Jeremiah 7:9
in Jeremiah 7Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods that ye have not known,
KJV
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 7
Commentary
6 notes on this verseWill ye steal, murder - Will you continue to commit such abominations, and pretend to worship me; and thus defile the place that is called by my name; and so make my house a den of robbers? I have seen this, - and can you expect to escape condign punishment? Ye shall not escape.
This site's exposition
trust in lying words, that cannot profit
on Jeremiah 7:8-11
Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit turns the indictment plain: the temple itself has become the cover for theft, murder, adultery and false swearing named in verse 9. Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? is the sentence Jesus repeats in all three Synoptic accounts of the temple cleansing, Matthew 21:13, Mark 11:17 and Luke 19:46, and the older writers note that a den of robbers is not where robbery happens but where robbers go to feel safe after the crime is done. The charge is not thieves worshipping mixed with the righteous but the temple itself functioning as a hideout for guilt already committed.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 8 and following) Behold, you trust in yourselves with words of falsehood (or lies) which have not benefited you. To steal, to kill, to commit adultery, to swear falsely, to offer sacrifices to Baal, and to follow foreign gods that you do not know. And you have come and stood before me in this house, in which my name is invoked, and you have said: We are delivered (or we have ceased): because we have done all these abominations. They vainly have confidence in the temple, as the following sins show.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Those that think to excuse themselves in unchristian practices with the Christian name, and sin the more boldly and securely because there is a sin-offering provided, do, in effect, make God's house of prayer a den of thieves, as the priests in Christ's time, Matt. xxi.
Will ye steal - Can you think that this can be grateful to me, or advantageous to yourselves, to frequent my house, and yet retain these odious sins. Whom - Such as they had set up new, and never had any experience of, and therefore could have no reason to serve them.
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely,....
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲגָנֹ֤ב׀ | hagano | ¿ will you steal | H1589 → | |
| רָצֹ֙חַ֙ | ratzoach | will you murder? | H7523 → | |
| וְֽנָאֹ֔ף | venaof | and will you commit adultery? | H5003 → | 31 times |
| וְהִשָּׁבֵ֥עַ | vehishavea' | and will you swear? | H7650 → | 186 times |
| לַשֶּׁ֖קֶר | lasheker | to <the> falsehood | H8267 → | 113 times |
| וְקַטֵּ֣ר | vekater | and will you make smoke? | H6999 → | 116 times |
| לַבָּ֑עַל | labaal | to <the> Baal | H1168 → | 82 times |
| וְהָלֹ֗ךְ | vehalokh | and will you walk? | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֛י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֥ים | ʾelohim | gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲחֵרִ֖ים | ʾacherim | other | H312 → | 166 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יְדַעְתֶּֽם׃ | yeda'tem | you have known | H3045 → | 945 times |
הֲגָנֹ֤ב׀¿ will you steal
haganoH1589 →
רָצֹ֙חַ֙will you murder?
ratzoachH7523 →
וְֽנָאֹ֔ףand will you commit adultery?
venaofH5003 →31 times
וְהִשָּׁבֵ֥עַand will you swear?
vehishavea'H7650 →186 times
לַשֶּׁ֖קֶרto <the> falsehood
lashekerH8267 →113 times
וְקַטֵּ֣רand will you make smoke?
vekaterH6999 →116 times
לַבָּ֑עַלto <the> Baal
labaalH1168 →82 times
וְהָלֹ֗ךְand will you walk?
vehalokhH1980 →1546 times
אַחֲרֵ֛יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
אֱלֹהִ֥יםgods
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אֲחֵרִ֖יםother
ʾacherimH312 →166 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יְדַעְתֶּֽם׃you have known
yeda'temH3045 →945 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
Exodus 20:3You shall have no other gods before Me.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 5:7
You shall have no other gods before Me.
- Matthew 4:10
“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
- Psalms 81:9
There must be no strange god among you, nor shall you bow to a foreign god.
- Isaiah 46:9
Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.
- Deuteronomy 6:5
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
- Deuteronomy 5:7
Through
Jeremiah 7:6if 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,
it leads to
- Exodus 22:21–24
You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Jeremiah 13:10
These 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…
- Deuteronomy 8:19
If 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.
- Exodus 22:21–24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; 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.