Jeremiah 19 4

Jeremiah 19:4 kjv

Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;

Jeremiah 19:4 nkjv

"Because they have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents

Jeremiah 19:4 niv

For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.

Jeremiah 19:4 esv

Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents,

Jeremiah 19:4 nlt

"'For Israel has forsaken me and turned this valley into a place of wickedness. The people burn incense to foreign gods ? idols never before acknowledged by this generation, by their ancestors, or by the kings of Judah. And they have filled this place with the blood of innocent children.

Jeremiah 19 verses

Jeremiah 19 4 Meaning

Jeremiah 19:4 profoundly explains God's reason for the impending judgment on Judah: their severe and multi-layered rebellion. First, they fundamentally abandoned Him, breaking their covenant loyalty. Second, they actively profaned the land and Jerusalem, specifically turning a place like Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom, intended by God as sacred, into a site of foreign, detestable practices. Third, this profanation culminated in offering worship, symbolized by burning incense, to "other gods." Most grievously, these were not even the traditionally syncretistic deities of past generations, but novel, utterly foreign gods, implying an escalated depth of apostasy unknown to their ancestors or previous kings. This verse highlights the deep spiritual unfaithfulness, the defilement of holy ground, and the adoption of egregious, alien idolatry as the core causes for God's wrath.

Jeremiah 19 4 Context

Jeremiah 19:4 is part of a prophetic oracle delivered in the Valley of Ben Hinnom (Gehenna), specifically at a notorious cultic site known as Topheth (Jer 19:2, 6). Jeremiah, acting on God's command, smashes a potter's flask, a symbolic act of shattering Judah, to visually represent God's impending judgment (Jer 19:1, 10-11). The setting itself is highly significant, as Topheth was where detestable child sacrifices to Molech and Baal were performed, defiling the very land promised to Abraham. This particular verse lays out the explicit theological reasons for this severe judgment: Judah's profound apostasy. It occurs during a period in Judah's history (late 7th to early 6th century BC) marked by a severe decline into idolatry following the reforms of King Josiah, especially under kings like Jehoiakim. The people had swiftly reverted to, and even exceeded, the abominable practices of their ancestors, drawing on cults alien even to their prior corrupt history. The prophecy underscores that God's covenant people, despite His faithfulness, had provoked Him to an extent that complete desolation and foreign exile were now inevitable.

Jeremiah 19 4 Word analysis

• Because (כִּי - kî): An explanatory conjunction. It introduces the precise reason, the 'why,' behind God's impending severe judgment and wrath. It emphasizes causality and justification for the divine action.
• they have forsaken (עֲזָבֻנִי - ‘azavunī): From the verb 'azav, meaning to abandon, desert, or leave. In this spiritual context, it signifies a deliberate rejection of a covenant relationship. It points to a profound act of spiritual unfaithfulness and disloyalty.
• Me (־נִי - -nī): The suffix clearly identifies the object of abandonment: Yahweh, the one true God of Israel. This makes the forsaking a deeply personal offense against the divine covenant partner.
• and have made this place (וַיְנַכְּרוּ אֶת הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה - vay'nakkeru 'et hammāqōm hazzèh): The verb vay'nakkeru (from nakar) here means to make foreign, treat as alien, or profane. "This place" refers primarily to the Valley of Ben Hinnom/Topheth, and by extension, Jerusalem itself. They transformed sacred space by dedicating it to foreign, unholy practices.
• an alien place: This phrase describes the transformed state. A place once connected to God's presence or holy purpose became "strange" or "foreign" in a detestable sense, defiled by acts alien to God's nature and commands.
• and have burned incense (וַיְקַטְּרוּ - vay'qaṭṭeru): From the verb qatar, which means to make a smoke offering or to burn incense. This was a central act of worship in ancient religions, indicating devotion and communication with the divine. Here, it tragically misdirected, symbolizing their fervent but misdirected religious zeal.
• in it (בּוֹ - bō): Locative pronoun, pointing directly back to "this place"—the now alienated and defiled Valley of Hinnom/Topheth.
• to other gods (לֵאלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים - lē’lōhîm ‘ăḥērîm): The term 'elohim 'aherim refers to deities that are "different," "foreign," or "other" than Yahweh. This directly contravenes the foundational commandment to worship only the LORD, marking a move into polytheism and idol worship.
• which neither they (אֲשֶׁר לֹא יְדָעוּם, הֵמָּה - ‘asher lo' yedā'ūm, hēmmāh): Highlights the specific nature of their idolatry—these were gods unknown to them. This emphasizes the profound and reckless nature of their apostasy; they pursued and worshipped deities without any ancestral connection or understanding, indicative of an ultimate spiritual betrayal.
• nor their fathers (וַאֲבוֹתֵיהֶם - va'ăvōtêhem): Reinforces the novelty and extreme nature of their idolatry. Even previous generations, which sometimes fell into syncretism, had not known or fully adopted these specific, perhaps more barbaric, foreign cults.
• nor the kings of Judah (וּמַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה - u'malkê Yəhūḏāh): Further emphasizes the widespread and official endorsement of this escalated apostasy. Even the kings, meant to uphold the covenant and lead the people in righteousness, participated in and facilitated the worship of these utterly unknown and detestable gods.

Words-group by words-group analysis

• Because they have forsaken Me: This phrase establishes the foundational and primary reason for God's impending judgment. It pinpoints a broken covenant, a fundamental betrayal of loyalty and relationship with the divine, which is the root cause of all subsequent sins. It highlights God's perspective of being personally offended and abandoned.
• and have made this place an alien place: This points to the physical manifestation of their spiritual abandonment. Their sin was not merely internal but actively defiled the physical space, especially places like Topheth, that were inherently significant to their identity as God's people. By adopting foreign rites, they desecrated what was meant to be distinct and holy.
• and have burned incense in it to other gods: This specifies a direct, active form of idolatrous worship and cultic rebellion. Incense, a symbol of prayer and worship to the LORD, was instead offered to false deities, demonstrating their complete devotion and service shifted away from the true God. This highlights an egregious breach of the First Commandment.
• which neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known: This triple affirmation underscores the exceptional depth and novel perversion of Judah's apostasy. It implies they went beyond even previous patterns of backsliding, adopting genuinely "strange" (unknown, new, foreign) and profoundly detestable deities and practices (like child sacrifice associated with Topheth). This points to an unparalleled departure from their spiritual heritage and a reckless pursuit of evil, emphasizing a willful rejection of God's revealed truth for practices without any historical precedent in their nation.

Jeremiah 19 4 Bonus section

The Hebrew word vay'nakkeru (from nakar), translated "made this place an alien place," can carry a double meaning of treating as foreign and thus also defiling. It implies a conscious act of estrangement from God's intended holiness. This specific prophetic denunciation delivered at Topheth connects it irrevocably to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, later transliterated into Greek as Gehenna, which in the New Testament became a metaphor for eternal punishment (Mt 10:28, Mk 9:43). This transformation of a specific geographic location of egregious sin into an eschatological concept for ultimate judgment demonstrates the profound spiritual weight God attached to the apostasy highlighted in this verse. The mention of "unknown gods" further emphasizes a loss of discernment; they had so thoroughly rejected the true God that they embraced false deities with no roots or genuine revelation, merely pursuing religious novelty and sensation, signifying spiritual blindness and depravity. This also positions Jeremiah's prophecy as a polemic against the then-contemporary Near Eastern religions that mandated such practices as child sacrifice, revealing Yahweh's absolute abhorrence of these abominations and asserting His unique, holy nature against the depravity of pagan deities.

Jeremiah 19 4 Commentary

Jeremiah 19:4 acts as God's divine indictment, articulating the profound spiritual causes behind the imminent national catastrophe for Judah. It unfolds a escalating list of grievances, beginning with the fundamental rupture of the covenant relationship—"they have forsaken Me." This isn't merely a lapse in judgment but a deliberate abandonment of their faithful God, setting the stage for all subsequent transgressions. This act of forsaking transforms not only their hearts but also their sacred physical spaces, making Jerusalem and especially Topheth, the infamous site of child sacrifice, "an alien place." This isn't a neutral term; it denotes defilement, turning God's chosen land into a theatre for practices utterly foreign and detestable to Him. The act of "burning incense to other gods" specifically details their active idolatry, turning a holy form of worship into an abominable offering. The final phrase, "which neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known," powerfully amplifies the severity. It suggests that Judah's current idolatry surpassed even the previous syncretistic practices of earlier generations and kings. They had sunk to unprecedented depths, adopting truly alien cults (likely referring to the widespread worship of Molech, often associated with infant sacrifice, imported from foreign influence), signifying a complete and reckless rejection of the knowledge of the One True God, Yahweh. This verse paints a vivid picture of a people fully entrenched in rebellious idolatry, justifying God's severe and inescapable judgment.