Jeremiah 1:16
in Jeremiah 1I will pronounce My judgments against them for all their wickedness, because they have forsaken Me to burn incense to other gods and to worship the works of their own hands.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
KJV
And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
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This verse in Jeremiah 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verseHe emphasizes the justice of what has been done by adding, "I shall pronounce my judgment against them because of all their wickedness in forsaking me. They sacrificed to foreign gods and worshiped the works of their hands." What could be more foolish than this …
This site's exposition
I see a boiling pot
on Jeremiah 1:13-16
The second sign is a boiling pot “tilting toward us from the north”. Northern kings will “set up their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem”, the invasion Babylon carries out. The cause follows: “they have forsaken Me to burn incense to other gods”.
This site's exposition
I will pronounce My judgments against them
Them here means the people of Judah, the ones the invaders come against. Many Hebrew manuscripts read work in the singular, as if idolatry were the one business of their life. The charge comes with the sentence, so its justice is seen.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 15, 16.) For behold, I will gather all the families of the kingdoms of the North, says the Lord, and they shall come and each one shall set their throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and over all its surrounding walls, and over all the cities of Judah. And I will speak my judgments with them concerning all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and worshiped foreign gods and bowed down to the work of their own hands.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And I will utter my judgments against them,.... Not against the kingdoms of the north, but against the people of the Jews. The sense is, that God would enter into judgment with this people, and pass sentence upon them, and execute it: touching all their wickedness; or on account of all their sins and transgressions hereafter mentioned: who have forsaken me.
A great trust is committed to him. He is sent in God's name as a herald at arms, to proclaim war against his rebellious subjects; for God is pleased to give warning of his judgments beforehand, that sinners may be awakened to meet him by repentance, and so turn away his wrath, and that, if they do not, they may be left inexcusable.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I will utter my judgments - God denounced his judgments: the conquest of their cities, and the destruction of the realm, were the facts to which these judgments referred; and these facts prove that the threatening was fulfilled. Worshipped the works of their own hands - Idolatry was the source of all their wickedness and was the cause of their desolations. For למעשי lemaasey, the works, more than a hundred MSS. of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s, with many editions, have למעשה lemaaseh, the work. Idolatry was their One great Work, the business of their life, their trade.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
In accordance with the custom of law courts, the crimes of the guilty city are mentioned in the sentence. The charges brought against her are three: first, the desertion of the true God; next, the offering incense to false gods, and, lastly, the making obeisance to, or bowing down 2Ki 5:18 before images of human workmanship.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְדִבַּרְתִּ֤י | vedibarti | and I will speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| מִשְׁפָּטַי֙ | mishpatai | judgments my | H4941 → | 422 times |
| אוֹתָ֔ם | ʾotam | with them | H854 → | 929 times |
| עַ֖ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| רָעָתָ֑ם | raatam | wickedness their | H7451 → | 662 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עֲזָב֗וּנִי | ʾazavuni | they have forsaken me | H5800 → | 215 times |
| וַֽיְקַטְּרוּ֙ | vaykateru | and they have made smoke | H6999 → | 116 times |
| לֵאלֹהִ֣ים | lelohim | to gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲחֵרִ֔ים | ʾacherim | other | H312 → | 166 times |
| וַיִּֽשְׁתַּחֲו֖וּ | vaiyishtachavu | and they have bowed down | H7812 → | 172 times |
| לְמַעֲשֵׂ֥י | lemaasei | to [the] products of | H4639 → | 236 times |
| יְדֵיהֶֽם׃ | yedeihem | hands their | H3027 → | 1618 times |
וְדִבַּרְתִּ֤יand I will speak
vedibartiH1696 →1141 times
מִשְׁפָּטַי֙judgments my
mishpataiH4941 →422 times
אוֹתָ֔םwith them
ʾotamH854 →929 times
עַ֖לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
רָעָתָ֑םwickedness their
raatamH7451 →662 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עֲזָב֗וּנִיthey have forsaken me
ʾazavuniH5800 →215 times
וַֽיְקַטְּרוּ֙and they have made smoke
vaykateruH6999 →116 times
לֵאלֹהִ֣יםto gods
lelohimH430 →2601 times
אֲחֵרִ֔יםother
ʾacherimH312 →166 times
וַיִּֽשְׁתַּחֲו֖וּand they have bowed down
vaiyishtachavuH7812 →172 times
לְמַעֲשֵׂ֥יto [the] products of
lemaaseiH4639 →236 times
יְדֵיהֶֽם׃hands their
yedeihemH3027 →1618 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
Isaiah 2:8Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.
it leads to
- Revelation 9:20
Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 115:4–8
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- Revelation 9:20
Through
Jeremiah 19:4because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in this place to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have ever…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:34
Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things
- Jeremiah 2:34
Through
Deuteronomy 28:20The LORD will send curses upon you, confusion and reproof in all to which you put your hand, until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the wickedness you have committed in forsaking…
it leads to
- Isaiah 66:15
For behold, the LORD will come with fire—His chariots are like a whirlwind—to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.
- Malachi 2:2
If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse…
- 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,…
- Isaiah 51:20
Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street, like an antelope in a net. They are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God.
- Isaiah 66:15
Through
Jeremiah 7:9Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,
it leads to
- Exodus 20:3
You shall have no other gods before Me.
- Exodus 20:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies8
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 1:1.16.