Jeremiah 7:24
in Jeremiah 7Yet 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
KJV
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
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This verse in Jeremiah 7
Commentary
7 notes on this verseIn a manner most germane to this parable, He said by Jeremiah: "Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and ye shall walk in all my ways, which I have commanded you." This is the invitation of God. "But," says He, "they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear." This is the refusal of the people. "They departed, and walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart." "I have bought a field-and I have bought some oxen-and I have married a wife."
This site's exposition
They went backward and not forward
on Jeremiah 7:24-28
The record runs from the exodus generation to this one, a people who “followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts”. Prophets were sent “again and again”, yet they “did more evil than their fathers”. Jeremiah must preach though told “they will not listen to you”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
When I said, "Hear my voice and I will be your God," "they did not listen or incline their ears" but followed the desires of their own hearts and, contrary to the principle of the apostle, who forgot what was in the past and strived for what lay before him, they did the opposite, pining for the past and despising the future.
(Ver. 24, 25.) And they did not listen, nor incline their ear, but they went after their own desires and the wickedness of their evil hearts. They turned backwards, and not forwards, from the day their fathers left the land of Egypt until this day. When I spoke, saying, 'Listen to my voice, and I will be your God,' they did not listen, nor incline their ear, but they followed the desires of their own hearts. And contrary to the opinion of the Apostles, who forgot the past and reached out to the future, they did the opposite: desiring the past and despising the future. And he says that, from the day their fathers left the land of Egypt until this day, they have always been transgressing against the Lord. Hence, the grace of the Gospel was necessary, which preserved them not by their own merit, but by the mercy of the Lord.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When God sent to them by word of mouth to put them in mind of the written word, which was the business of the prophets, it was all one; still they were disobedient. God had servants of his among them in every age, since they came out of Egypt unto this day, some or other to tell them of their faults and put them in mind of their duty, whom he rose up early to send (as before,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear,.... Neither to the law that was given them, nor to the promises that were made unto them, this was the case of the Jewish fathers, and also of their posterity, to whom belonged the law, and the promises, and the service of God: but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart; what their evil heart imagined, advised and directed to, that they attended to, walked in, and pursued after.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Imagination - Better, as in the margin. And went backward - literally, as in the margin; i. e., they turned their back upon Me to follow their own devices.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלֹ֤א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָֽׁמְעוּ֙ | shameu | they listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הִטּ֣וּ | hitu | they inclined | H5186 → | 214 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אָזְנָ֔ם | ʾazenam | ear their | H241 → | 187 times |
| וַיֵּֽלְכוּ֙ | vaiyelekhu | and they walked | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בְּמֹ֣עֵצ֔וֹת | bemoetzot | in counsels | H4156 → | |
| בִּשְׁרִר֖וּת | bishrirut | in [the] stubbornness of | H8307 → | 10 times |
| לִבָּ֣ם | libam | heart their | H3820 → | 595 times |
| הָרָ֑ע | hara' | <the> evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| וַיִּהְי֥וּ | vaiyihyu | and they were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְאָח֖וֹר | leachor | <to> backwards | H268 → | 41 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| לְפָנִֽים׃ | lefanim | <to> forwards | H6440 → | 2123 times |
וְלֹ֤אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
שָֽׁמְעוּ֙they listened
shameuH8085 →1159 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
הִטּ֣וּthey inclined
hituH5186 →214 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אָזְנָ֔םear their
ʾazenamH241 →187 times
וַיֵּֽלְכוּ֙and they walked
vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times
בְּמֹ֣עֵצ֔וֹתin counsels
bemoetzotH4156 →
בִּשְׁרִר֖וּתin [the] stubbornness of
bishrirutH8307 →10 times
לִבָּ֣םheart their
libamH3820 →595 times
הָרָ֑ע<the> evil
hara'H7451 →662 times
וַיִּהְי֥וּand they were
vaiyihyuH1961 →3559 times
לְאָח֖וֹר<to> backwards
leachorH268 →41 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
לְפָנִֽים׃<to> forwards
lefanimH6440 →2123 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
Ezekiel 20:13Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:21
But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I…
- Ezekiel 20:8
But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out…
- Ezekiel 20:21
Through
Jeremiah 8:5Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:6
You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 5:3
O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than…
- Zechariah 7:11
But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
- Jeremiah 9:6
Through
Deuteronomy 29:19because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This…
it leads to
- Numbers 15:30
But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people.
- Numbers 15:39
These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own…
- Numbers 15:30
Through
Jeremiah 7:26Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 16:12
And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you follows the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying Me.
- Jeremiah 16:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, SIX BOOKS ON JEREMIAH 2:41.2-3; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, The Five Books Against Marcion, Book 4.