Jeremiah 7

Following the opening chapters of Jeremiah, which warn of Judah's apostasy and of disaster coming from the north, a new section set at the temple begins in chapter 7. Scholars commonly treat chapters 7–10 as a single unit.

Outline

• Verses 1–7: The LORD stations Jeremiah at the gate of the temple and has him proclaim that if the people amend their ways and their doings and do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, He will cause them to dwell in the land.
• Verses 8–15: The LORD rebukes those who steal, murder, commit adultery, and worship idols, yet come into the temple and declare themselves safe. He warns that He will forsake this house as He did Shiloh and cast them out as He cast out Ephraim.
• Verses 16–20: The LORD tells Jeremiah not to pray for the people and points to whole families making cakes for the "queen of heaven."
• Verses 21–28: The LORD declares that His command from the beginning was to obey His voice rather than to offer sacrifices, but the people would not listen to the prophets.
• Verses 29–34: Because the people defiled the temple and burned their children at Tophet in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that place will become "the valley of slaughter," and the voice of mirth will cease.

Key Verses

• Jeremiah 7:4: "Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD" — a warning against blind confidence in buildings and institutions.
• Jeremiah 7:11: "Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?" — the verse Jesus quoted at the cleansing of the temple.
• Jeremiah 7:23: "Obey my voice" — a summary of the heart of the covenant as obedience.

People and Places

• The Temple in Jerusalem: The place where the sermon was delivered.
• Shiloh: The site where the tabernacle once stood, cited as an example of a forsaken sanctuary.
• Tophet: A place of sacrifice in the valley of the son of Hinnom, where children were burned as offerings.

Points for Reflection

• Verse 22, "I spake not unto your fathers ... concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices," is widely interpreted not as a rejection of sacrifice itself but as a comparative expression emphasizing the priority of obedience, and it is read in the same vein as Hosea 6 and Micah 6. Some critical scholars also read it in light of the period in which the sacrificial regulations took shape.
• The "queen of heaven" is commonly identified with a goddess in the line of the Mesopotamian Ishtar or the Canaanite Ashtoreth, although the text does not name her.
• The circumstances of this same sermon and Jeremiah's subsequent trial are recounted in Jeremiah 26.
• Jesus quotes verse 11 in Mark 11, Matthew 21, and Luke 19.