Jeremiah 44:19
in Jeremiah 44“Moreover,” said the women, “when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ knowledge that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink-offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink-offerings unto her, without our husbands?
KJV
And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
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This verse in Jeremiah 44
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Burned ... poured ... did - Or, burn ... pour ... do. To worship her - Rather, to represent her image. The cakes Jer 7:18 were made in the shape of a crescent to represent the moon. Our men - i. e., our husbands (margin). They had the authority of their husbands for what they were doing. Jeremiah must leave them alone, and discuss the matter with those who alone had the right to interfere.
This site's exposition
Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods
on Jeremiah 44:15-19
The men and women answer together: “we will not listen to you!” They argue: while they burned incense “to the Queen of Heaven” they “had plenty of food.” The worship Jeremiah condemned in 7:18 is defended, and the women add their husbands knew of the “sacrificial cakes in her image.”
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
We found, before, that this was their work, ch. vii. "But did we do it without our husbands, privately and unknown to them, so as to give them occasion to be jealous of us?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
And when we burnt incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
They wish to show how unreasonable it is that Jeremiah should oppose himself alone to the act of all, not merely women, but men also. The guilty, like these women, desire to shield themselves under the complicity of others.
And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven - The Moon seems to have been called מלכת melecheth, as the sun was called מלך molech. The Hindoos pour out water to the sun thrice a day; and to the moon whenever they worship her. The idolatrous worship of these people was a sort of imitation of the worship of the true God; only sacrifice was not common in it. The factious women here tell us in what it consisted. 1. They burnt incense to the moon, and perhaps to the sun and the planets. 2. They poured out libations to her. 3. They made and consecrated cakes to her. All these were prescribed in the worship of the true God. See, among others, Exo 29:23, etc.; Lev 2:4; Lev 23:16; and Num 6:15. And the women vindicate their conduct by asserting that they did all this by the consent of their husbands: “Did we worship her without our men?”
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכִֽי־ | vekhi- | and if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲנַ֤חְנוּ | ʾanachnu | we | H587 → | 120 times |
| מְקַטְּרִים֙ | mekaterim | [were] making smoke | H6999 → | 116 times |
| לִמְלֶ֣כֶת | limlekhet | to [the] queen of | H4446 → | 5 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וּלְהַסֵּ֥ךְ | ulehasekh | and to pour out | H5258 → | 25 times |
| לָ֖הּ | lah | to <the> her | ||
| נְסָכִ֑ים | nesakhim | drink offerings | H5262 → | 64 times |
| הֲמִֽבַּלְעֲדֵ֣י | hamibaladei | ¿ <from> without | H1107 → | |
| אֲנָשֵׁ֗ינוּ | ʾanasheinu | husbands our | H582 → | 566 times |
| עָשִׂ֨ינוּ | ʾasinu | did we make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָ֤הּ | lah | for <the> her | ||
| כַּוָּנִים֙ | kavanim | cakes | H3561 → | |
| לְהַ֣עֲצִבָ֔ה | lehaatzivah | to form image her | H6087 → | |
| וְהַסֵּ֥ךְ | vehasekh | and to pour out | H5258 → | 25 times |
| לָ֖הּ | lah | to <the> her | ||
| נְסָכִֽים׃ פ | nesakhim | drink offerings | H5262 → | 64 times |
וְכִֽי־and if
vekhi-H3588 →4482 times
אֲנַ֤חְנוּwe
ʾanachnuH587 →120 times
מְקַטְּרִים֙[were] making smoke
mekaterimH6999 →116 times
לִמְלֶ֣כֶתto [the] queen of
limlekhetH4446 →5 times
הַשָּׁמַ֔יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וּלְהַסֵּ֥ךְand to pour out
ulehasekhH5258 →25 times
לָ֖הּto <the> her
lah
נְסָכִ֑יםdrink offerings
nesakhimH5262 →64 times
הֲמִֽבַּלְעֲדֵ֣י¿ <from> without
hamibaladeiH1107 →
אֲנָשֵׁ֗ינוּhusbands our
ʾanasheinuH582 →566 times
עָשִׂ֨ינוּdid we make
ʾasinuH6213 →2628 times
לָ֤הּfor <the> her
lah
כַּוָּנִים֙cakes
kavanimH3561 →
לְהַ֣עֲצִבָ֔הto form image her
lehaatzivahH6087 →
וְהַסֵּ֥ךְand to pour out
vehasekhH5258 →25 times
לָ֖הּto <the> her
lah
נְסָכִֽים׃ פdrink offerings
nesakhimH5262 →64 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
Genesis 3:6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave…
it leads to
- 1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
- James 1:14–15
But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
- 1 Timothy 2:14
And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and fell into transgression.
- 2 Samuel 11:2
One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
- Joshua 7:21
When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in…
- 1 John 2:16
Through
Jeremiah 7:18The 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…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 19:13
The 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…
- Jeremiah 44:17–19
Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials…
- Jeremiah 19:13
Through
Jeremiah 44:15Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing by—a great assembly—along with all the people living in the land of Egypt and…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:1–5
“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I…
- Jeremiah 5:1–5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.