Jeremiah 16:12
in Jeremiah 16And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you follows the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying Me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and ye have done evil more than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that ye hearken not unto me:
KJV
And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
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This verse in Jeremiah 16
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd ye have done worse than your fathers,.... Not only committed the same sins, but greater, or, however, attended with more aggravating circumstances; they were wilfully and impudently done, and obstinately persisted in; and therefore deserving of the great evil of punishment pronounced against them. For, behold, ye walk everyone after the imagination of his evil heart; they walked not as the word of God directs, but as their own evil heart dictated; the imagination of which was evil, and that continually, Gen 6:
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
And you have done more evil
Each generation added to the sin of the one before. Adam Clarke notes the sins of the fathers came on the children who followed their example and grew worse. Matthew Henry reads the stubborn heart as the rule they chose to live by, to avoid hearing God and his prophets.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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
They were more impudent and obstinate in sin than their fathers, walked every one after the imagination of his own heart, made that their guide and rule and were resolved to follow that, on purpose that they might not hearken to God and his prophets.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
And ye have done worse than your fathers - The sins of the fathers would not have been visited on the children, had they not followed their example, and become even worse than they.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
and you will serve there other gods Jonathan paraphrases: And you will serve there nations that worship idols day and night.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַתֶּ֛ם | veatem | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| הֲרֵעֹתֶ֥ם | hareotem | you have done evil | H7489 → | 107 times |
| לַעֲשׂ֖וֹת | laasot | to act | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| מֵאֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם | meavoteikhem | more than ancestors your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וְהִנְּכֶ֣ם | vehinekhem | and here you | H2005 → | 316 times |
| הֹלְכִ֗ים | holekhim | [are] walking | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אִ֚ישׁ | ʾish | everyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אַֽחֲרֵי֙ | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| שְׁרִר֣וּת | sherirut | [the] stubbornness of | H8307 → | 10 times |
| לִבּֽוֹ־ | libov- | own heart his | H3820 → | 595 times |
| הָרָ֔ע | hara' | <the> wicked | H7451 → | 662 times |
| לְבִלְתִּ֖י | levilti | to not | H1115 → | 112 times |
| שְׁמֹ֥עַ | shemoa' | to listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֵלָֽי׃ | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
וְאַתֶּ֛םand you
veatemH859 →1094 times
הֲרֵעֹתֶ֥םyou have done evil
hareotemH7489 →107 times
לַעֲשׂ֖וֹתto act
laasotH6213 →2628 times
מֵאֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֑םmore than ancestors your
meavoteikhemH1 →1212 times
וְהִנְּכֶ֣םand here you
vehinekhemH2005 →316 times
הֹלְכִ֗ים[are] walking
holekhimH1980 →1546 times
אִ֚ישׁeveryone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אַֽחֲרֵי֙after
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
שְׁרִר֣וּת[the] stubbornness of
sherirutH8307 →10 times
לִבּֽוֹ־own heart his
libov-H3820 →595 times
הָרָ֔ע<the> wicked
hara'H7451 →662 times
לְבִלְתִּ֖יto not
leviltiH1115 →112 times
שְׁמֹ֥עַto listen
shemoa'H8085 →1159 times
אֵלָֽי׃to me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Mark 7:21For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 8:7–8
because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
- James 4:1–3
What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?
- Galatians 5:19–21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
- Jeremiah 17:9
Through
Jeremiah 9:14Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 7:24
Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 3:17
At that time Jerusalem will be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations will be gathered in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. They will no longer follow the…
- Jeremiah 7:24
Through
Jeremiah 13:10These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:14
Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
- Jeremiah 9:14
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.