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Jeremiah 16:11

in Jeremiah 16

Then you are to answer them: ‘It is because your fathers have forsaken Me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods, and served and worshiped them. They abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith Jehovah, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;

KJV

Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the Lord, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;

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This verse in Jeremiah 16

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
The severe sentence passed upon them is the consequence of idolatry persisted in through many generations until it has finally deepened into national apostasy.

This site's exposition

When you tell these people all these things

on Jeremiah 16:10-13

When the people ask “What is our guilt”, the answer indicts the present generation beyond the fathers, “you have done more evil than your fathers”. The sentence fits the sin, exile to a land they have not known, where they will serve other gods day and night.

This site's exposition

Then you are to answer them

The answer traces the ruin to the fathers, who forsook the LORD and served other gods. Barnes reads the sentence as the fruit of idolatry kept up through many generations until the nation fell into apostasy. The next verse lays the heavier charge on the sons.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Jeremiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 9 onwards) For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will remove from this place in your sight and in your days the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, 'Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?'

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Then shalt thou say unto them,....

The words behind it

22 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְאָמַרְתָּ֣and you will say

    veamartaH559 →5305 times

  • אֲלֵיהֶ֗םto them

    ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times

  • עַל֩on

    ʾalH5921 →5755 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־that

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • עָזְב֨וּthey forsook

    ʾazevuH5800 →215 times

  • אֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֤םancestors your

    ʾavoteikhemH1 →1212 times

  • אוֹתִי֙<obj.> me

    ʾotiH853 →10935 times

  • נְאֻם־[the] utterance of

    neum-H5002 →376 times

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וַיֵּלְכ֗וּand they walked

    vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • אַֽחֲרֵי֙after

    ʾachareiH310 →715 times

  • אֱלֹהִ֣יםgods

    ʾelohimH430 →2601 times

  • אֲחֵרִ֔יםother

    ʾacherimH312 →166 times

  • וַיַּעַבְד֖וּםand they served them

    vaiyaavdumH5647 →288 times

  • וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲו֣וּand they bowed down

    vaiyishtachavuH7812 →172 times

  • לָהֶ֑םto <the> them

    lahem

  • וְאֹתִ֣יand <obj.> me

    veotiH853 →10935 times

  • עָזָ֔בוּthey forsook

    ʾazavuH5800 →215 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • תּוֹרָתִ֖יlaw my

    toratiH8451 →219 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • שָׁמָֽרוּ׃they kept

    shamaruH8104 →468 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

16 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Psalms 106:35–41but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.4 worksJeremiah 8:2They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.3 worksNehemiah 9:26–29But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.3 worksDeuteronomy 29:25–26And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.3 worksEzekiel 11:21But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”3 worksJeremiah 5:7–9“Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes.3 works
The other 10 cross-references, with their words ▾
1 Peter 4:3For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.3 worksJeremiah 22:9Then people will reply, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’”3 works1 Kings 9:9And others will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—because of this, the LORD has brought all this disaster upon them.’”3 worksJudges 10:13–14But you have forsaken Me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you.2 worksDaniel 9:10–12and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us through His servants the prophets.2 worksJeremiah 9:14Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”2 worksJeremiah 2:8The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ The experts in the law no longer knew Me, and the leaders rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.2 worksJudges 2:12–13Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger,2 worksJeremiah 1:16I will pronounce My judgments against them for all their wickedness, because they have forsaken Me to burn incense to other gods and to worship the works of their own hands.2 worksJeremiah 19:4because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in this place to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have ever known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 8:2

    They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried,…

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 23:5

      Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who…

    • Deuteronomy 4:19

      When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to…

    • Zephaniah 1:5

      those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven, those who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom,

    • Acts 7:42

      But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and…

    • Jeremiah 9:22

      Declare that this is what the LORD says: “The corpses of men will fall like dung upon the open field, like newly cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather it.”

  • Through

    Ezekiel 11:21

    But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

    it leads to

    • Ecclesiastes 11:9

      Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes,…

    • Ezekiel 9:10

      But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”

    • James 1:14–15

      But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.

About Jeremiah

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah: the study guide →Read Jeremiah 16 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in Jeremiah 16 →