Jeremiah 7:6
in Jeremiah 7if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
if ye oppress not the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:
KJV
If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
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This verse in Jeremiah 7
Commentary
8 notes on this verseOppress not - Here they are cautioned against three sins, that this people were generally addicted to, oppression, blood, and idolatry; and instances in the worst of oppressions, of such as God hath more especially taken into his immediate protection.
This site's exposition
Do not trust in deceptive words
on Jeremiah 7:4-7
The temple slogan is quoted three times running, “the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD”. Confidence in the building stands in for the obedience the building was built to house. The conditions that follow restate the terms Israel accepted at Sinai.
This site's exposition
the foreigner and the fatherless
Wesley counts three sins here: oppression, bloodshed and idolatry. He adds that the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow are the people the LORD has taken under his own protection. Barnes ties the innocent blood to a killing Jehoiakim had already ordered in Jerusalem, recorded at Jeremiah 26:23.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Then he infers, "If you make your ways straight and if your thoughts do not follow error, and if you will do justice and refrain from evil, nor shed innocent blood or scandalize the little ones. If you do not walk after alien gods, honoring perverse doctrines that you simulate in your own hearts for evil purposes. I will dwell with you in that place that you call the temple of God and in the land that I gave to your ancestors, who were obviously apostles and apostolic men.
(Verses 5-7) For if you will bless (or direct) your ways and your pursuits, if you will administer justice between a man and his neighbor (or his), if you will not commit injustice (or oppress them) against strangers, orphans, and widows, if you will not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you will not walk after foreign gods to your own harm; then I will dwell with you (or make you dwell) in this place, in the land which I gave to your fathers from the age to age. Finally, it brings forth: If you walk in the right paths, and your thoughts do not stray after error, and if you follow justice and do not commit evil, nor shed innocent blood, nor cause the simple to stumble, and if you do not walk after foreign gods and worship perverse doctrines, which you have imagined in your hearts for your own harm; then I will dwell with you in this place, which you call the Temple of God, and in the land that I have given to your fathers, to the Apostles, namely, and to the Apostolic men; or certainly I will make you dwell securely from the beginning to the end. This can apply to those virgins who boast of their chastity and present their chastity with an impudent countenance, when their conscience holds something else and they do not understand the Apostle's definition of virginity: that it should be holy in body and spirit. For what good is the chastity of the body to a mind corrupted, if it does not possess the other virtues described by the prophetic discourse?
And thus did He send prophets prior to the transmigration to Babylon, and after that event others again in greater number than the former, to seek the fruits, saying thus to them (the Jews): "Thus saith the Lord, Cleanse your ways and your doings, execute just judgment, and look each one with pity and compassion on his brother: oppress not the widow nor the orphan, the proselyte nor the poor, and let none of you treasure up evil against his brother in your hearts, and love not false swearing.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They must not shed innocent blood, and with it defile this place and the land wherein they dwelt. [2.] They must keep closely to the worship of the true God only: " Neither walk after other gods; do not hanker after them, nor hearken to those that would draw you into communion with idolaters; for it is, and will be, to your own hurt.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow,....
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גֵּ֣ר | ger | [the] sojourner | H1616 → | 92 times |
| יָת֤וֹם | yatom | [the] fatherless | H3490 → | 42 times |
| וְאַלְמָנָה֙ | vealmanah | and [the] widow | H490 → | 56 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַֽעֲשֹׁ֔קוּ | taashoku | you must oppress | H6231 → | 36 times |
| וְדָ֣ם | vedam | and blood | H1818 → | 360 times |
| נָקִ֔י | naki | innocent | H5355 → | 43 times |
| אַֽל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּשְׁפְּכ֖וּ | tishpekhu | you shed | H8210 → | 114 times |
| בַּמָּק֣וֹם | bamakom | in the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וְאַחֲרֵ֨י | veacharei | and after | H310 → | 715 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֧ים | ʾelohim | gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲחֵרִ֛ים | ʾacherim | other | H312 → | 166 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֵלְכ֖וּ | telekhu | you must walk | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לְרַ֥ע | lera' | for harm | H7451 → | 662 times |
| לָכֶֽם׃ | lakhem | of you |
גֵּ֣ר[the] sojourner
gerH1616 →92 times
יָת֤וֹם[the] fatherless
yatomH3490 →42 times
וְאַלְמָנָה֙and [the] widow
vealmanahH490 →56 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַֽעֲשֹׁ֔קוּyou must oppress
taashokuH6231 →36 times
וְדָ֣םand blood
vedamH1818 →360 times
נָקִ֔יinnocent
nakiH5355 →43 times
אַֽל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּשְׁפְּכ֖וּyou shed
tishpekhuH8210 →114 times
בַּמָּק֣וֹםin the place
bamakomH4725 →401 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
וְאַחֲרֵ֨יand after
veachareiH310 →715 times
אֱלֹהִ֧יםgods
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אֲחֵרִ֛יםother
ʾacherimH312 →166 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תֵלְכ֖וּyou must walk
telekhuH1980 →1546 times
לְרַ֥עfor harm
lera'H7451 →662 times
לָכֶֽם׃of you
lakhem
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
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 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 9:14
Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
- 2 Chronicles 36:15–16
Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.
- Numbers 14:11
And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?
- 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 16:12
Through
Deuteronomy 8:19If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:26
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it,…
- Deuteronomy 4:26
Through
Deuteronomy 11:28but a curse if you disobey the commandments of the LORD your God and turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:15–68
If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
- Galatians 3:10
All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- Deuteronomy 28:15–68
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 9 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); Irenaeus, AGAINST HERESIES 4:36.2; Jerome, SIX BOOKS ON JEREMIAH 2:32.2-4; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.