26 Yet they hearkened H8085 not unto me, nor inclined H5186 their ear, H241 but hardened H7185 their neck: H6203 they did worse H7489 than their fathers. H1
And ye have done H6213 worse H7489 than your fathers; H1 for, behold, H2009 ye walk H1980 every one H376 after H310 the imagination H8307 of his evil H7451 heart, H3820 that they may not hearken H8085 unto me:
Fill G4137 ye G5210 up G4137 then G2532 the measure G3358 of your G5216 fathers. G3962
Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 the God H430 of Israel; H3478 Behold, I will bring H935 upon this city H5892 and upon all her towns H5892 all the evil H7451 that I have pronounced H1696 against it, because they have hardened H7185 their necks, H6203 that they might not hear H8085 my words. H1697
But they obeyed H8085 not, neither inclined H5186 their ear, H241 but made their neck H6203 stiff, H7185 that they might not hear, H8085 nor receive H3947 instruction. H4148
But they hearkened H8085 not, nor inclined H5186 their ear, H241 but walked H3212 in the counsels H4156 and in the imagination H8307 of their evil H7451 heart, H3820 and went backward, H268 and not forward. H6440
Now be ye not stiffnecked, H7185 H6203 as your fathers H1 were, but yield H5414 yourselves H3027 unto the LORD, H3068 and enter H935 into his sanctuary, H4720 which he hath sanctified H6942 for ever: H5769 and serve H5647 the LORD H3068 your God, H430 that the fierceness H2740 of his wrath H639 may turn away H7725 from you.
At the end H7093 of seven H7651 years H8141 let ye go H7971 every man H376 his brother H251 an Hebrew, H5680 which hath been sold H4376 unto thee; and when he hath served H5647 thee six H8337 years, H8141 thou shalt let him go H7971 free H2670 from thee: but your fathers H1 hearkened H8085 not unto me, neither inclined H5186 their ear. H241
But G1161 when the husbandmen G1092 saw G1492 the son, G5207 they said G2036 among G1722 themselves, G1438 This G3778 is G2076 the heir; G2818 come, G1205 let us kill G615 him, G846 and G2532 let us seize G2722 on his G846 inheritance. G2817
Notwithstanding they would not hear, H8085 but hardened H7185 their necks, H6203 like to the neck H6203 of their fathers, H1 that did not believe H539 in the LORD H3068 their God. H430
Yet ye have not hearkened H8085 unto me, saith H5002 the LORD; H3068 that ye might provoke me to anger H3707 with the works H4639 of your hands H3027 to your own hurt. H7451
From the thirteenth H7969 H6240 year H8141 of Josiah H2977 the son H1121 of Amon H526 king H4428 of Judah, H3063 even unto this day, H3117 that is the three H7969 and twentieth H6242 year, H8141 the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 hath come unto me, and I have spoken H1696 unto you, rising early H7925 and speaking; H1696 but ye have not hearkened. H8085
Yet they obeyed H8085 not, nor inclined H5186 their ear, H241 but walked H3212 every one H376 in the imagination H8307 of their evil H7451 heart: H3820 therefore I will bring H935 upon them all the words H1697 of this covenant, H1285 which I commanded H6680 them to do; H6213 but they did H6213 them not.
Also I set H6965 watchmen H6822 over you, saying, Hearken H7181 to the sound H6963 of the trumpet. H7782 But they said, H559 We will not hearken. H7181
And testifiedst H5749 against them, that thou mightest bring them again H7725 unto thy law: H8451 yet they dealt proudly, H2102 and hearkened H8085 not unto thy commandments, H4687 but sinned H2398 against thy judgments, H4941 (which if a man H120 do, H6213 he shall live H2421 in them;) and withdrew H5414 H5637 the shoulder, H3802 and hardened H7185 their neck, H6203 and would not hear. H8085
But they and our fathers H1 dealt proudly, H2102 and hardened H7185 their necks, H6203 and hearkened H8085 not to thy commandments, H4687 And refused H3985 to obey, H8085 neither were mindful H2142 of thy wonders H6381 that thou didst H6213 among them; but hardened H7185 their necks, H6203 and in their rebellion H4805 appointed H5414 a captain H7218 to return H7725 to their bondage: H5659 but thou art a God H433 ready to pardon, H5547 gracious H2587 and merciful, H7349 slow H750 to anger, H639 and of great H7227 kindness, H2617 and forsookest H5800 them not.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 7
Commentary on Jeremiah 7 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The Vanity of Putting Trust in the Temple and in the Sacrificial Service, and the Way to Safety and Life - Jeremiah 7-10
This discourse divides itself into three sections. Starting with the people's confident reliance in the possession of the temple and the legal sacrificial worship, Jeremiah in the first section, by pointing to the destruction of Shiloh, where in the old time the sanctuary of the ark of the covenant had been, shows that Jerusalem and Judah will not escape the fate of Shiloh and the kingdom of Ephraim, in case they persist in their stiffneckedness against the Lord their God (Jer 7:1-8:3). For the confirmation of this threatening he goes on, in the second section, further to tell of the people's determined resistance to all reformation, and to set forth the terrible visitation which hardened continuance in sin draws down on itself (Jer 8:4-9:21). To the same end he finally, in the third section, points out the means of escape from impending destruction, showing that the way to safety and life lies in acknowledging the Lord as the only, everlasting, and almighty God, and in seeing the nothingness of the false gods; and, as the fruit of such knowledge, he inculcates the fear of the Lord, and self-humiliation under His mighty hand (Jer 9:22-10:25).
This discourse also was not uttered at any one particular time before the people in the temple, and in the shape in which it comes before us; but it has been gathered into one uniform whole, out of several oral addresses delivered in the temple by Jeremiah upon various occasions in the days of Josiah. According to Jer 26, Jeremiah, at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, and in the court of the temple before the people, uttered the threatening that if they would not hear the words addressed to them by the prophets, nor reform their lives, the Lord would make the temple like Shiloh, and make the city a curse to all nations. For this speech he was found worthy of death by the priests and false prophets, and was saved only through the interference of the princes of the people Now the present discourse opposes to the people's vain confidence in the temple the solemn warning that the temple will share the fate of Shiloh; and hence many commentators, especially Graf and Nהg. , have inferred the identity of this with the discourse in Jer 26, and have referred its composition to the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign. But the agreement of the two chapters on this one point is not sufficient to justify such an inference. Jeremiah is wont often to repeat his leading thoughts in his discourses; and so it is not unlikely that more than once, during the eighteen years of his ministry under Josiah, he may have held up the fate of Shiloh and the sanctuary there, as a warning to the people which built its confidence on the possession of the temple and the performance of the legal cultus. If the foundation even of the first section of the present discourse were to be found in that given in Jer 26, taken in connection with the impression it made on the priests and prophets, with the violent feeling it excited, and the storm against Jeremiah which it called forth, then certainly the continuation of this discourse from Jeremiah 7:16 onwards would have been something different from what we find it. In writing down the discourse, Jeremiah would certainly not have passed immediately from threatening the people with the fate of Shiloh to the repudiation of all intercessory prayers, and to the statement there made as to the sacrificial service. This we mention without entering on the discussion of the other portions of the discourse. In the whole of the rest of the discourse, as continued Jer 8-10, there is not the least trace of hostility against Jeremiah on the part of priests or people, or any hint of anything that would carry us beyond the time of Josiah into the reign of Jehoiakim.
Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
Warning against a False Trust in the Temple and the Sacrificial Service. The temple does not afford protection from the threatened punishment. If Judah does not change its manner of life, the temple will suffer the fate of Shiloh, and Judah will, like Ephraim, be rejected by the Lord (Jeremiah 7:1-15). Neither intercession on behalf of the corrupt race, nor the multitude of its burnt and slain offerings, will turn aside from Jerusalem the visitation of wrath (Jeremiah 7:16-28); for the Lord has cast away the hardened sinners on account of their idolatry, and will make Jerusalem and Judah a field of death (v. 29-8:3).
The vanity of trusting in the temple. - Jeremiah 7:1. "The word that came to Jeremiah from Jahveh, saying, Jeremiah 7:2. Stand in the gate of the house of Jahveh, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of Jahveh, all ye of Judah, that enter these gates to worship before Jahveh: Jeremiah 7:3. Thus hath spoken Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, Make your ways and your doings good, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Jeremiah 7:4. Trust ye not in lying words, when they say, The temple of Jahveh, the temple of Jahveh, the temple of Jahveh, is this. Jeremiah 7:5. But if ye thoroughly make your ways good, and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute right amongst one another; Jeremiah 7:6. Oppress not stranger, fatherless, and widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither follow after other gods to your hurt; Jeremiah 7:7. Then I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land which I have given unto your fathers, from eternity unto eternity. Jeremiah 7:8. Behold, ye trust in lying words, though they profit not. Jeremiah 7:9. How? to steal, to murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and offer odours to Baal, and to walk after other gods whom ye know not? Jeremiah 7:10. And then ye come and stand before my face in this house, upon which my name is named, and think, We are saved to do all these abominations. Jeremiah 7:11. Is then this house become a den or murderers, over which my name is named, in your eyes? I too, behold, have seen it, saith Jahveh. Jeremiah 7:12. For go ye now to may place which was at Shiloh, where I formerly caused my name to dwell, and see what I have done unto it for the wickedness of my people Israel. Jeremiah 7:13. And now, because ye do all these deeds, saith Jahve, and I have spoken to you, speaking from early morning on, and ye have not heard; and I have called you, and ye have not answered; Jeremiah 7:14. Therefore I do unto this house, over which my name is named, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I have given to you and to your fathers, as I have done unto Shiloh. Jeremiah 7:15. And cast you away from my face, as I have cast away all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim."