God’s Word Translation
Jeremiah 7:18
18Children gather wood, fathers light fires, and women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. They pour out wine offerings to other gods in order to make me furious.
Jeremiah 7:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
- New International Version (NIV)The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger.
Context of Jeremiah 7:18
16“Jeremiah, don’t pray for these people. Don’t cry or pray for them. Don’t plead with me, because I will not listen to you. 17Don’t you see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? Children gather wood, fathers light fires, and women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. They pour out wine offerings to other gods in order to make me furious. 19They aren’t really provoking me,” declares the Lord. “But they are ⌞harming⌟ themselves to their own shame. 20“This is what the Almighty Lord says: My anger and fury will be poured out on this place, on humans and animals, and on trees and crops. My anger and fury will burn and not be put out.
Read all of Jeremiah 7Jeremiah 7:18 word by word
הַבָּנִ֞ים מְלַקְּטִ֣ים עֵצִ֗ים וְהָֽאָבוֹת֙ מְבַעֲרִ֣ים אֶת־הָאֵ֔שׁ וְהַנָּשִׁ֖ים לָשׁ֣וֹת בָּצֵ֑ק לַעֲשׂ֨וֹת כַּוָּנִ֜ים לִמְלֶ֣כֶת הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם וְהַסֵּ֤ךְ נְסָכִים֙ לֵאלֹהִ֣ים אֲחֵרִ֔ים לְמַ֖עַן הַכְעִסֵֽנִי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- The childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- gatherלָקַטlâqaţ · to gatherH3950
- woodעֵץ‛êts · tree: woodH6086
- and the fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
- kindleבָּעַרbâ‛ar · to burn: burnH1197
- the fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
- and the womenאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
- kneadלוּשׁlûsh · to kneadH3888
- doughבָּצֵקbâtsêq · doughH1217
- to makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
- cakesכַּוָּןkavvân · cakeH3561
- to the queenמְלֶ֫כֶתmeleketh · queenH4446
- of heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
- and to pour outנָסַךְnâsak · to pourH5258
- drink offeringsנֶ֫סֶךְnesek nêsek · drink offeringH5262
- unto otherאַחֵר'achêr · anotherH312
- godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- that they may provoke me to angerכָּעַסka‛as · to provokeH3707
Cross-references for Jeremiah 7:18
- Jeremiah 44:17We will do everything we said we would do. We will burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out wine offerings to her as our ancestors, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem. We had plenty to eat then, and we lived comfortably and saw no disaster.
- 1 Corinthians 10:22Are we trying to make the Lord jealous? Are we stronger than he is?
- Deuteronomy 4:19Don’t let yourselves be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, the stars, or anything else. The Lord your God has given them to all people everywhere.
- Job 31:26If I saw the light shine or the moon move along in its splendor
- Jeremiah 19:13The houses in Jerusalem, the houses of the kings of Judah, and all the rooftops of the houses will be unclean like this city Topheth. This is because people burned incense to the entire army of heaven and poured out wine offerings to other gods.’ ”
- Jeremiah 32:29“The Babylonians who are attacking this city will break in, set this city on fire, and burn it down. They will burn down the houses of people who made me furious by going up to the roofs to burn incense to Baal and to pour out wine offerings to other gods.
- Deuteronomy 32:37Then he will ask, “Where are their gods? Where is the rock they took refuge in?
- Psalms 16:4Those who quickly chase after other gods multiply their sorrows. I will not pour out their sacrificial offerings of blood or use my lips to speak their names.
- Isaiah 57:6Your idols are among the smooth stones in the ravine. They are your destiny. You have given them wine offerings and sacrificed grain offerings to them. Do you think I am pleased with all this?
- Isaiah 65:11You have abandoned the Lord and forgotten my holy mountain. You have prepared a table for the god of good fortune and offered cups full of spiced wine to the goddess of destiny.
- Ezekiel 20:28I brought them to the land that I promised to give them. When they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, they made sacrifices and brought offerings there to make me angry. There they offered their sacrifices and poured out their wine offerings.
- Jeremiah 25:7But you haven’t listened to me, declares the Lord. You have made me furious about the idols your hands have shaped and ⌞have brought⌟ harm upon yourselves.’
- Isaiah 3:8Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because what they say and what they do is against the Lord. They are defiant in his honored presence.
- Isaiah 65:3These people constantly and openly provoked me. They offered sacrifices in gardens and burnt incense on brick altars.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 7:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18The children gather wood - Here is a description of a whole family gathered together, and acting unitedly in idolatrous worship. The children go and collect wood, and bring it to the place of sacrifice. The fathers lay it in order, and kindle a fire. The mother and her maids knead dough, make their batch, and out of it form cakes, and bake them for the honor of the queen of heaven; most probably the moon, though perhaps not exclusive of the sun and…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18Children fathers women - All members of the family take part in this idolatry. Cakes - Probably very similar to those offered at Athens to Artemis. To the queen of heaven - A Persian and Assyrian deity, who was supposed to symbolize a quality possessed by moonlight of giving to nature its receptive power, as the sun represented its quickening power. The moon thus became generally the symbol of female productiveness, and was worshipped as such at…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-20Verses 17-20 The Jews took pride in showing zeal for their idols. Let us learn to be earnest in the service of our God, even from this bad example. Let us think it an honour to be employed in any work for God. Let us be as diligent ourselves, and as careful to teach our children the truths of God, as many are to teach the mysteries of iniquity. The direct tendency of this sin is malice against God, but it will hurt themselves. And they shall find there is…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-18Pagan worship became a family activity. Each family member contributed to the ritual. They worshipped Ashtoreth, the Queen of Heaven, the mother goddess of the Canaanites, along with her family of deities (see Jeremiah 44:17–19).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. children ... fathers ... women--Not merely isolated individuals practised idolatry; young and old, men and women, and whole families, contributed their joint efforts to promote it. Oh, that there were the same zeal for the worship of God as there is for error (Jr 44:17, 19; 19:13)! cakes ... queen of heaven--Cakes were made of honey, fine flour, &c., in a round flat shape to resemble the disc of the moon, to which they were offered. Others read as…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 7:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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