Tyndale Open Study NotesJeremiah 19

Jeremiah performed another parable (see Jeremiah 13:1–14) to show Judah's leaders that the Lord would completely destroy their idolatrous and violent nation.

• The have burned incense: In the Sinai covenant, only priests should offer incense when worshiping the Lord (Exodus 30:8). Offering incense to idols was a serious insult to the Lord.

• the blood of the innocent: Child sacrifice occurred in Baal worship and sometimes by the kings of Judah (2 Kings 17:17; Psalm 106:37–38).

Valley of Slaughter: Compare Jeremiah 7:32.

• The siege of Jerusalem lasted two and a half years. It caused severe famine and despair (see 2 Kings 25:1–4).

• their sons and daughters: Compare Deuteronomy 28:53–57.

Judah, the nation these leaders represented, would be completely destroyed and beyond repair. Judah would never again be a sovereign nation with a king from David's line (see Jeremiah 33:17–18). The city of Jerusalem would become as defiled as Topheth, the unclean valley (see study note on Jeremiah 7:30–34).

Jeremiah finished his message at the Temple of the Lord, where the ordinary people could hear him.