Jeremiah 7:9

Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;

Will ye steal {H1589}, murder {H7523}, and commit adultery {H5003}, and swear {H7650} falsely {H8267}, and burn incense {H6999} unto Baal {H1168}, and walk {H1980} after {H310} other {H312} gods {H430} whom ye know {H3045} not;

First you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, offer to Ba'al and go after other gods that you haven't known.

Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,

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,

Commentary

Jeremiah 7:9 is a searing indictment from the prophet Jeremiah against the people of Judah, exposing their profound spiritual and moral hypocrisy. It forms part of Jeremiah's "Temple Sermon" (Jeremiah 7:1-15), where he confronts the nation's misguided belief that their mere possession of the Temple guaranteed God's protection, regardless of their sinful lifestyle.

Context

During the late 7th and early 6th centuries BC, Jeremiah delivered God's message to a rebellious Judah, a kingdom on the brink of Babylonian exile. The people had developed a dangerous complacency, believing that as long as the Temple stood in Jerusalem, they were immune to divine judgment, as expressed in their chant: "The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these." Jeremiah 7:9 shatters this illusion, listing the egregious sins they committed even while outwardly appearing religious. This highlighted a severe disconnect between their religious rituals and their daily moral conduct.

Key Themes

  • Profound Hypocrisy: The verse starkly contrasts outward religious observance (attending the Temple) with rampant inward corruption. God condemns a form of worship that is detached from righteous living.
  • Violation of the Covenant: The sins enumerated—stealing, murder, adultery, and swearing falsely—are direct breaches of the Ten Commandments, the foundational laws of God's covenant with Israel.
  • Pervasive Idolatry: The inclusion of "burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not" underscores the nation's syncretistic practices. They mixed the worship of the one true God with the veneration of pagan deities like Baal, a Canaanite fertility god, which was explicitly forbidden by the first commandment.
  • Divine Indictment: Jeremiah's rhetorical question, "Will ye...?", is not seeking an answer but is an emphatic declaration of their guilt, laying bare their rebellion against God's moral and spiritual demands.

Linguistic Insights

The name Baal (Hebrew: בַּעַל, baʿal) literally means "lord" or "master" and was the title for the chief male deity in the Canaanite pantheon, worshipped for agricultural fertility and rain. The phrase "swear falsely" (Hebrew: וְשָׁבוֹעַ לַשָּׁקֶר, v'shavoa la'shaqer) refers to bearing false witness or breaking oaths made in God's name, a direct affront to divine truth and justice. The KJV's "whom ye know not" emphasizes the foreign and illegitimate nature of these other gods, contrasting them with the God of Israel, whom they should have known and worshipped exclusively.

Practical Application

Jeremiah 7:9 serves as a timeless warning against spiritual hypocrisy and nominal faith. It challenges believers today to examine whether their outward religious practices are matched by genuine moral integrity and exclusive devotion to God. This verse reminds us that true worship involves not only attending services or performing rituals but also living a life consistent with God's commandments, rejecting the "idols" of our age (materialism, self-worship, worldly values) and pursuing justice, mercy, and humility. God desires a transformed heart and life, not just outward conformity.

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Cross-References

  • Exodus 20:3

    Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

  • Jeremiah 7:6

    [If] ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:

  • Jeremiah 11:17

    For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.

  • James 4:1

    ¶ From whence [come] wars and fightings among you? [come they] not hence, [even] of your lusts that war in your members?

  • James 4:4

    Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

  • Jeremiah 11:13

    For [according to] the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and [according to] the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to [that] shameful thing, [even] altars to burn incense unto Baal.

  • 1 Kings 18:21

    ¶ And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD [be] God, follow him: but if Baal, [then] follow him. And the people answered him not a word.