Jeremiah 44:15-19

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 44:15-19

We have here the people's obstinate refusal to submit to the power of the word of God in the mouth of Jeremiah. We have scarcely such an instance of downright daring contradiction to God himself as this, or such an avowed rebellion of the carnal mind. Observe, I. The persons who thus set God and his judgments at defiance; it was not some one that was thus obstinate, but the generality of the Jews; and they were such as knew either themselves or their wives to be guilty of the idolatry Jeremiah... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 44:15

Then all the men which knew that their wires had burnt incense unto other gods ,.... Which was a rite God appointed to be used in his worship; and is here put for the whole of religious worship, which was given to idols by the Jewish women; this their husbands knew of, and winked at, and did not restrain them from it, as they should; they seem to be themselves irreligious persons, a sort of atheists, who had no regard for the true God, nor any other gods, and cared not who were worshipped: ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 44:16

As for the word that thou has, spoken unto us in the name of the Lord ,.... Which they did not believe that it came from the Lord, but was a device of the prophet's, and a lie, as in Jeremiah 43:2 ; and if it did come from the Lord, their impudence was risen to such a pitch, that they were determined not to regard it: we will not hearken unto thee : to thy words; neither to thy exhortations, reproofs, or menaces, even though thou comest and speakest in the name of the Lord. This, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 44:17

But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth out of our own mouth ,.... And not what went out of the mouth of God, or his prophet: but whoever they had resolved on within themselves to do, and had declared with their mouths they would, or had vowed with their lips; so Abarbinel interprets it of a vow; this they were determined to perform, let God and his prophet say what they would: to burn incense unto the queen of heaven ; which, according to Abarbinel, was the moon, which is the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 44:18

But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven ,.... Or were restrained from it, as the Targum, through the force of the prophet's sermons, or by the authority of their governors: this Abarbinel thinks was in the times of Jehoiakim, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah; but perhaps it only regards some space of time in the latter part of Zedekiah's reign, a little before the destruction of Jerusalem, when they refrained from their idolatry; fearing the wrath of God, and what was coming upon... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 44:19

And when we burnt incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her ,.... Which they owned they did, and which they were not ashamed of, and were determined to go on with; and were only sorry that they had at any time omitted such service: did we make cakes to worship her ; or, "to make her glad" F7 להעצבה "ad exhilarandum illud", Calvin; "ad laetificaudum eam", Munster, Pagninus. , as Kimchi; interpreting the word by an antiphrasis; it having a contrary... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 44:15

Then all the men - and all the women - We have not seen the women in determined rebellion before. Here they make a common cause with their idolatrous husbands. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 44:19

And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven - The Moon seems to have been called מלכת melecheth , as the sun was called מלך molech . The Hindoos pour out water to the sun thrice a day; and to the moon whenever they worship her. The idolatrous worship of these people was a sort of imitation of the worship of the true God; only sacrifice was not common in it. The factious women here tell us in what it consisted. They burnt incense to the moon, and perhaps to the sun and the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 44:15

Verse 15 Here is more fully seen the irreclaimable obstinacy of that nation; for Jeremiah had given them more than sufficient evidences of his integrity. They ought then to have been fully convinced that he was a true Prophet of God. Though they had disregarded him for forty years and more, he had yet given full proof of his legation when he had constantly, even to the last, prophesied of the destruction of the city and the Temple. They had, then, learnt by their own calamities that Jeremiah... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 44:16

Verse 16 We see, in short, that God’s Prophet was rejected; and yet there is no doubt but the Jews pretended some religion, but they did not think that they were bound to obey the command of man. And whence was this contempt? even from nothing but perverseness; for however hypocrites may dissemble and say that they do not despise God and his word, and address their words to ministers, yet their impiety betrays them when, on the one hand, they pretend that they worship God, and on the other they... read more

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