes and Lucian; cf. the various interpretations in Schleussner, Lexic .
in lxx s. v . χαυών. These cakes were kindled on the altar (cf. מקטּרים, Jer 44:19) as a kind of Minchah (meat-offering), and with this Minchah a libation or drink-offering (נסכים) was combined. הסּך corresponds to לעשׂות, so that ל has to be repeated; cf. Jer 44:19, Jer 44:25, where we find libations poured out to the Queen of heaven. In the 18th verse the expression is generalized into "other gods," with reference to the fact that the service of the Queen of heaven was but one kind of idolatry along with others, since other strange gods were worshipped by sacrifices and libations.
To provoke me; cf. Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16, etc.
Jer 7:16-28 This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re 2 fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee.
Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provoke they me, saith Jahveh, not themselves, to the shaming of their face?
Jer 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jahveh, Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and shall burn, and not be quenched. Jer 7:21. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Your burnt-offerings add to your slain-offerings, and eat flesh. Jer 7:22.
For I spake not with your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt-offering or slain-offering. Jer 7:23. But this word commanded I them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.
Jer 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, and walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and turned to me the back, and not the face. Jer 7:25. Since the day that your fathers went forth of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily from early morn sending them; Jer 7:26. But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, and were stiffnecked, and did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27. And though thou speakest all these words unto them, yet will they not hearken unto thee; and though thou callest unto them, yet will they not answer thee. Jer 7:28. Thus speak to them: This is the people that hearken not unto the voice of Jahveh its God, and that receive not correction. Perished is faithfulness, cut off from their mouth." The purport of Jer 7:16, that God will not suffer Himself to be moved by any entreaties to revoke the doom pronounced on the wicked people, is expressed by way of a command from God to the prophet not to pray for the people.
That Jeremiah did sometimes pray thus, however, we see from Jer 14:19. (cf. Jer 18:20), when to his prayer the same answer is given as we have here, and all intercession for the corrupt race is characterized as in vain. The second clause: lift not up for them crying, i. e. , supplicatory prayer, expresses the same, only more strongly; while the third clause: urge me not, cuts off all hope of success from even the most importunate intercession.
The reason for this command to desist is shown in Jer 7:17, by a reference to the idolatry which was openly practised throughout the land by young and old, men and women. Each takes part according to strength and capacity: the sons gather wood together, the fathers set the fire in order, etc. The deity so zealously worshipped by the people is called the Queen of heaven, and is mentioned only by Jeremiah.
Besides here, there is reference to her in Jer 44:17, where we see that her worship was very diligently cultivated, and that she was adored as the bestower of earthly possessions. (מלכת is stat. constr . , either from the Chald. form מלך, or from מליכה, after the analogy of גּברת, st. constr . of גּבירה; but perhaps it has מלכת in stat. abs .) This worship was combined with that of the stars, the host of heaven, which especially prevailed under Manasseh (2Ki 21:5).
Thence it may be presumed that the Queen of heaven was one of the deities who came to Western Asia with the Assyrians, and that she corresponds to the Assyrian-Persian Tanais and Artemis , who in the course of time took the place once occupied by the closely related Phoenician Astarte. She is originally a deification of the moon, the Assyrian Selene and Virgo caelestis , who, as supreme female deity, was companion to Baal-Moloch as sun-god; cf.
Movers, Phönizier , i. S. 623ff. With this accords the statement of Steph. Byz. , that σελήνη is also πήπανον τι τῷ ἄστρω παραπλήσιον. The offerings which, acc. to this verse and Jer 44:19, were brought to her, are called כּוּנים, a word which would appear to have come to the Hebrews along with the foreign cultus. By the lxx it was Grecized into χαυῶνας, for which we find in glossators and codd .
καυῶνας and χαβῶνας. They were, acc. to the Etymol. magn. and Suidas, ἄρτοι ἐλαίῳ ἀναφυραθέντες or λάχανα ὄπτα (? cooked vegetables); acc. to Jerome, χαυῶνας, quas nos placentas interpretati sumus . In any case, they were some kind of sacrificial cakes, which Vitr. put alongside of the πόπανα of Aristophanes and Lucian; cf. the various interpretations in Schleussner, Lexic .
in lxx s. v . χαυών. These cakes were kindled on the altar (cf. מקטּרים, Jer 44:19) as a kind of Minchah (meat-offering), and with this Minchah a libation or drink-offering (נסכים) was combined. הסּך corresponds to לעשׂות, so that ל has to be repeated; cf. Jer 44:19, Jer 44:25, where we find libations poured out to the Queen of heaven. In the 18th verse the expression is generalized into "other gods," with reference to the fact that the service of the Queen of heaven was but one kind of idolatry along with others, since other strange gods were worshipped by sacrifices and libations.
To provoke me; cf. Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16, etc.
Jer 7:16-28 This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re 2 fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee.
Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provoke they me, saith Jahveh, not themselves, to the shaming of their face?
Jer 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jahveh, Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and shall burn, and not be quenched. Jer 7:21. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Your burnt-offerings add to your slain-offerings, and eat flesh. Jer 7:22.
For I spake not with your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt-offering or slain-offering. Jer 7:23. But this word commanded I them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.
Jer 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, and walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and turned to me the back, and not the face. Jer 7:25. Since the day that your fathers went forth of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily from early morn sending them; Jer 7:26. But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, and were stiffnecked, and did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27. And though thou speakest all these words unto them, yet will they not hearken unto thee; and though thou callest unto them, yet will they not answer thee. Jer 7:28. Thus speak to them: This is the people that hearken not unto the voice of Jahveh its God, and that receive not correction. Perished is faithfulness, cut off from their mouth." The purport of Jer 7:16, that God will not suffer Himself to be moved by any entreaties to revoke the doom pronounced on the wicked people, is expressed by way of a command from God to the prophet not to pray for the people.
That Jeremiah did sometimes pray thus, however, we see from Jer 14:19. (cf. Jer 18:20), when to his prayer the same answer is given as we have here, and all intercession for the corrupt race is characterized as in vain. The second clause: lift not up for them crying, i. e. , supplicatory prayer, expresses the same, only more strongly; while the third clause: urge me not, cuts off all hope of success from even the most importunate intercession.
The reason for this command to desist is shown in Jer 7:17, by a reference to the idolatry which was openly practised throughout the land by young and old, men and women. Each takes part according to strength and capacity: the sons gather wood together, the fathers set the fire in order, etc. The deity so zealously worshipped by the people is called the Queen of heaven, and is mentioned only by Jeremiah.
Besides here, there is reference to her in Jer 44:17, where we see that her worship was very diligently cultivated, and that she was adored as the bestower of earthly possessions. (מלכת is stat. constr . , either from the Chald. form מלך, or from מליכה, after the analogy of גּברת, st. constr . of גּבירה; but perhaps it has מלכת in stat. abs .) This worship was combined with that of the stars, the host of heaven, which especially prevailed under Manasseh (2Ki 21:5).
Thence it may be presumed that the Queen of heaven was one of the deities who came to Western Asia with the Assyrians, and that she corresponds to the Assyrian-Persian Tanais and Artemis , who in the course of time took the place once occupied by the closely related Phoenician Astarte. She is originally a deification of the moon, the Assyrian Selene and Virgo caelestis , who, as supreme female deity, was companion to Baal-Moloch as sun-god; cf.
Movers, Phönizier , i. S. 623ff. With this accords the statement of Steph. Byz. , that σελήνη is also πήπανον τι τῷ ἄστρω παραπλήσιον. The offerings which, acc. to this verse and Jer 44:19, were brought to her, are called כּוּנים, a word which would appear to have come to the Hebrews along with the foreign cultus. By the lxx it was Grecized into χαυῶνας, for which we find in glossators and codd .
καυῶνας and χαβῶνας. They were, acc. to the Etymol. magn. and Suidas, ἄρτοι ἐλαίῳ ἀναφυραθέντες or λάχανα ὄπτα (? cooked vegetables); acc. to Jerome, χαυῶνας, quas nos placentas interpretati sumus . In any case, they were some kind of sacrificial cakes, which Vitr. put alongside of the πόπανα of Aristophanes and Lucian; cf. the various interpretations in Schleussner, Lexic .
in lxx s. v . χαυών. These cakes were kindled on the altar (cf. מקטּרים, Jer 44:19) as a kind of Minchah (meat-offering), and with this Minchah a libation or drink-offering (נסכים) was combined. הסּך corresponds to לעשׂות, so that ל has to be repeated; cf. Jer 44:19, Jer 44:25, where we find libations poured out to the Queen of heaven. In the 18th verse the expression is generalized into "other gods," with reference to the fact that the service of the Queen of heaven was but one kind of idolatry along with others, since other strange gods were worshipped by sacrifices and libations.
To provoke me; cf. Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16, etc.
Jer 7:16-28 This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re 2 fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee.
Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provoke they me, saith Jahveh, not themselves, to the shaming of their face?
Jer 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jahveh, Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and shall burn, and not be quenched. Jer 7:21. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Your burnt-offerings add to your slain-offerings, and eat flesh. Jer 7:22.
For I spake not with your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt-offering or slain-offering. Jer 7:23. But this word commanded I them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.
Jer 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, and walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and turned to me the back, and not the face. Jer 7:25. Since the day that your fathers went forth of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily from early morn sending them; Jer 7:26. But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, and were stiffnecked, and did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27. And though thou speakest all these words unto them, yet will they not hearken unto thee; and though thou callest unto them, yet will they not answer thee. Jer 7:28. Thus speak to them: This is the people that hearken not unto the voice of Jahveh its God, and that receive not correction. Perished is faithfulness, cut off from their mouth." The purport of Jer 7:16, that God will not suffer Himself to be moved by any entreaties to revoke the doom pronounced on the wicked people, is expressed by way of a command from God to the prophet not to pray for the people.
That Jeremiah did sometimes pray thus, however, we see from Jer 14:19. (cf. Jer 18:20), when to his prayer the same answer is given as we have here, and all intercession for the corrupt race is characterized as in vain. The second clause: lift not up for them crying, i. e. , supplicatory prayer, expresses the same, only more strongly; while the third clause: urge me not, cuts off all hope of success from even the most importunate intercession.
The reason for this command to desist is shown in Jer 7:17, by a reference to the idolatry which was openly practised throughout the land by young and old, men and women. Each takes part according to strength and capacity: the sons gather wood together, the fathers set the fire in order, etc. The deity so zealously worshipped by the people is called the Queen of heaven, and is mentioned only by Jeremiah.
Besides here, there is reference to her in Jer 44:17, where we see that her worship was very diligently cultivated, and that she was adored as the bestower of earthly possessions. (מלכת is stat. constr . , either from the Chald. form מלך, or from מליכה, after the analogy of גּברת, st. constr . of גּבירה; but perhaps it has מלכת in stat. abs .) This worship was combined with that of the stars, the host of heaven, which especially prevailed under Manasseh (2Ki 21:5).
Thence it may be presumed that the Queen of heaven was one of the deities who came to Western Asia with the Assyrians, and that she corresponds to the Assyrian-Persian Tanais and Artemis , who in the course of time took the place once occupied by the closely related Phoenician Astarte. She is originally a deification of the moon, the Assyrian Selene and Virgo caelestis , who, as supreme female deity, was companion to Baal-Moloch as sun-god; cf.
Movers, Phönizier , i. S. 623ff. With this accords the statement of Steph. Byz. , that σελήνη is also πήπανον τι τῷ ἄστρω παραπλήσιον. The offerings which, acc. to this verse and Jer 44:19, were brought to her, are called כּוּנים, a word which would appear to have come to the Hebrews along with the foreign cultus. By the lxx it was Grecized into χαυῶνας, for which we find in glossators and codd .
καυῶνας and χαβῶνας. They were, acc. to the Etymol. magn. and Suidas, ἄρτοι ἐλαίῳ ἀναφυραθέντες or λάχανα ὄπτα (? cooked vegetables); acc. to Jerome, χαυῶνας, quas nos placentas interpretati sumus . In any case, they were some kind of sacrificial cakes, which Vitr. put alongside of the πόπανα of Aristophanes and Lucian; cf. the various interpretations in Schleussner, Lexic .
in lxx s. v . χαυών. These cakes were kindled on the altar (cf. מקטּרים, Jer 44:19) as a kind of Minchah (meat-offering), and with this Minchah a libation or drink-offering (נסכים) was combined. הסּך corresponds to לעשׂות, so that ל has to be repeated; cf. Jer 44:19, Jer 44:25, where we find libations poured out to the Queen of heaven. In the 18th verse the expression is generalized into "other gods," with reference to the fact that the service of the Queen of heaven was but one kind of idolatry along with others, since other strange gods were worshipped by sacrifices and libations.
To provoke me; cf. Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16, etc.
Jer 7:16-28 This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re 2 fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee.
Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provoke they me, saith Jahveh, not themselves, to the shaming of their face?
Jer 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jahveh, Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and shall burn, and not be quenched. Jer 7:21. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Your burnt-offerings add to your slain-offerings, and eat flesh. Jer 7:22.
For I spake not with your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt-offering or slain-offering. Jer 7:23. But this word commanded I them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.
Jer 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, and walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and turned to me the back, and not the face. Jer 7:25. Since the day that your fathers went forth of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily from early morn sending them; Jer 7:26. But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, and were stiffnecked, and did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27. And though thou speakest all these words unto them, yet will they not hearken unto thee; and though thou callest unto them, yet will they not answer thee. Jer 7:28. Thus speak to them: This is the people that hearken not unto the voice of Jahveh its God, and that receive not correction. Perished is faithfulness, cut off from their mouth." The purport of Jer 7:16, that God will not suffer Himself to be moved by any entreaties to revoke the doom pronounced on the wicked people, is expressed by way of a command from God to the prophet not to pray for the people.
That Jeremiah did sometimes pray thus, however, we see from Jer 14:19. (cf. Jer 18:20), when to his prayer the same answer is given as we have here, and all intercession for the corrupt race is characterized as in vain. The second clause: lift not up for them crying, i. e. , supplicatory prayer, expresses the same, only more strongly; while the third clause: urge me not, cuts off all hope of success from even the most importunate intercession.
The reason for this command to desist is shown in Jer 7:17, by a reference to the idolatry which was openly practised throughout the land by young and old, men and women. Each takes part according to strength and capacity: the sons gather wood together, the fathers set the fire in order, etc. The deity so zealously worshipped by the people is called the Queen of heaven, and is mentioned only by Jeremiah.
Besides here, there is reference to her in Jer 44:17, where we see that her worship was very diligently cultivated, and that she was adored as the bestower of earthly possessions. (מלכת is stat. constr . , either from the Chald. form מלך, or from מליכה, after the analogy of גּברת, st. constr . of גּבירה; but perhaps it has מלכת in stat. abs .) This worship was combined with that of the stars, the host of heaven, which especially prevailed under Manasseh (2Ki 21:5).
Thence it may be presumed that the Queen of heaven was one of the deities who came to Western Asia with the Assyrians, and that she corresponds to the Assyrian-Persian Tanais and Artemis , who in the course of time took the place once occupied by the closely related Phoenician Astarte. She is originally a deification of the moon, the Assyrian Selene and Virgo caelestis , who, as supreme female deity, was companion to Baal-Moloch as sun-god; cf.
Movers, Phönizier , i. S. 623ff. With this accords the statement of Steph. Byz. , that σελήνη is also πήπανον τι τῷ ἄστρω παραπλήσιον. The offerings which, acc. to this verse and Jer 44:19, were brought to her, are called כּוּנים, a word which would appear to have come to the Hebrews along with the foreign cultus. By the lxx it was Grecized into χαυῶνας, for which we find in glossators and codd .
καυῶνας and χαβῶνας. They were, acc. to the Etymol. magn. and Suidas, ἄρτοι ἐλαίῳ ἀναφυραθέντες or λάχανα ὄπτα (? cooked vegetables); acc. to Jerome, χαυῶνας, quas nos placentas interpretati sumus . In any case, they were some kind of sacrificial cakes, which Vitr. put alongside of the πόπανα of Aristophanes and Lucian; cf. the various interpretations in Schleussner, Lexic .
in lxx s. v . χαυών. These cakes were kindled on the altar (cf. מקטּרים, Jer 44:19) as a kind of Minchah (meat-offering), and with this Minchah a libation or drink-offering (נסכים) was combined. הסּך corresponds to לעשׂות, so that ל has to be repeated; cf. Jer 44:19, Jer 44:25, where we find libations poured out to the Queen of heaven. In the 18th verse the expression is generalized into "other gods," with reference to the fact that the service of the Queen of heaven was but one kind of idolatry along with others, since other strange gods were worshipped by sacrifices and libations.
To provoke me; cf. Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16, etc.
Jer 7:16-28 This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re 2 fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee.
Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provoke they me, saith Jahveh, not themselves, to the shaming of their face?
Jer 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jahveh, Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and shall burn, and not be quenched. Jer 7:21. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Your burnt-offerings add to your slain-offerings, and eat flesh. Jer 7:22.
For I spake not with your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt-offering or slain-offering. Jer 7:23. But this word commanded I them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.
Jer 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, and walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and turned to me the back, and not the face. Jer 7:25. Since the day that your fathers went forth of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily from early morn sending them; Jer 7:26. But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, and were stiffnecked, and did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27. And though thou speakest all these words unto them, yet will they not hearken unto thee; and though thou callest unto them, yet will they not answer thee. Jer 7:28. Thus speak to them: This is the people that hearken not unto the voice of Jahveh its God, and that receive not correction. Perished is faithfulness, cut off from their mouth." The purport of Jer 7:16, that God will not suffer Himself to be moved by any entreaties to revoke the doom pronounced on the wicked people, is expressed by way of a command from God to the prophet not to pray for the people.
That Jeremiah did sometimes pray thus, however, we see from Jer 14:19. (cf. Jer 18:20), when to his prayer the same answer is given as we have here, and all intercession for the corrupt race is characterized as in vain. The second clause: lift not up for them crying, i. e. , supplicatory prayer, expresses the same, only more strongly; while the third clause: urge me not, cuts off all hope of success from even the most importunate intercession.
The reason for this command to desist is shown in Jer 7:17, by a reference to the idolatry which was openly practised throughout the land by young and old, men and women. Each takes part according to strength and capacity: the sons gather wood together, the fathers set the fire in order, etc. The deity so zealously worshipped by the people is called the Queen of heaven, and is mentioned only by Jeremiah.
Besides here, there is reference to her in Jer 44:17, where we see that her worship was very diligently cultivated, and that she was adored as the bestower of earthly possessions. (מלכת is stat. constr . , either from the Chald. form מלך, or from מליכה, after the analogy of גּברת, st. constr . of גּבירה; but perhaps it has מלכת in stat. abs .) This worship was combined with that of the stars, the host of heaven, which especially prevailed under Manasseh (2Ki 21:5).
Thence it may be presumed that the Queen of heaven was one of the deities who came to Western Asia with the Assyrians, and that she corresponds to the Assyrian-Persian Tanais and Artemis , who in the course of time took the place once occupied by the closely related Phoenician Astarte. She is originally a deification of the moon, the Assyrian Selene and Virgo caelestis , who, as supreme female deity, was companion to Baal-Moloch as sun-god; cf.
Movers, Phönizier , i. S. 623ff. With this accords the statement of Steph. Byz. , that σελήνη is also πήπανον τι τῷ ἄστρω παραπλήσιον. The offerings which, acc. to this verse and Jer 44:19, were brought to her, are called כּוּנים, a word which would appear to have come to the Hebrews along with the foreign cultus. By the lxx it was Grecized into χαυῶνας, for which we find in glossators and codd .
καυῶνας and χαβῶνας. They were, acc. to the Etymol. magn. and Suidas, ἄρτοι ἐλαίῳ ἀναφυραθέντες or λάχανα ὄπτα (? cooked vegetables); acc. to Jerome, χαυῶνας, quas nos placentas interpretati sumus . In any case, they were some kind of sacrificial cakes, which Vitr. put alongside of the πόπανα of Aristophanes and Lucian; cf. the various interpretations in Schleussner, Lexic .
in lxx s. v . χαυών. These cakes were kindled on the altar (cf. מקטּרים, Jer 44:19) as a kind of Minchah (meat-offering), and with this Minchah a libation or drink-offering (נסכים) was combined. הסּך corresponds to לעשׂות, so that ל has to be repeated; cf. Jer 44:19, Jer 44:25, where we find libations poured out to the Queen of heaven. In the 18th verse the expression is generalized into "other gods," with reference to the fact that the service of the Queen of heaven was but one kind of idolatry along with others, since other strange gods were worshipped by sacrifices and libations.
To provoke me; cf. Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16, etc.
Jer 7:16-28 This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re 2 fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee.
Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provoke they me, saith Jahveh, not themselves, to the shaming of their face?
Jer 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jahveh, Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and shall burn, and not be quenched. Jer 7:21. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Your burnt-offerings add to your slain-offerings, and eat flesh. Jer 7:22.
For I spake not with your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt-offering or slain-offering. Jer 7:23. But this word commanded I them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.
Jer 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, and walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and turned to me the back, and not the face. Jer 7:25. Since the day that your fathers went forth of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily from early morn sending them; Jer 7:26. But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, and were stiffnecked, and did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27. And though thou speakest all these words unto them, yet will they not hearken unto thee; and though thou callest unto them, yet will they not answer thee. Jer 7:28. Thus speak to them: This is the people that hearken not unto the voice of Jahveh its God, and that receive not correction. Perished is faithfulness, cut off from their mouth." The purport of Jer 7:16, that God will not suffer Himself to be moved by any entreaties to revoke the doom pronounced on the wicked people, is expressed by way of a command from God to the prophet not to pray for the people.
That Jeremiah did sometimes pray thus, however, we see from Jer 14:19. (cf. Jer 18:20), when to his prayer the same answer is given as we have here, and all intercession for the corrupt race is characterized as in vain. The second clause: lift not up for them crying, i. e. , supplicatory prayer, expresses the same, only more strongly; while the third clause: urge me not, cuts off all hope of success from even the most importunate intercession.
The reason for this command to desist is shown in Jer 7:17, by a reference to the idolatry which was openly practised throughout the land by young and old, men and women. Each takes part according to strength and capacity: the sons gather wood together, the fathers set the fire in order, etc. The deity so zealously worshipped by the people is called the Queen of heaven, and is mentioned only by Jeremiah.
Besides here, there is reference to her in Jer 44:17, where we see that her worship was very diligently cultivated, and that she was adored as the bestower of earthly possessions. (מלכת is stat. constr . , either from the Chald. form מלך, or from מליכה, after the analogy of גּברת, st. constr . of גּבירה; but perhaps it has מלכת in stat. abs .) This worship was combined with that of the stars, the host of heaven, which especially prevailed under Manasseh (2Ki 21:5).
Thence it may be presumed that the Queen of heaven was one of the deities who came to Western Asia with the Assyrians, and that she corresponds to the Assyrian-Persian Tanais and Artemis , who in the course of time took the place once occupied by the closely related Phoenician Astarte. She is originally a deification of the moon, the Assyrian Selene and Virgo caelestis , who, as supreme female deity, was companion to Baal-Moloch as sun-god; cf.
Movers, Phönizier , i. S. 623ff. With this accords the statement of Steph. Byz. , that σελήνη is also πήπανον τι τῷ ἄστρω παραπλήσιον. The offerings which, acc. to this verse and Jer 44:19, were brought to her, are called כּוּנים, a word which would appear to have come to the Hebrews along with the foreign cultus. By the lxx it was Grecized into χαυῶνας, for which we find in glossators and codd .
καυῶνας and χαβῶνας. They were, acc. to the Etymol. magn. and Suidas, ἄρτοι ἐλαίῳ ἀναφυραθέντες or λάχανα ὄπτα (? cooked vegetables); acc. to Jerome, χαυῶνας, quas nos placentas interpretati sumus . In any case, they were some kind of sacrificial cakes, which Vitr. put alongside of the πόπανα of Aristophanes and Lucian; cf. the various interpretations in Schleussner, Lexic .
in lxx s. v . χαυών. These cakes were kindled on the altar (cf. מקטּרים, Jer 44:19) as a kind of Minchah (meat-offering), and with this Minchah a libation or drink-offering (נסכים) was combined. הסּך corresponds to לעשׂות, so that ל has to be repeated; cf. Jer 44:19, Jer 44:25, where we find libations poured out to the Queen of heaven. In the 18th verse the expression is generalized into "other gods," with reference to the fact that the service of the Queen of heaven was but one kind of idolatry along with others, since other strange gods were worshipped by sacrifices and libations.
To provoke me; cf. Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16, etc.
Jer 7:16-28 This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re 2 fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee.
Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provoke they me, saith Jahveh, not themselves, to the shaming of their face?
Jer 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jahveh, Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and shall burn, and not be quenched. Jer 7:21. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Your burnt-offerings add to your slain-offerings, and eat flesh. Jer 7:22.
For I spake not with your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt-offering or slain-offering. Jer 7:23. But this word commanded I them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.
Jer 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, and walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and turned to me the back, and not the face. Jer 7:25. Since the day that your fathers went forth of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily from early morn sending them; Jer 7:26. But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, and were stiffnecked, and did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27. And though thou speakest all these words unto them, yet will they not hearken unto thee; and though thou callest unto them, yet will they not answer thee. Jer 7:28. Thus speak to them: This is the people that hearken not unto the voice of Jahveh its God, and that receive not correction. Perished is faithfulness, cut off from their mouth." The purport of Jer 7:16, that God will not suffer Himself to be moved by any entreaties to revoke the doom pronounced on the wicked people, is expressed by way of a command from God to the prophet not to pray for the people.
That Jeremiah did sometimes pray thus, however, we see from Jer 14:19. (cf. Jer 18:20), when to his prayer the same answer is given as we have here, and all intercession for the corrupt race is characterized as in vain. The second clause: lift not up for them crying, i. e. , supplicatory prayer, expresses the same, only more strongly; while the third clause: urge me not, cuts off all hope of success from even the most importunate intercession.
The reason for this command to desist is shown in Jer 7:17, by a reference to the idolatry which was openly practised throughout the land by young and old, men and women. Each takes part according to strength and capacity: the sons gather wood together, the fathers set the fire in order, etc. The deity so zealously worshipped by the people is called the Queen of heaven, and is mentioned only by Jeremiah.
Besides here, there is reference to her in Jer 44:17, where we see that her worship was very diligently cultivated, and that she was adored as the bestower of earthly possessions. (מלכת is stat. constr . , either from the Chald. form מלך, or from מליכה, after the analogy of גּברת, st. constr . of גּבירה; but perhaps it has מלכת in stat. abs .) This worship was combined with that of the stars, the host of heaven, which especially prevailed under Manasseh (2Ki 21:5).
Thence it may be presumed that the Queen of heaven was one of the deities who came to Western Asia with the Assyrians, and that she corresponds to the Assyrian-Persian Tanais and Artemis , who in the course of time took the place once occupied by the closely related Phoenician Astarte. She is originally a deification of the moon, the Assyrian Selene and Virgo caelestis , who, as supreme female deity, was companion to Baal-Moloch as sun-god; cf.
Movers, Phönizier , i. S. 623ff. With this accords the statement of Steph. Byz. , that σελήνη is also πήπανον τι τῷ ἄστρω παραπλήσιον. The offerings which, acc. to this verse and Jer 44:19, were brought to her, are called כּוּנים, a word which would appear to have come to the Hebrews along with the foreign cultus. By the lxx it was Grecized into χαυῶνας, for which we find in glossators and codd .
καυῶνας and χαβῶνας. They were, acc. to the Etymol. magn. and Suidas, ἄρτοι ἐλαίῳ ἀναφυραθέντες or λάχανα ὄπτα (? cooked vegetables); acc. to Jerome, χαυῶνας, quas nos placentas interpretati sumus . In any case, they were some kind of sacrificial cakes, which Vitr. put alongside of the πόπανα of Aristophanes and Lucian; cf. the various interpretations in Schleussner, Lexic .
in lxx s. v . χαυών. These cakes were kindled on the altar (cf. מקטּרים, Jer 44:19) as a kind of Minchah (meat-offering), and with this Minchah a libation or drink-offering (נסכים) was combined. הסּך corresponds to לעשׂות, so that ל has to be repeated; cf. Jer 44:19, Jer 44:25, where we find libations poured out to the Queen of heaven. In the 18th verse the expression is generalized into "other gods," with reference to the fact that the service of the Queen of heaven was but one kind of idolatry along with others, since other strange gods were worshipped by sacrifices and libations.
To provoke me; cf. Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16, etc.
Jer 7:16-28 This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re 2 fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee.
Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provoke they me, saith Jahveh, not themselves, to the shaming of their face?
Jer 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jahveh, Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and shall burn, and not be quenched. Jer 7:21. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Your burnt-offerings add to your slain-offerings, and eat flesh. Jer 7:22.
For I spake not with your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt-offering or slain-offering. Jer 7:23. But this word commanded I them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.
Jer 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, and walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and turned to me the back, and not the face. Jer 7:25. Since the day that your fathers went forth of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily from early morn sending them; Jer 7:26. But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, and were stiffnecked, and did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27. And though thou speakest all these words unto them, yet will they not hearken unto thee; and though thou callest unto them, yet will they not answer thee. Jer 7:28. Thus speak to them: This is the people that hearken not unto the voice of Jahveh its God, and that receive not correction. Perished is faithfulness, cut off from their mouth." The purport of Jer 7:16, that God will not suffer Himself to be moved by any entreaties to revoke the doom pronounced on the wicked people, is expressed by way of a command from God to the prophet not to pray for the people.
That Jeremiah did sometimes pray thus, however, we see from Jer 14:19. (cf. Jer 18:20), when to his prayer the same answer is given as we have here, and all intercession for the corrupt race is characterized as in vain. The second clause: lift not up for them crying, i. e. , supplicatory prayer, expresses the same, only more strongly; while the third clause: urge me not, cuts off all hope of success from even the most importunate intercession.
The reason for this command to desist is shown in Jer 7:17, by a reference to the idolatry which was openly practised throughout the land by young and old, men and women. Each takes part according to strength and capacity: the sons gather wood together, the fathers set the fire in order, etc. The deity so zealously worshipped by the people is called the Queen of heaven, and is mentioned only by Jeremiah.
Besides here, there is reference to her in Jer 44:17, where we see that her worship was very diligently cultivated, and that she was adored as the bestower of earthly possessions. (מלכת is stat. constr . , either from the Chald. form מלך, or from מליכה, after the analogy of גּברת, st. constr . of גּבירה; but perhaps it has מלכת in stat. abs .) This worship was combined with that of the stars, the host of heaven, which especially prevailed under Manasseh (2Ki 21:5).
Thence it may be presumed that the Queen of heaven was one of the deities who came to Western Asia with the Assyrians, and that she corresponds to the Assyrian-Persian Tanais and Artemis , who in the course of time took the place once occupied by the closely related Phoenician Astarte. She is originally a deification of the moon, the Assyrian Selene and Virgo caelestis , who, as supreme female deity, was companion to Baal-Moloch as sun-god; cf.
Movers, Phönizier , i. S. 623ff. With this accords the statement of Steph. Byz. , that σελήνη is also πήπανον τι τῷ ἄστρω παραπλήσιον. The offerings which, acc. to this verse and Jer 44:19, were brought to her, are called כּוּנים, a word which would appear to have come to the Hebrews along with the foreign cultus. By the lxx it was Grecized into χαυῶνας, for which we find in glossators and codd .
καυῶνας and χαβῶνας. They were, acc. to the Etymol. magn. and Suidas, ἄρτοι ἐλαίῳ ἀναφυραθέντες or λάχανα ὄπτα (? cooked vegetables); acc. to Jerome, χαυῶνας, quas nos placentas interpretati sumus . In any case, they were some kind of sacrificial cakes, which Vitr. put alongside of the πόπανα of Aristophanes and Lucian; cf. the various interpretations in Schleussner, Lexic .
in lxx s. v . χαυών. These cakes were kindled on the altar (cf. מקטּרים, Jer 44:19) as a kind of Minchah (meat-offering), and with this Minchah a libation or drink-offering (נסכים) was combined. הסּך corresponds to לעשׂות, so that ל has to be repeated; cf. Jer 44:19, Jer 44:25, where we find libations poured out to the Queen of heaven. In the 18th verse the expression is generalized into "other gods," with reference to the fact that the service of the Queen of heaven was but one kind of idolatry along with others, since other strange gods were worshipped by sacrifices and libations.
To provoke me; cf. Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16, etc.
Jer 7:16-28 This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re 2 fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee.
Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provoke they me, saith Jahveh, not themselves, to the shaming of their face?
Jer 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jahveh, Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and shall burn, and not be quenched. Jer 7:21. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Your burnt-offerings add to your slain-offerings, and eat flesh. Jer 7:22.
For I spake not with your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt-offering or slain-offering. Jer 7:23. But this word commanded I them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.
Jer 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, and walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and turned to me the back, and not the face. Jer 7:25. Since the day that your fathers went forth of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily from early morn sending them; Jer 7:26. But they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, and were stiffnecked, and did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27. And though thou speakest all these words unto them, yet will they not hearken unto thee; and though thou callest unto them, yet will they not answer thee. Jer 7:28. Thus speak to them: This is the people that hearken not unto the voice of Jahveh its God, and that receive not correction. Perished is faithfulness, cut off from their mouth." The purport of Jer 7:16, that God will not suffer Himself to be moved by any entreaties to revoke the doom pronounced on the wicked people, is expressed by way of a command from God to the prophet not to pray for the people.
That Jeremiah did sometimes pray thus, however, we see from Jer 14:19. (cf. Jer 18:20), when to his prayer the same answer is given as we have here, and all intercession for the corrupt race is characterized as in vain. The second clause: lift not up for them crying, i. e. , supplicatory prayer, expresses the same, only more strongly; while the third clause: urge me not, cuts off all hope of success from even the most importunate intercession.
The reason for this command to desist is shown in Jer 7:17, by a reference to the idolatry which was openly practised throughout the land by young and old, men and women. Each takes part according to strength and capacity: the sons gather wood together, the fathers set the fire in order, etc. The deity so zealously worshipped by the people is called the Queen of heaven, and is mentioned only by Jeremiah.
Besides here, there is reference to her in Jer 44:17, where we see that her worship was very diligently cultivated, and that she was adored as the bestower of earthly possessions. (מלכת is stat. constr . , either from the Chald. form מלך, or from מליכה, after the analogy of גּברת, st. constr . of גּבירה; but perhaps it has מלכת in stat. abs .) This worship was combined with that of the stars, the host of heaven, which especially prevailed under Manasseh (2Ki 21:5).
Thence it may be presumed that the Queen of heaven was one of the deities who came to Western Asia with the Assyrians, and that she corresponds to the Assyrian-Persian Tanais and Artemis , who in the course of time took the place once occupied by the closely related Phoenician Astarte. She is originally a deification of the moon, the Assyrian Selene and Virgo caelestis , who, as supreme female deity, was companion to Baal-Moloch as sun-god; cf.
Movers, Phönizier , i. S. 623ff. With this accords the statement of Steph. Byz. , that σελήνη is also πήπανον τι τῷ ἄστρω παραπλήσιον. The offerings which, acc. to this verse and Jer 44:19, were brought to her, are called כּוּנים, a word which would appear to have come to the Hebrews along with the foreign cultus. By the lxx it was Grecized into χαυῶνας, for which we find in glossators and codd .
καυῶνας and χαβῶνας. They were, acc. to the Etymol. magn. and Suidas, ἄρτοι ἐλαίῳ ἀναφυραθέντες or λάχανα ὄπτα (? cooked vegetables); acc. to Jerome, χαυῶνας, quas nos placentas interpretati sumus . In any case, they were some kind of sacrificial cakes, which Vitr. put alongside of the πόπανα of Aristophanes and Lucian; cf. the various interpretations in Schleussner, Lexic .
in lxx s. v . χαυών. These cakes were kindled on the altar (cf. מקטּרים, Jer 44:19) as a kind of Minchah (meat-offering), and with this Minchah a libation or drink-offering (נסכים) was combined. הסּך corresponds to לעשׂות, so that ל has to be repeated; cf. Jer 44:19, Jer 44:25, where we find libations poured out to the Queen of heaven. In the 18th verse the expression is generalized into "other gods," with reference to the fact that the service of the Queen of heaven was but one kind of idolatry along with others, since other strange gods were worshipped by sacrifices and libations.
To provoke me; cf. Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16, etc.
Jer 7:29-34 Therefore the Lord has rejected the backsliding people, so that it shall perish shamefully. - Jer 7:29. "Cut off thy diadem (daughter of Zion), and cast it away, and lift up a lamentation on the bald peaked mountains; for the Lord hath rejected and cast out the generation of His wrath. Jer 7:30. For the sons of Judah have done the evil in mine eyes, saith Jahveh, have put their abominations in the house on which my name is named, to pollute it; Jer 7:31.
And have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of Benhinnom, to burn their sons and daughters in the fire; which I have not commanded, neither came it into my heart. Jer 7:32. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jahveh, that they shall no longer say, Tophet and Valley of Benhinnom, but, The valley of slaughter; and they shall bury in Tophet for want of room.
Jer 7:33. And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of heaven and the beasts of the earth, with no one to fray them away. Jer 7:34. And I make to cease out of the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for a waste shall the land become.
Jer 8:1. At that time, saith Jahveh, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes, the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. Jer 8:2. And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, after which they have walked, and which they have sought and worshipped: they shall not be gathered nor buried; for dung upon the face of the earth shall they be.
Jer 8:3. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue which is left of this evil race, in all the places whither I have driven them that are left, saith Jahveh of hosts." In these verses the judgment of Jer 7:20 is depicted in all its horror, and the description is introduced by a call upon Zion to mourn and lament for the evil awaiting Jerusalem and the whole land.
It is not any particular woman that is addressed in Jer 7:29, but the daughter of Zion (cf. Jer 6:23), i. e. , the capital city personified as a woman, as the mother of the whole people. Cut off נזרך, thy diadem. There can be no doubt that we are by this to understand the hair of the woman; but the current opinion, that the words simply and directly means the hair, is without foundation.
It means crown, originally the diadem of the high priest, Exo 29:6; and the transference of the same word to the hair of the head is explained by the practice of the Nazarites, to wear the hair uncut as a mark of consecration to the Lord, Num 6:5. The hair of the Nazarite is called in Num 6:7 the consecration (נזר) of his God upon his head, as was the anointing oil on the head of the high priest, Lev 21:12.
In this sense the long hair of the daughter of Zion is called her diadem, to mark her out as a virgin consecrated to the Lord. Cutting off this hair is not only in token of mourning, as in Job 1:20; Mic 1:16, but in token of the loss of the consecrated character. The Nazarite, defiled by the sudden occurrence of death near to his person, was bound to cut off his long hair, because by this defilement his consecrated hair had been defiled; and just so must the daughter of Zion cut off her hair and cast it from her, because by her sins she had defiled herself, and must be held as unconsecrate.
Venema and Ros. object to this reference of the idea to the consecrated hair of the Nazarite: quod huc non quadrat, nec in faeminis adeo suetum erat ; but this objection is grounded on defective apprehension of the meaning of the Nazarite’s vow, and on misunderstanding of the figurative style here employed. The allusion to the Nazarite order, for the purpose of representing the daughter of Zion as a virgin consecrated to the Lord, does not imply that the Nazarite vow was very common amongst women.
Deprived of her holy ornament, Zion is to set up a lament upon bare hill-tops (cf. Jer 3:21), since the Lord has rejected or cast out (Jer 7:30) the generation that has drawn His wrath down on it, because they have set idols in the temple in which He has revealed His glory, to profane it. The abominations are the image of Asherah which Manasseh set up in the temple, and the altars he had built to the host of heaven in both the courts (2Ki 21:5, 2Ki 21:7).
Besides the desecration of the temple of the Lord by idolatry, Jeremiah mentions in Jer 7:31, as an especially offensive abomination, the worship of Moloch practised in the valley of Benhinnom. Here children were burnt to this deity, to whom Manasseh had sacrificed his son, 2Ki 21:6. The expression "high altars of Tophet " is singular. In the parallel passages, where Jeremiah repeats the same subject, Jer 19:5 and Jer 32:35, we find mentioned instead high altars of Baal; and on this ground, Hitz.
and Graf hold התפת in our verse to be a contemptuous name for Baal Moloch. תּפת is not derived from the Persian; nor is it true that, as Hitz. asserts, it does not occur till after the beginning of the Assyrian period, since we have it in Job 17:6. It is formed from תּוּף, to spit out, like נפת from נוּף; and means properly a spitting out, then that before or on which one spits (as in Job 17:6), object of deepest abhorrence.
It is transferred to the worship of Moloch here and Jer 19:6, Jer 19:13. , and in 2Ki 23:10. In the latter passage the word is unquestionably used for the place in the valley of Benhinnom where children were offered to Moloch. So in Jer 19:6, Jer 19:13 (the place of Tophet), and Jer 19:14; and so also, without a doubt, in Jer 7:32 of the present chapter. There is no valid reason for departing from this well-ascertained local signification; "high altars of the Tophet" may perfectly well be the high altars of the place of abominable sacrifices.
With the article the word means the ill-famed seat of the Moloch-worship, situated in the valley of Ben or Bne Hinnom, to the south of Jerusalem. Hinnom is nomen propr . of a man of whom we know nothing else, and בּן( בּני הנּום) is not an appellative: son of sobbing, as Hitz. , Graf, Böttcher explain (after Rashi), rendering the phrase by "Valley of the weepers," or "of groaning, sobbing," with reference to the cries of the children slain there for sacrifices.
For the name Ben-hinnom is much older than the Moloch-worship, introduced first by Ahaz and Manasseh. We find it in Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16, in the topographical account of the boundaries of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. As to Moloch-worship, see on Lev 18:21 and Eze 16:20. At the restoration of the public worship of Jahveh, Josiah had extirpated Moloch-worship, and had caused the place of the sacrifice of abominations in the valley of Ben-hinnom to be defiled (2Ki 23:20); so that it is hardly probable that it had been again restored immediately after Josiah’s death, at the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign.
Nor does the present passage imply this; for Jer. is not speaking of the forms of idolatry at that time in favour with the Jews, but of the abominations they had done. That he had Manasseh’s doings especially in view, we may gather from Jer 15:4, where the coming calamities are expressly declared to be the punishment for Manasseh’s sins. Neither is it come into my heart, i.
e. , into my mind, goes to strengthen: which I have not commanded.
Jer 7:29-34 Therefore the Lord has rejected the backsliding people, so that it shall perish shamefully. - Jer 7:29. "Cut off thy diadem (daughter of Zion), and cast it away, and lift up a lamentation on the bald peaked mountains; for the Lord hath rejected and cast out the generation of His wrath. Jer 7:30. For the sons of Judah have done the evil in mine eyes, saith Jahveh, have put their abominations in the house on which my name is named, to pollute it; Jer 7:31.
And have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of Benhinnom, to burn their sons and daughters in the fire; which I have not commanded, neither came it into my heart. Jer 7:32. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jahveh, that they shall no longer say, Tophet and Valley of Benhinnom, but, The valley of slaughter; and they shall bury in Tophet for want of room.
Jer 7:33. And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of heaven and the beasts of the earth, with no one to fray them away. Jer 7:34. And I make to cease out of the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for a waste shall the land become.
Jer 8:1. At that time, saith Jahveh, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes, the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. Jer 8:2. And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, after which they have walked, and which they have sought and worshipped: they shall not be gathered nor buried; for dung upon the face of the earth shall they be.
Jer 8:3. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue which is left of this evil race, in all the places whither I have driven them that are left, saith Jahveh of hosts." In these verses the judgment of Jer 7:20 is depicted in all its horror, and the description is introduced by a call upon Zion to mourn and lament for the evil awaiting Jerusalem and the whole land.
It is not any particular woman that is addressed in Jer 7:29, but the daughter of Zion (cf. Jer 6:23), i. e. , the capital city personified as a woman, as the mother of the whole people. Cut off נזרך, thy diadem. There can be no doubt that we are by this to understand the hair of the woman; but the current opinion, that the words simply and directly means the hair, is without foundation.
It means crown, originally the diadem of the high priest, Exo 29:6; and the transference of the same word to the hair of the head is explained by the practice of the Nazarites, to wear the hair uncut as a mark of consecration to the Lord, Num 6:5. The hair of the Nazarite is called in Num 6:7 the consecration (נזר) of his God upon his head, as was the anointing oil on the head of the high priest, Lev 21:12.
In this sense the long hair of the daughter of Zion is called her diadem, to mark her out as a virgin consecrated to the Lord. Cutting off this hair is not only in token of mourning, as in Job 1:20; Mic 1:16, but in token of the loss of the consecrated character. The Nazarite, defiled by the sudden occurrence of death near to his person, was bound to cut off his long hair, because by this defilement his consecrated hair had been defiled; and just so must the daughter of Zion cut off her hair and cast it from her, because by her sins she had defiled herself, and must be held as unconsecrate.
Venema and Ros. object to this reference of the idea to the consecrated hair of the Nazarite: quod huc non quadrat, nec in faeminis adeo suetum erat ; but this objection is grounded on defective apprehension of the meaning of the Nazarite’s vow, and on misunderstanding of the figurative style here employed. The allusion to the Nazarite order, for the purpose of representing the daughter of Zion as a virgin consecrated to the Lord, does not imply that the Nazarite vow was very common amongst women.
Deprived of her holy ornament, Zion is to set up a lament upon bare hill-tops (cf. Jer 3:21), since the Lord has rejected or cast out (Jer 7:30) the generation that has drawn His wrath down on it, because they have set idols in the temple in which He has revealed His glory, to profane it. The abominations are the image of Asherah which Manasseh set up in the temple, and the altars he had built to the host of heaven in both the courts (2Ki 21:5, 2Ki 21:7).
Besides the desecration of the temple of the Lord by idolatry, Jeremiah mentions in Jer 7:31, as an especially offensive abomination, the worship of Moloch practised in the valley of Benhinnom. Here children were burnt to this deity, to whom Manasseh had sacrificed his son, 2Ki 21:6. The expression "high altars of Tophet " is singular. In the parallel passages, where Jeremiah repeats the same subject, Jer 19:5 and Jer 32:35, we find mentioned instead high altars of Baal; and on this ground, Hitz.
and Graf hold התפת in our verse to be a contemptuous name for Baal Moloch. תּפת is not derived from the Persian; nor is it true that, as Hitz. asserts, it does not occur till after the beginning of the Assyrian period, since we have it in Job 17:6. It is formed from תּוּף, to spit out, like נפת from נוּף; and means properly a spitting out, then that before or on which one spits (as in Job 17:6), object of deepest abhorrence.
It is transferred to the worship of Moloch here and Jer 19:6, Jer 19:13. , and in 2Ki 23:10. In the latter passage the word is unquestionably used for the place in the valley of Benhinnom where children were offered to Moloch. So in Jer 19:6, Jer 19:13 (the place of Tophet), and Jer 19:14; and so also, without a doubt, in Jer 7:32 of the present chapter. There is no valid reason for departing from this well-ascertained local signification; "high altars of the Tophet" may perfectly well be the high altars of the place of abominable sacrifices.
With the article the word means the ill-famed seat of the Moloch-worship, situated in the valley of Ben or Bne Hinnom, to the south of Jerusalem. Hinnom is nomen propr . of a man of whom we know nothing else, and בּן( בּני הנּום) is not an appellative: son of sobbing, as Hitz. , Graf, Böttcher explain (after Rashi), rendering the phrase by "Valley of the weepers," or "of groaning, sobbing," with reference to the cries of the children slain there for sacrifices.
For the name Ben-hinnom is much older than the Moloch-worship, introduced first by Ahaz and Manasseh. We find it in Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16, in the topographical account of the boundaries of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. As to Moloch-worship, see on Lev 18:21 and Eze 16:20. At the restoration of the public worship of Jahveh, Josiah had extirpated Moloch-worship, and had caused the place of the sacrifice of abominations in the valley of Ben-hinnom to be defiled (2Ki 23:20); so that it is hardly probable that it had been again restored immediately after Josiah’s death, at the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign.
Nor does the present passage imply this; for Jer. is not speaking of the forms of idolatry at that time in favour with the Jews, but of the abominations they had done. That he had Manasseh’s doings especially in view, we may gather from Jer 15:4, where the coming calamities are expressly declared to be the punishment for Manasseh’s sins. Neither is it come into my heart, i.
e. , into my mind, goes to strengthen: which I have not commanded.
Jer 7:29-34 Therefore the Lord has rejected the backsliding people, so that it shall perish shamefully. - Jer 7:29. "Cut off thy diadem (daughter of Zion), and cast it away, and lift up a lamentation on the bald peaked mountains; for the Lord hath rejected and cast out the generation of His wrath. Jer 7:30. For the sons of Judah have done the evil in mine eyes, saith Jahveh, have put their abominations in the house on which my name is named, to pollute it; Jer 7:31.
And have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of Benhinnom, to burn their sons and daughters in the fire; which I have not commanded, neither came it into my heart. Jer 7:32. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jahveh, that they shall no longer say, Tophet and Valley of Benhinnom, but, The valley of slaughter; and they shall bury in Tophet for want of room.
Jer 7:33. And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of heaven and the beasts of the earth, with no one to fray them away. Jer 7:34. And I make to cease out of the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for a waste shall the land become.
Jer 8:1. At that time, saith Jahveh, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes, the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. Jer 8:2. And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, after which they have walked, and which they have sought and worshipped: they shall not be gathered nor buried; for dung upon the face of the earth shall they be.
Jer 8:3. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue which is left of this evil race, in all the places whither I have driven them that are left, saith Jahveh of hosts." In these verses the judgment of Jer 7:20 is depicted in all its horror, and the description is introduced by a call upon Zion to mourn and lament for the evil awaiting Jerusalem and the whole land.
It is not any particular woman that is addressed in Jer 7:29, but the daughter of Zion (cf. Jer 6:23), i. e. , the capital city personified as a woman, as the mother of the whole people. Cut off נזרך, thy diadem. There can be no doubt that we are by this to understand the hair of the woman; but the current opinion, that the words simply and directly means the hair, is without foundation.
It means crown, originally the diadem of the high priest, Exo 29:6; and the transference of the same word to the hair of the head is explained by the practice of the Nazarites, to wear the hair uncut as a mark of consecration to the Lord, Num 6:5. The hair of the Nazarite is called in Num 6:7 the consecration (נזר) of his God upon his head, as was the anointing oil on the head of the high priest, Lev 21:12.
In this sense the long hair of the daughter of Zion is called her diadem, to mark her out as a virgin consecrated to the Lord. Cutting off this hair is not only in token of mourning, as in Job 1:20; Mic 1:16, but in token of the loss of the consecrated character. The Nazarite, defiled by the sudden occurrence of death near to his person, was bound to cut off his long hair, because by this defilement his consecrated hair had been defiled; and just so must the daughter of Zion cut off her hair and cast it from her, because by her sins she had defiled herself, and must be held as unconsecrate.
Venema and Ros. object to this reference of the idea to the consecrated hair of the Nazarite: quod huc non quadrat, nec in faeminis adeo suetum erat ; but this objection is grounded on defective apprehension of the meaning of the Nazarite’s vow, and on misunderstanding of the figurative style here employed. The allusion to the Nazarite order, for the purpose of representing the daughter of Zion as a virgin consecrated to the Lord, does not imply that the Nazarite vow was very common amongst women.
Deprived of her holy ornament, Zion is to set up a lament upon bare hill-tops (cf. Jer 3:21), since the Lord has rejected or cast out (Jer 7:30) the generation that has drawn His wrath down on it, because they have set idols in the temple in which He has revealed His glory, to profane it. The abominations are the image of Asherah which Manasseh set up in the temple, and the altars he had built to the host of heaven in both the courts (2Ki 21:5, 2Ki 21:7).
Besides the desecration of the temple of the Lord by idolatry, Jeremiah mentions in Jer 7:31, as an especially offensive abomination, the worship of Moloch practised in the valley of Benhinnom. Here children were burnt to this deity, to whom Manasseh had sacrificed his son, 2Ki 21:6. The expression "high altars of Tophet " is singular. In the parallel passages, where Jeremiah repeats the same subject, Jer 19:5 and Jer 32:35, we find mentioned instead high altars of Baal; and on this ground, Hitz.
and Graf hold התפת in our verse to be a contemptuous name for Baal Moloch. תּפת is not derived from the Persian; nor is it true that, as Hitz. asserts, it does not occur till after the beginning of the Assyrian period, since we have it in Job 17:6. It is formed from תּוּף, to spit out, like נפת from נוּף; and means properly a spitting out, then that before or on which one spits (as in Job 17:6), object of deepest abhorrence.
It is transferred to the worship of Moloch here and Jer 19:6, Jer 19:13. , and in 2Ki 23:10. In the latter passage the word is unquestionably used for the place in the valley of Benhinnom where children were offered to Moloch. So in Jer 19:6, Jer 19:13 (the place of Tophet), and Jer 19:14; and so also, without a doubt, in Jer 7:32 of the present chapter. There is no valid reason for departing from this well-ascertained local signification; "high altars of the Tophet" may perfectly well be the high altars of the place of abominable sacrifices.
With the article the word means the ill-famed seat of the Moloch-worship, situated in the valley of Ben or Bne Hinnom, to the south of Jerusalem. Hinnom is nomen propr . of a man of whom we know nothing else, and בּן( בּני הנּום) is not an appellative: son of sobbing, as Hitz. , Graf, Böttcher explain (after Rashi), rendering the phrase by "Valley of the weepers," or "of groaning, sobbing," with reference to the cries of the children slain there for sacrifices.
For the name Ben-hinnom is much older than the Moloch-worship, introduced first by Ahaz and Manasseh. We find it in Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16, in the topographical account of the boundaries of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. As to Moloch-worship, see on Lev 18:21 and Eze 16:20. At the restoration of the public worship of Jahveh, Josiah had extirpated Moloch-worship, and had caused the place of the sacrifice of abominations in the valley of Ben-hinnom to be defiled (2Ki 23:20); so that it is hardly probable that it had been again restored immediately after Josiah’s death, at the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign.
Nor does the present passage imply this; for Jer. is not speaking of the forms of idolatry at that time in favour with the Jews, but of the abominations they had done. That he had Manasseh’s doings especially in view, we may gather from Jer 15:4, where the coming calamities are expressly declared to be the punishment for Manasseh’s sins. Neither is it come into my heart, i.
e. , into my mind, goes to strengthen: which I have not commanded.
Jer 7:29-34 Therefore the Lord has rejected the backsliding people, so that it shall perish shamefully. - Jer 7:29. "Cut off thy diadem (daughter of Zion), and cast it away, and lift up a lamentation on the bald peaked mountains; for the Lord hath rejected and cast out the generation of His wrath. Jer 7:30. For the sons of Judah have done the evil in mine eyes, saith Jahveh, have put their abominations in the house on which my name is named, to pollute it; Jer 7:31.
And have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of Benhinnom, to burn their sons and daughters in the fire; which I have not commanded, neither came it into my heart. Jer 7:32. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jahveh, that they shall no longer say, Tophet and Valley of Benhinnom, but, The valley of slaughter; and they shall bury in Tophet for want of room.
Jer 7:33. And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of heaven and the beasts of the earth, with no one to fray them away. Jer 7:34. And I make to cease out of the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for a waste shall the land become.
Jer 8:1. At that time, saith Jahveh, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes, the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. Jer 8:2. And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, after which they have walked, and which they have sought and worshipped: they shall not be gathered nor buried; for dung upon the face of the earth shall they be.
Jer 8:3. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue which is left of this evil race, in all the places whither I have driven them that are left, saith Jahveh of hosts." In these verses the judgment of Jer 7:20 is depicted in all its horror, and the description is introduced by a call upon Zion to mourn and lament for the evil awaiting Jerusalem and the whole land.
It is not any particular woman that is addressed in Jer 7:29, but the daughter of Zion (cf. Jer 6:23), i. e. , the capital city personified as a woman, as the mother of the whole people. Cut off נזרך, thy diadem. There can be no doubt that we are by this to understand the hair of the woman; but the current opinion, that the words simply and directly means the hair, is without foundation.
It means crown, originally the diadem of the high priest, Exo 29:6; and the transference of the same word to the hair of the head is explained by the practice of the Nazarites, to wear the hair uncut as a mark of consecration to the Lord, Num 6:5. The hair of the Nazarite is called in Num 6:7 the consecration (נזר) of his God upon his head, as was the anointing oil on the head of the high priest, Lev 21:12.
In this sense the long hair of the daughter of Zion is called her diadem, to mark her out as a virgin consecrated to the Lord. Cutting off this hair is not only in token of mourning, as in Job 1:20; Mic 1:16, but in token of the loss of the consecrated character. The Nazarite, defiled by the sudden occurrence of death near to his person, was bound to cut off his long hair, because by this defilement his consecrated hair had been defiled; and just so must the daughter of Zion cut off her hair and cast it from her, because by her sins she had defiled herself, and must be held as unconsecrate.
Venema and Ros. object to this reference of the idea to the consecrated hair of the Nazarite: quod huc non quadrat, nec in faeminis adeo suetum erat ; but this objection is grounded on defective apprehension of the meaning of the Nazarite’s vow, and on misunderstanding of the figurative style here employed. The allusion to the Nazarite order, for the purpose of representing the daughter of Zion as a virgin consecrated to the Lord, does not imply that the Nazarite vow was very common amongst women.
Deprived of her holy ornament, Zion is to set up a lament upon bare hill-tops (cf. Jer 3:21), since the Lord has rejected or cast out (Jer 7:30) the generation that has drawn His wrath down on it, because they have set idols in the temple in which He has revealed His glory, to profane it. The abominations are the image of Asherah which Manasseh set up in the temple, and the altars he had built to the host of heaven in both the courts (2Ki 21:5, 2Ki 21:7).
Besides the desecration of the temple of the Lord by idolatry, Jeremiah mentions in Jer 7:31, as an especially offensive abomination, the worship of Moloch practised in the valley of Benhinnom. Here children were burnt to this deity, to whom Manasseh had sacrificed his son, 2Ki 21:6. The expression "high altars of Tophet " is singular. In the parallel passages, where Jeremiah repeats the same subject, Jer 19:5 and Jer 32:35, we find mentioned instead high altars of Baal; and on this ground, Hitz.
and Graf hold התפת in our verse to be a contemptuous name for Baal Moloch. תּפת is not derived from the Persian; nor is it true that, as Hitz. asserts, it does not occur till after the beginning of the Assyrian period, since we have it in Job 17:6. It is formed from תּוּף, to spit out, like נפת from נוּף; and means properly a spitting out, then that before or on which one spits (as in Job 17:6), object of deepest abhorrence.
It is transferred to the worship of Moloch here and Jer 19:6, Jer 19:13. , and in 2Ki 23:10. In the latter passage the word is unquestionably used for the place in the valley of Benhinnom where children were offered to Moloch. So in Jer 19:6, Jer 19:13 (the place of Tophet), and Jer 19:14; and so also, without a doubt, in Jer 7:32 of the present chapter. There is no valid reason for departing from this well-ascertained local signification; "high altars of the Tophet" may perfectly well be the high altars of the place of abominable sacrifices.
With the article the word means the ill-famed seat of the Moloch-worship, situated in the valley of Ben or Bne Hinnom, to the south of Jerusalem. Hinnom is nomen propr . of a man of whom we know nothing else, and בּן( בּני הנּום) is not an appellative: son of sobbing, as Hitz. , Graf, Böttcher explain (after Rashi), rendering the phrase by "Valley of the weepers," or "of groaning, sobbing," with reference to the cries of the children slain there for sacrifices.
For the name Ben-hinnom is much older than the Moloch-worship, introduced first by Ahaz and Manasseh. We find it in Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16, in the topographical account of the boundaries of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. As to Moloch-worship, see on Lev 18:21 and Eze 16:20. At the restoration of the public worship of Jahveh, Josiah had extirpated Moloch-worship, and had caused the place of the sacrifice of abominations in the valley of Ben-hinnom to be defiled (2Ki 23:20); so that it is hardly probable that it had been again restored immediately after Josiah’s death, at the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign.
Nor does the present passage imply this; for Jer. is not speaking of the forms of idolatry at that time in favour with the Jews, but of the abominations they had done. That he had Manasseh’s doings especially in view, we may gather from Jer 15:4, where the coming calamities are expressly declared to be the punishment for Manasseh’s sins. Neither is it come into my heart, i.
e. , into my mind, goes to strengthen: which I have not commanded.
Jer 7:29-34 Therefore the Lord has rejected the backsliding people, so that it shall perish shamefully. - Jer 7:29. "Cut off thy diadem (daughter of Zion), and cast it away, and lift up a lamentation on the bald peaked mountains; for the Lord hath rejected and cast out the generation of His wrath. Jer 7:30. For the sons of Judah have done the evil in mine eyes, saith Jahveh, have put their abominations in the house on which my name is named, to pollute it; Jer 7:31.
And have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of Benhinnom, to burn their sons and daughters in the fire; which I have not commanded, neither came it into my heart. Jer 7:32. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jahveh, that they shall no longer say, Tophet and Valley of Benhinnom, but, The valley of slaughter; and they shall bury in Tophet for want of room.
Jer 7:33. And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of heaven and the beasts of the earth, with no one to fray them away. Jer 7:34. And I make to cease out of the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for a waste shall the land become.
Jer 8:1. At that time, saith Jahveh, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes, the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. Jer 8:2. And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, after which they have walked, and which they have sought and worshipped: they shall not be gathered nor buried; for dung upon the face of the earth shall they be.
Jer 8:3. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue which is left of this evil race, in all the places whither I have driven them that are left, saith Jahveh of hosts." In these verses the judgment of Jer 7:20 is depicted in all its horror, and the description is introduced by a call upon Zion to mourn and lament for the evil awaiting Jerusalem and the whole land.
It is not any particular woman that is addressed in Jer 7:29, but the daughter of Zion (cf. Jer 6:23), i. e. , the capital city personified as a woman, as the mother of the whole people. Cut off נזרך, thy diadem. There can be no doubt that we are by this to understand the hair of the woman; but the current opinion, that the words simply and directly means the hair, is without foundation.
It means crown, originally the diadem of the high priest, Exo 29:6; and the transference of the same word to the hair of the head is explained by the practice of the Nazarites, to wear the hair uncut as a mark of consecration to the Lord, Num 6:5. The hair of the Nazarite is called in Num 6:7 the consecration (נזר) of his God upon his head, as was the anointing oil on the head of the high priest, Lev 21:12.
In this sense the long hair of the daughter of Zion is called her diadem, to mark her out as a virgin consecrated to the Lord. Cutting off this hair is not only in token of mourning, as in Job 1:20; Mic 1:16, but in token of the loss of the consecrated character. The Nazarite, defiled by the sudden occurrence of death near to his person, was bound to cut off his long hair, because by this defilement his consecrated hair had been defiled; and just so must the daughter of Zion cut off her hair and cast it from her, because by her sins she had defiled herself, and must be held as unconsecrate.
Venema and Ros. object to this reference of the idea to the consecrated hair of the Nazarite: quod huc non quadrat, nec in faeminis adeo suetum erat ; but this objection is grounded on defective apprehension of the meaning of the Nazarite’s vow, and on misunderstanding of the figurative style here employed. The allusion to the Nazarite order, for the purpose of representing the daughter of Zion as a virgin consecrated to the Lord, does not imply that the Nazarite vow was very common amongst women.
Deprived of her holy ornament, Zion is to set up a lament upon bare hill-tops (cf. Jer 3:21), since the Lord has rejected or cast out (Jer 7:30) the generation that has drawn His wrath down on it, because they have set idols in the temple in which He has revealed His glory, to profane it. The abominations are the image of Asherah which Manasseh set up in the temple, and the altars he had built to the host of heaven in both the courts (2Ki 21:5, 2Ki 21:7).
Besides the desecration of the temple of the Lord by idolatry, Jeremiah mentions in Jer 7:31, as an especially offensive abomination, the worship of Moloch practised in the valley of Benhinnom. Here children were burnt to this deity, to whom Manasseh had sacrificed his son, 2Ki 21:6. The expression "high altars of Tophet " is singular. In the parallel passages, where Jeremiah repeats the same subject, Jer 19:5 and Jer 32:35, we find mentioned instead high altars of Baal; and on this ground, Hitz.
and Graf hold התפת in our verse to be a contemptuous name for Baal Moloch. תּפת is not derived from the Persian; nor is it true that, as Hitz. asserts, it does not occur till after the beginning of the Assyrian period, since we have it in Job 17:6. It is formed from תּוּף, to spit out, like נפת from נוּף; and means properly a spitting out, then that before or on which one spits (as in Job 17:6), object of deepest abhorrence.
It is transferred to the worship of Moloch here and Jer 19:6, Jer 19:13. , and in 2Ki 23:10. In the latter passage the word is unquestionably used for the place in the valley of Benhinnom where children were offered to Moloch. So in Jer 19:6, Jer 19:13 (the place of Tophet), and Jer 19:14; and so also, without a doubt, in Jer 7:32 of the present chapter. There is no valid reason for departing from this well-ascertained local signification; "high altars of the Tophet" may perfectly well be the high altars of the place of abominable sacrifices.
With the article the word means the ill-famed seat of the Moloch-worship, situated in the valley of Ben or Bne Hinnom, to the south of Jerusalem. Hinnom is nomen propr . of a man of whom we know nothing else, and בּן( בּני הנּום) is not an appellative: son of sobbing, as Hitz. , Graf, Böttcher explain (after Rashi), rendering the phrase by "Valley of the weepers," or "of groaning, sobbing," with reference to the cries of the children slain there for sacrifices.
For the name Ben-hinnom is much older than the Moloch-worship, introduced first by Ahaz and Manasseh. We find it in Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16, in the topographical account of the boundaries of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. As to Moloch-worship, see on Lev 18:21 and Eze 16:20. At the restoration of the public worship of Jahveh, Josiah had extirpated Moloch-worship, and had caused the place of the sacrifice of abominations in the valley of Ben-hinnom to be defiled (2Ki 23:20); so that it is hardly probable that it had been again restored immediately after Josiah’s death, at the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign.
Nor does the present passage imply this; for Jer. is not speaking of the forms of idolatry at that time in favour with the Jews, but of the abominations they had done. That he had Manasseh’s doings especially in view, we may gather from Jer 15:4, where the coming calamities are expressly declared to be the punishment for Manasseh’s sins. Neither is it come into my heart, i.
e. , into my mind, goes to strengthen: which I have not commanded.
Jer 7:29-34 Therefore the Lord has rejected the backsliding people, so that it shall perish shamefully. - Jer 7:29. "Cut off thy diadem (daughter of Zion), and cast it away, and lift up a lamentation on the bald peaked mountains; for the Lord hath rejected and cast out the generation of His wrath. Jer 7:30. For the sons of Judah have done the evil in mine eyes, saith Jahveh, have put their abominations in the house on which my name is named, to pollute it; Jer 7:31.
And have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of Benhinnom, to burn their sons and daughters in the fire; which I have not commanded, neither came it into my heart. Jer 7:32. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jahveh, that they shall no longer say, Tophet and Valley of Benhinnom, but, The valley of slaughter; and they shall bury in Tophet for want of room.
Jer 7:33. And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of heaven and the beasts of the earth, with no one to fray them away. Jer 7:34. And I make to cease out of the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for a waste shall the land become.
Jer 8:1. At that time, saith Jahveh, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes, the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. Jer 8:2. And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, after which they have walked, and which they have sought and worshipped: they shall not be gathered nor buried; for dung upon the face of the earth shall they be.
Jer 8:3. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue which is left of this evil race, in all the places whither I have driven them that are left, saith Jahveh of hosts." In these verses the judgment of Jer 7:20 is depicted in all its horror, and the description is introduced by a call upon Zion to mourn and lament for the evil awaiting Jerusalem and the whole land.
It is not any particular woman that is addressed in Jer 7:29, but the daughter of Zion (cf. Jer 6:23), i. e. , the capital city personified as a woman, as the mother of the whole people. Cut off נזרך, thy diadem. There can be no doubt that we are by this to understand the hair of the woman; but the current opinion, that the words simply and directly means the hair, is without foundation.
It means crown, originally the diadem of the high priest, Exo 29:6; and the transference of the same word to the hair of the head is explained by the practice of the Nazarites, to wear the hair uncut as a mark of consecration to the Lord, Num 6:5. The hair of the Nazarite is called in Num 6:7 the consecration (נזר) of his God upon his head, as was the anointing oil on the head of the high priest, Lev 21:12.
In this sense the long hair of the daughter of Zion is called her diadem, to mark her out as a virgin consecrated to the Lord. Cutting off this hair is not only in token of mourning, as in Job 1:20; Mic 1:16, but in token of the loss of the consecrated character. The Nazarite, defiled by the sudden occurrence of death near to his person, was bound to cut off his long hair, because by this defilement his consecrated hair had been defiled; and just so must the daughter of Zion cut off her hair and cast it from her, because by her sins she had defiled herself, and must be held as unconsecrate.
Venema and Ros. object to this reference of the idea to the consecrated hair of the Nazarite: quod huc non quadrat, nec in faeminis adeo suetum erat ; but this objection is grounded on defective apprehension of the meaning of the Nazarite’s vow, and on misunderstanding of the figurative style here employed. The allusion to the Nazarite order, for the purpose of representing the daughter of Zion as a virgin consecrated to the Lord, does not imply that the Nazarite vow was very common amongst women.
Deprived of her holy ornament, Zion is to set up a lament upon bare hill-tops (cf. Jer 3:21), since the Lord has rejected or cast out (Jer 7:30) the generation that has drawn His wrath down on it, because they have set idols in the temple in which He has revealed His glory, to profane it. The abominations are the image of Asherah which Manasseh set up in the temple, and the altars he had built to the host of heaven in both the courts (2Ki 21:5, 2Ki 21:7).
Besides the desecration of the temple of the Lord by idolatry, Jeremiah mentions in Jer 7:31, as an especially offensive abomination, the worship of Moloch practised in the valley of Benhinnom. Here children were burnt to this deity, to whom Manasseh had sacrificed his son, 2Ki 21:6. The expression "high altars of Tophet " is singular. In the parallel passages, where Jeremiah repeats the same subject, Jer 19:5 and Jer 32:35, we find mentioned instead high altars of Baal; and on this ground, Hitz.
and Graf hold התפת in our verse to be a contemptuous name for Baal Moloch. תּפת is not derived from the Persian; nor is it true that, as Hitz. asserts, it does not occur till after the beginning of the Assyrian period, since we have it in Job 17:6. It is formed from תּוּף, to spit out, like נפת from נוּף; and means properly a spitting out, then that before or on which one spits (as in Job 17:6), object of deepest abhorrence.
It is transferred to the worship of Moloch here and Jer 19:6, Jer 19:13. , and in 2Ki 23:10. In the latter passage the word is unquestionably used for the place in the valley of Benhinnom where children were offered to Moloch. So in Jer 19:6, Jer 19:13 (the place of Tophet), and Jer 19:14; and so also, without a doubt, in Jer 7:32 of the present chapter. There is no valid reason for departing from this well-ascertained local signification; "high altars of the Tophet" may perfectly well be the high altars of the place of abominable sacrifices.
With the article the word means the ill-famed seat of the Moloch-worship, situated in the valley of Ben or Bne Hinnom, to the south of Jerusalem. Hinnom is nomen propr . of a man of whom we know nothing else, and בּן( בּני הנּום) is not an appellative: son of sobbing, as Hitz. , Graf, Böttcher explain (after Rashi), rendering the phrase by "Valley of the weepers," or "of groaning, sobbing," with reference to the cries of the children slain there for sacrifices.
For the name Ben-hinnom is much older than the Moloch-worship, introduced first by Ahaz and Manasseh. We find it in Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16, in the topographical account of the boundaries of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. As to Moloch-worship, see on Lev 18:21 and Eze 16:20. At the restoration of the public worship of Jahveh, Josiah had extirpated Moloch-worship, and had caused the place of the sacrifice of abominations in the valley of Ben-hinnom to be defiled (2Ki 23:20); so that it is hardly probable that it had been again restored immediately after Josiah’s death, at the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign.
Nor does the present passage imply this; for Jer. is not speaking of the forms of idolatry at that time in favour with the Jews, but of the abominations they had done. That he had Manasseh’s doings especially in view, we may gather from Jer 15:4, where the coming calamities are expressly declared to be the punishment for Manasseh’s sins. Neither is it come into my heart, i.
e. , into my mind, goes to strengthen: which I have not commanded.
Jer 8:1-2 But even then the judgment has not come to a height. Even sinners long dead must yet bear the shame of their sins. "At that time" points back to "days come" in Jer 7:32. The Masoretes wished to have the ו before יוציאוּ deleted, apparently because they took it for ו consec . But it here stands before the jussive, as it does frequently, e. g. , Jer 13:10, Exo 12:3.
They will take the bones of the kings, princes, priests, and prophets, the rulers and leaders of the people (cf. Jer 2:26), and the bones of the other inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves, and spread them out before the sun, the moon, and the stars, i. e. , expose them under the open sky to the influence of the heavenly bodies, so that they shall rot away, become "dung on the face of the earth."
The worst dishonour that could be done to the dead, a just return in kind for their worship of sun, moon, and stars: cf. Exo 7:18; 2Ki 21:5; 2Ki 23:11. This worship the prophet describes in its various stages: "Inclination of the heart, the act of devoting and dedicating themselves to the service, the frequenting of gods’ sanctuary in order to worship and to obtain oracles; while he strives to bring out in strong relief the contrast between the zeal of their service and the reward they get by it" (Hitz.)
They shall not be gathered, i. e. , for burial: cf. 2Sa 21:13. ; 1Sa 31:13. The dead shall suffer this at the hands of enemies despoiling the land. The reason for so doing was, as Jerome observes, the practice of burying ornaments and articles of value along with the dead. Seeking for such things, enemies will turn up the graves (cf. acts of this kind the case of Ibn Chaldun, in Sylv.
de Sacy, Abdollat . p. 561), and, in their hatred and insolence, scatter the bones of the dead all about.
Jer 8:1-2 But even then the judgment has not come to a height. Even sinners long dead must yet bear the shame of their sins. "At that time" points back to "days come" in Jer 7:32. The Masoretes wished to have the ו before יוציאוּ deleted, apparently because they took it for ו consec . But it here stands before the jussive, as it does frequently, e. g. , Jer 13:10, Exo 12:3.
They will take the bones of the kings, princes, priests, and prophets, the rulers and leaders of the people (cf. Jer 2:26), and the bones of the other inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves, and spread them out before the sun, the moon, and the stars, i. e. , expose them under the open sky to the influence of the heavenly bodies, so that they shall rot away, become "dung on the face of the earth."
The worst dishonour that could be done to the dead, a just return in kind for their worship of sun, moon, and stars: cf. Exo 7:18; 2Ki 21:5; 2Ki 23:11. This worship the prophet describes in its various stages: "Inclination of the heart, the act of devoting and dedicating themselves to the service, the frequenting of gods’ sanctuary in order to worship and to obtain oracles; while he strives to bring out in strong relief the contrast between the zeal of their service and the reward they get by it" (Hitz.)
They shall not be gathered, i. e. , for burial: cf. 2Sa 21:13. ; 1Sa 31:13. The dead shall suffer this at the hands of enemies despoiling the land. The reason for so doing was, as Jerome observes, the practice of burying ornaments and articles of value along with the dead. Seeking for such things, enemies will turn up the graves (cf. acts of this kind the case of Ibn Chaldun, in Sylv.
de Sacy, Abdollat . p. 561), and, in their hatred and insolence, scatter the bones of the dead all about.
Jer 8:3 Not less dreadful will be the fate of those who remain in life; so appalling that they will prefer death to life, since every kind of hardship in exile and imprisonment amongst the heathen is awaiting them: cf. Lev 26:36-39; Deu 28:65-67. המּקמות strikes us as peculiar, seeing that the latter word cannot be adjective to the former; for "in all the remaining places of Judah" (Umbr.)
gives no suitable sense, and "in all remaining places outside of Judah" is contrary to usage. But הנּשׁארים may be taken as genitive, in spite of the article prefixed to the stat. constr . מקמות; and we may then translate, with Maur. : in all the places of those who remain whither I have driven them. The lxx have omitted the second word; and it is possible it may have found its way hither from the preceding line by an error of transcription.
And so Hitz. , Ew. , and Graf have deleted it as a gloss; but the arguments adduced have little weight. The lxx have also omitted "and say to them," Jer 8:4, have changed כּה into כּי, and generally have treated Jeremiah in a quite uncritical fashion: so that they may have omitted the word from the present verse because it seemed awkward to them, and was not found in the parallel passages, Jer 29:14; Jer 23:3, which are not, however, precisely similar to the present verse.
Jer 8:4-7 The People’s Obstinacy in Wickedness, and the Dreadfulness of the Judgment. - Since the people cleaves stedfastly to its sin (Jer 8:4-13), the Lord must punish sorely (Jer 8:14 -23). - Jer 8:4-13. "And say to them, Thus hath the Lord said: Doth one fall, and not rise again? or doth one turn away, and not turn back again? Jer 8:5. Why doth this people of Jerusalem turn itself away with a perpetual turning?
They hold fast by deceit, they refuse to return. Jer 8:6. I listened and heard: they speak not aright; no one repenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? They all turn to their course again, like a horse rushing into the battle. Jer 8:7. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and turtle-dove, and swallow, and crane, keep the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of Jahveh.
Jer 8:8. How can ye say, Wise are we, and the law of Jahve we have? Certainly the lying pen of the scribes hath made it a lie. Jer 8:9. Ashamed the wise men become, confounded and taken; lo, the word of Jahveh they spurn at; and whose wisdom have they? Jer 8:10. Therefore will I give their wives unto others, their fields to new heirs: for from the small to the great, they are all greedy for gain; from the prophet even unto the priest, they all use deceit.
Jer 8:11. And they heal the hurt of the daughter of my people as it were a light matter, saying, Peace, peace; and yet there is no peace. Jer 8:12. They have been put to shame because they have done abomination; yet they take not shame to themselves, ashamedness they know not. Therefore they shall fall amongst them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall stumble, that Jahve said.
Jer 8:13. Away, away will I sweep them, saith Jahveh: no grapes on the vine, and no figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf is withered; so I appoint unto them those that shall pass over them." This strophe connects itself with what precedes. A judgment, dreadful as has been described in Jer 7:32-8:3, will come on Judah, because the people cleaves stiffneckedly to its sins.
The ואמרתּ of Jer 8:4 corresponds to that in Jer 7:28. The questioning clauses in Jer 8:4 contain universal truths, which are applied to the people of Judah in Jer 8:5. The subjects to יפּלוּ and ישׁוּב are indefinite, hence singular and plural with like significance: cf. Gesen. §137, 3; Ew. §294, b . The verb ישׁוּב, turn oneself, turn about, is here used in a double sense: first, as turn away from one; and then turn towards him, return again.
In the application in Jer 8:5, the Pilel is used for to turn away from, and strengthened by: with perpetual turning away or backsliding. נצּחת is not partic. Niph. fem . from נצח, but an adjectival formation, continual, enduring, from נצח, continuance, durableness. "Jerusalem" belongs to "this people:" this people of Jerusalem; the loose grammatical connection by means of the stat.
constr . not being maintained, if the first idea gives a sense intelligible by itself, so that the second noun may then be looked on rather in the light of an apposition conveying additional information; cf. Ew. §290, c . תּרמית, equivalent to מרמה, deceit against God. they refuse to return. Sense: they will not receive the truth, repent and return to God. The same idea is developed in Jer 8:6.
The first person: I have listened and heard, Hitz. insists, refers to the prophet, "who is justified as to all he said in Jer 8:5 by what he has seen." But we cannot account that even an "apt" view of the case, which makes the prophet cite his own observations to show that God had not spoken without cause. It is Jahveh that speaks in Jer 8:5; and seeing that Jer 8:6 gives not the slightest hint of any change in the speaker, we are bound to take Jer 8:6 also as spoken by God.
Thus, to prove that they cleave unto deceit, Jahveh says that He has given heed to their deeds and habits, and heard how they speak the לוא־כן, the not right, i. e. , lies and deceit. The next clause: not one repents him of his wickedness, corresponds to: they refuse to return; cf. Jer 8:5 (נחם is partic .) Instead of this, the whole of it, i. e. , all of them, turn again to their course.
שׁוּב with ב, construed as in Hos 12:7 : turn oneself to a thing, so as to enter into it. For מרוּצה, the sig. course is certified to by 2Sa 18:27. The Chet . מרצותם . tehC e is doubtless merely an error of transcription for מרוּצתם, as is demanded by the Keri . Turn again into their course. The thought is: instead of considering, of becoming repentant, they continue their evil courses.
This, too, is substantially what Hitz. gives. Ros. , Graf, and others, again, take this in the sense of turning themselves away in their course; but it is not fair to deduce this sense for שׁוּב without מן from Jer 8:4; nor is the addition of "from me" justifiable. Besides, this explanation does not suit the following comparison with the horse. It is against analogy to derive מרצותם from רצה with the sig.
desire, cupidity. Ew. , following the Chald . , adopts this sense both here and in Jer 22:17 and Jer 23:10, though it is not called for in any of these passages, and is unsuitable in Jer 22:17. As a horse rusheth into the battle. שׁטף, pour forth, overflow, hence rush on impetuously; by Jerome rightly translated, cum impetu vadens . Several commentators compare the Latin se effundere (Caes.
Bell. Gall . v. 19) and effundi (Liv. xxviii. 7); but the cases are not quite in point, since in both the words are used of the cavalry, and not of the steed by itself. This simile makes way for more in Jer 8:7. Even the fowls under the heaven keep the time of their coming and departure, but Israel takes no concern for the judgment of its God; cf. Isa 1:3. חסידה, ( avis ) pia , is the stork, not the heron; see on Lev 11:19.
"In the heaven" refers to the flight of the stork. All the birds mentioned here are birds of passage. תּור and סוּס are turtle-dove and pigeon. For סוּס the Masoretes read סיס, apparently to distinguish the word from that for horse; and so the oriental Codd . propose to read in Isa 38:14, although they wrote עגוּר . סוּס is the crane (acc. to Saad. and Rashi), both here and in Isa 38:14, where Gesen.
, Knob. , and others, mistaking the asyndeton, take it as an adjective in the sig. sighing. (Note: Starting from this unproved interpretation of Isa 38:14, and supporting their case from the lxx translation of the present passage, τρυγὼν καὶ χελιδὼν ἀγροῦ στρουθία, Hitz. and Graf argue that עגוּר is not the name of any particular bird, but only a qualifying word to סוּס, in order to distinguish the swallow from the horse, the sense more commonly attached to the same word.
But that confused text of the lxx by no means justifies us in supposing that the ו cop . was introduced subsequently into the Heb. text. It is possible that ἁγροῦ is only a corrupt representation of עגוּר, and the στρουθία came into the lxx text in consequence of this corruption. but certainly the fact that the lxx, as also Aquil. and Symm. , both here and in Isa 38:14, did not know what to make of the Hebrew word, and so transcribed it in Greek letters, leads us to conclude that these translators permitted themselves to be guided by Isa 38, and omitted here also the copula, which was there omitted before עגוּר.
מועדים are the fixed times for the arrival and departure of the birds of passage.