Jeremiah 7:18
in Jeremiah 7The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
KJV
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
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This verse in Jeremiah 7
Commentary
13 notes on this verseThe children gather wood - Here is a description of a whole family gathered together, and acting unitedly in idolatrous worship. 1. The children go and collect wood, and bring it to the place of sacrifice. 2. The fathers lay it in order, and kindle a fire. 3. The mother and her maids knead dough, make their batch, and out of it form cakes, and bake them for the honor of the queen of heaven; most probably the moon, though perhaps not exclusive of the sun and planets, generally called the host of heaven.
This site's exposition
do not pray for these people
on Jeremiah 7:16-20
The command “do not pray for these people” comes again at 11:14 and 14:11, three times in the book. At verse 18 the whole household serves the Queen of Heaven, idolatry built into the family's daily labor. The exiles keep the same devotion at 44:17-25, likely to Ishtar or Astarte.
This site's exposition
cakes for the Queen of Heaven
Wesley and Clarke identify the Queen of Heaven with the moon, set beside the sun as the king of the sky. Clarke adds that the sun and planets, the host of heaven, may be included in the worship with her. Other gods received the drink offerings.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
You will find at least in the book of Jeremiah the words of God censuring by the mouth of the prophet the Jewish people for doing obeisance to such objects and for sacrificing to the queen of heaven and to all the host of heaven. The writings of the Christians, moreover, show, in censuring the sins committed among the Jews, that when God abandoned that people on account of certain sins, these sins of idol worship also were committed by them.
For this is why He at all threatens punishment; that by fear He may destroy contempt; and when the threat alone is sufficient to cause fear in us, He doth not suffer us to undergo the actual trial. See, for instance, what He saith unto Jeremiah, "Seest thou not what they do? Their fathers light a fire, their children gather sticks together, their women knead dough." It is to be feared lest the same kind of thing be said also concerning us. "Seest thou not what they do? No one seeketh the things of Christ, but all their own. Their children run into uncleanness, their fathers into covetousness and rapine, their wives so far from keeping back their husbands from the pomps and vanities of life, do rather sharpen their appetites for them."
"God is jealous" and does not wish the soul that he betrothed to himself in faith to remain defiled by sin, but he wishes it to be purified immediately, wishes it to cast out all its impurities immediately, if it has been, by chance, snatched away by some of them.
(Verses 17-18) Don't you see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. They also pour out drink offerings to other gods, provoking me to anger.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The children - Here God shews how busily they are employed from the youngest to the oldest for their idolatry. The queen - As the sun was looked upon as king, so the moon as the queen of heaven.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Let us think it an honour to be employed in any work for God. [3.] Let us bring up our children in the acts of devotion; let them, as they are capable, be employed in doing something towards the keeping up of religious exercises. (2.) What is the direct tendency of this sin: "It is that they may provoke me to anger; they cannot design any thing else in it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
The children gather wood,....
He sets before the people that fundamental maxim of religion that "to obey is better than sacrifice" ( 1 Sam. xv. 22 ), and that God would not accept the sacrifices of those that obstinately persisted in disobedience,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Others read as Margin, "the frame of heaven," that is, the planets generally; so the Septuagint here; but elsewhere the Septuagint translates, "queen of heaven." The Phœnicians called the moon Ashtoreth or Astarte: the wife of Baal or Moloch, the king of heaven.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-curly-quotes
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Children ... fathers ... women - All members of the family take part in this idolatry. Cakes - Probably very similar to those offered at Athens to Artemis. To the queen of heaven - A Persian and Assyrian deity, who was supposed to symbolize a quality possessed by moonlight of giving to nature its receptive power, as the sun represented its quickening power. The moon thus became generally the symbol of female productiveness, and was worshipped as such at Babylon. Disgraceful usages to which every woman was obliged once to submit formed part of her worship.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַבָּנִ֞ים | habanim | the children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| מְלַקְּטִ֣ים | melaketim | [are] gathering | H3950 → | |
| עֵצִ֗ים | ʾetzim | wood<s> | H6086 → | 328 times |
| וְהָֽאָבוֹת֙ | vehaavot | and the fathers | H1 → | 1212 times |
| מְבַעֲרִ֣ים | mevaarim | [are] kindling | H1197 → | 94 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאֵ֔שׁ | haesh | the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| וְהַנָּשִׁ֖ים | vehanashim | and the women | H802 → | 781 times |
| לָשׁ֣וֹת | lashot | [are] kneading | H3888 → | |
| בָּצֵ֑ק | batzek | dough | H1217 → | |
| לַעֲשׂ֨וֹת | laasot | to make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כַּוָּנִ֜ים | kavanim | cakes | H3561 → | |
| לִמְלֶ֣כֶת | limlekhet | for [the] queen of | H4446 → | 5 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְהַסֵּ֤ךְ | vehasekh | and they are pouring out | H5258 → | 25 times |
| נְסָכִים֙ | nesakhim | drink offerings | H5262 → | 64 times |
| לֵאלֹהִ֣ים | lelohim | to gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲחֵרִ֔ים | ʾacherim | other | H312 → | 166 times |
| לְמַ֖עַן | lemaan | so as | H4616 → | 272 times |
| הַכְעִסֵֽנִי׃ | hakhiseni | to provoke to anger me | H3707 → | 54 times |
הַבָּנִ֞יםthe children
habanimH1121 →4930 times
מְלַקְּטִ֣ים[are] gathering
melaketimH3950 →
עֵצִ֗יםwood<s>
ʾetzimH6086 →328 times
וְהָֽאָבוֹת֙and the fathers
vehaavotH1 →1212 times
מְבַעֲרִ֣ים[are] kindling
mevaarimH1197 →94 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאֵ֔שׁthe fire
haeshH784 →378 times
וְהַנָּשִׁ֖יםand the women
vehanashimH802 →781 times
לָשׁ֣וֹת[are] kneading
lashotH3888 →
בָּצֵ֑קdough
batzekH1217 →
לַעֲשׂ֨וֹתto make
laasotH6213 →2628 times
כַּוָּנִ֜יםcakes
kavanimH3561 →
לִמְלֶ֣כֶתfor [the] queen of
limlekhetH4446 →5 times
הַשָּׁמַ֗יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְהַסֵּ֤ךְand they are pouring out
vehasekhH5258 →25 times
נְסָכִים֙drink offerings
nesakhimH5262 →64 times
לֵאלֹהִ֣יםto gods
lelohimH430 →2601 times
אֲחֵרִ֔יםother
ʾacherimH312 →166 times
לְמַ֖עַןso as
lemaanH4616 →272 times
הַכְעִסֵֽנִי׃to provoke to anger me
hakhiseniH3707 →54 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
1 Corinthians 10:22Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:21
They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 32:16
They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.
- Deuteronomy 32:21
Through
1 Kings 14:9You have done more evil than all who came before you. You have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me, and you have flung Me behind your back.
it leads to
- Psalms 50:17
For you hate My instruction and cast My words behind you.
- Ezekiel 23:35
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and have cast Me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and prostitution.’”
- Nehemiah 9:26
But 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.
- 2 Chronicles 11:15
And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.
- Psalms 50:17
Through
Jeremiah 19:13The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like that place, Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the host of heaven and…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 32:29
And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to…
- 2 Kings 23:12
He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards…
- Jeremiah 32:29
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
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 & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON 1 CORINTHIANS 8:8; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, AGAINST CELSUS 5:8 and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EXODUS 8:6.