Jeremiah 9:14
in Jeremiah 9Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them;
KJV
But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
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This verse in Jeremiah 9
Commentary
6 notes on this verseBut have walked after the imagination of their own heart,.... What their own hearts devised, chose, and were best pleased with; See Gill on Jer 7:24, and after Baalim; the idols of the Gentiles; these they served and worshipped, and not the true God: which their fathers taught them; which was so far from excusing them, that it was an aggravation of their sin, that they had continued in their wicked ways and idolatrous practices, from age to age, from one generation to another.
This site's exposition
Who is the man wise enough to understand this
on Jeremiah 9:12-14
The question “Who is the man wise enough to understand this” tests wisdom by whether it can read the moment. The LORD answers in verse 13, “It is because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them”. They have “gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them”.
This site's exposition
gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them
Gill counts the teaching of the fathers as a weight added to the sin, carried on from one generation to the next. He calls the Baals they followed the idols of the nations. The stubbornness of their hearts led the way.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 12 onwards) Who is the wise man who understands this, and to whom is the word of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it: why has the land perished and become scorched like a desert, because there is no one to pass through it? And the Lord said: Because they have forsaken my law that I gave to them, and have not listened to my voice, and have not walked in it, but have followed the stubbornness of their own hearts and after the Baals, which they learned from their fathers.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The judgment given upon this indictment, the sentence upon the convicted rebels, which must now be executed, for it was righteous and nothing could be moved in arrest of it: The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, hath said it (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Baalim--plural of Baal, to express his supposed manifold powers. fathers taught them-- (Ga 1:14; We are not to follow the errors of the fathers, but the authority of Scripture and of God [JEROME].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּ֣לְכ֔וּ | vaiyelekhu | and they have walked | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֖י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| שְׁרִר֣וּת | sherirut | [the] stubbornness of | H8307 → | 10 times |
| לִבָּ֑ם | libam | own heart their | H3820 → | 595 times |
| וְאַחֲרֵי֙ | veacharei | and after | H310 → | 715 times |
| הַבְּעָלִ֔ים | habealim | the Baals | H1168 → | 82 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לִמְּד֖וּם | limedum | they taught them | H3925 → | 85 times |
| אֲבוֹתָֽם׃ ס | ʾavotam | ancestors their | H1 → | 1212 times |
וַיֵּ֣לְכ֔וּand they have walked
vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times
אַחֲרֵ֖יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
שְׁרִר֣וּת[the] stubbornness of
sherirutH8307 →10 times
לִבָּ֑םown heart their
libamH3820 →595 times
וְאַחֲרֵי֙and after
veachareiH310 →715 times
הַבְּעָלִ֔יםthe Baals
habealimH1168 →82 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לִמְּד֖וּםthey taught them
limedumH3925 →85 times
אֲבוֹתָֽם׃ סancestors their
ʾavotamH1 →1212 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
1 Peter 1:18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 6:20
you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
- Titus 2:14
He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
- Psalms 49:7–8
No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.
- 1 Corinthians 7:23
You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
- Galatians 1:4
who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
- 1 Corinthians 6:20
Through
Ephesians 2:3All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.
it leads to
- Titus 3:3
For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
- Galatians 5:16–24
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
- Ephesians 4:22
to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- Titus 3:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah

This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
