Jeremiah 44:7

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in the land of Egypt-in Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis-and in the land of Pathros: ²"This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster I brought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, they lie today in ruins and desolation ³because of the evil they have done. They provoked Me to anger by continuing to burn incense and to serve other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew. ⁴Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: 'Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.' ⁵But they did not listen or incline their ears; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. ⁶Therefore My wrath and anger poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become the desolate ruin they are today. ⁷So now, this is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves? You are cutting off from Judah man and woman, child and infant, leaving yourselves without a remnant,⁸provoking Me to anger by the work of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to reside. As a result, you will be cut off and become an object of cursing and reproach among all the nations of the earth. ⁹Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers and of the kings of Judah and their wives, as well as the wickedness that you and your wives committed in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed My instruction or the statutes that I set before you and your fathers.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

against: Jeremiah 7:19, Jeremiah 25:7, Jeremiah 42:20, *marg. Numbers 16:38, Proverbs 1:18, Proverbs 5:22, Proverbs 8:36, Proverbs 15:32, Ezekiel 33:11, Habakkuk 2:10

to cut: Jeremiah 44:8, Jeremiah 44:11, Jeremiah 9:21, Jeremiah 51:22, Joshua 6:21, Judges 21:11

child: Deuteronomy 32:25, 1 Samuel 15:3, 1 Samuel 22:19, Lamentations 2:11

Judah: Heb. the midst of Judah

to leave: Jeremiah 44:12, Jeremiah 44:14, Jeremiah 44:27, Jeremiah 44:28

Reciprocal: Hosea 8:4 - that they

Cross-References

Genesis 35:22
While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:

Genesis 44:16
"What can we say to my lord?" Judah replied. "How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed the iniquity of your servants. We are now my lord's slaves-both we and the one who was found with the cup."

Genesis 44:18
Then Judah approached Joseph and said, "Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are an equal to Pharaoh.

Genesis 44:22
So we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.'

Genesis 44:25
Then our father said, 'Go back and buy us some food.'

Genesis 44:29
So if you take this one from me as well and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.'

Genesis 44:31
when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.

Genesis 44:32
Indeed, your servant guaranteed the boy's safety to my father, saying, 'If I do not return him to you, I will bear the guilt before you, my father, all my life.'

2 Samuel 20:20
"Far be it!" Joab declared. "Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy!

2 Kings 8:13
"But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?" said Hazael. And Elisha answered, "The LORD has shown me that you will become king over Aram."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Therefore now thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel,.... The same epithets as before, Jeremiah 44:2; with an addition, that his words might carry more weight with them:

wherefore commit ye [this] great evil against your souls; the sin of idolatry, which is a great evil; a sin against God; a giving the glory to another, that belongs to him and not only so, but is against the souls of men; pernicious and ruinous to them, which brings destruction, even eternal wrath and damnation, on them; and this is an interesting argument why it should not be committed; nay, it was not only against God, and against themselves, but against their families, and the interest of them:

to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain; not that they did this great evil or committed idolatry with this intention, to ruin their families and posterity; but so it was eventually; hereby they provoked the Lord to anger, to cut off the men that offered incense to idols; and the women their wives, whom they allowed so to do; and their children, who were brought up in the same practices; so that they would have none to succeed them, to bear their name, and inherit their land; unless God should be merciful, and not deal according to their deserts; for such was the nature of their crime, as to deserve an utter extirpation of them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Your souls - i. e., your own selves.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 44:7. This great evil against your souls — Will not self-interest weigh with you? See what ruin your conduct has brought upon your country. Your fathers sinned as you are doing; and where are they now? Either destroyed, or in captivity. And you are now taking the same way to your own destruction.