Jeremiah 7:12 kjv
But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
Jeremiah 7:12 nkjv
"But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
Jeremiah 7:12 niv
"?'Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.
Jeremiah 7:12 esv
Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.
Jeremiah 7:12 nlt
"'Go now to the place at Shiloh where I once put the Tabernacle that bore my name. See what I did there because of all the wickedness of my people, the Israelites.
Jeremiah 7 12 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Sam 2:30 | "Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: 'I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should minister before me forever.' But now the LORD declares: 'Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.'" | God's word to Eli on removing the priesthood. |
| 1 Sam 3:12-14 | "On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end...the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever." | God's irrevocable judgment on Eli's house. |
| 1 Sam 4:10-11 | "So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. And there was a very great slaughter, and thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. And the ark of God was captured..." | The fall of Shiloh and capture of the Ark. |
| 1 Sam 4:21-22 | "She named the child Ichabod, saying, 'The glory has departed from Israel!' because the ark of God had been captured..." | Ichabod signifies the departure of God's glory. |
| Psa 78:60-61 | "He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind, and delivered his strength to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe." | Poetic lament over God forsaking Shiloh. |
| Psa 78:67-69 | "He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved." | God chose Zion over Shiloh/Ephraim. |
| Deut 12:5 | "But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, for his dwelling place, and there you shall go." | Principle of God choosing a specific dwelling. |
| 1 Kgs 8:29 | "...that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place." | Solomon's prayer concerning God's Name at the Temple. |
| 2 Kgs 21:7 | "...he set the carved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which the LORD had said to David and to Solomon his son, 'In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.'" | Manasseh defiling the Jerusalem Temple, challenging God's promise. |
| Isa 1:12 | "When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts?" | God despises empty ritual without true heart. |
| Isa 2:6-8 | "For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the East and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines...Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made." | Israel's widespread idolatry and its consequences. |
| Jer 7:4 | "Do not trust in these deceptive words: 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.'" | Directly addresses Judah's false security in the Temple. |
| Jer 7:9-11 | "Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?" | God's indictment of Judah's hypocrisy. |
| Ezek 5:11 | "Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity." | God's promise to defile and judge the defiled sanctuary. |
| Ezek 10:18-19 | "Then the glory of the LORD went out from the threshold of the house and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them." | Vision of the departure of God's glory from the Temple. |
| Hos 1:9 | "And the LORD said, 'Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.'" | God dissolving His covenant relationship due to sin. |
| Mic 3:12 | "Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height." | Prophecy of Jerusalem and Temple destruction. |
| Mal 3:1-4 | "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts...He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver..." | Coming of Messiah to cleanse and judge the Temple. |
| Matt 21:12-13 | "And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, 'It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer,” but you make it a den of robbers.'" | Jesus' cleansing of the Temple, paralleling the removal of ungodly practices. |
| Mark 13:1-2 | "And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, 'Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!' And Jesus said to him, 'Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.'" | Jesus foretelling the destruction of the Second Temple. |
| John 4:21-24 | "Jesus said to her, 'Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father...God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.'" | Shift from geographical places of worship to spiritual worship. |
| Acts 7:48-50 | "Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool...What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?" | Stephen quoting Isa 66, challenging the sanctity of physical temples. |
| 1 Cor 3:16-17 | "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." | New Testament understanding of believers as God's temple. |
Jeremiah 7 verses
Jeremiah 7 12 Meaning
Jeremiah 7:12 conveys a solemn divine instruction for Judah to look back to the historical example of Shiloh. God commands them to observe how He utterly destroyed His first central sanctuary due to the wickedness of His people Israel. This served as a potent warning that their current Temple in Jerusalem, despite its sanctity, was not immune to similar judgment if they continued in their unfaithfulness and sin, directly countering their false belief in its invincibility.
Jeremiah 7 12 Context
Jeremiah chapter 7 opens with the prophet standing in the gate of the LORD's house, delivering what is famously known as the "Temple Sermon." At this time, the kingdom of Judah was steeped in hypocrisy; its people believed that merely possessing the physical Temple in Jerusalem guaranteed their safety and God's unwavering protection, regardless of their moral and spiritual decay. They engaged in widespread idolatry, injustice, and empty ritual, then entered the Temple thinking that uttering a few prayers or performing sacrifices would deliver them from the consequences of their actions (Jer 7:4, 9-10). God, through Jeremiah, exposes this deception and declares that the Temple itself, far from being an impenetrable charm, was subject to divine judgment. To underscore this devastating truth, God points to Shiloh, His first designated central sanctuary, as an irrefutable historical precedent of His readiness to abandon even sacred places due to the persistent wickedness of His covenant people.
Jeremiah 7 12 Word analysis
- But go ye now (וְלֵכוּ־נָא - wǝlēḵū-nāʾ): An imperative command, combining the verb "to go" (halak) with an particle of entreaty or immediacy (naʾ). It's an urgent call, not merely to mentally recall, but to "go and see," as if demanding an empirical observation of Shiloh's desolation. This imparts a vivid, visceral urgency to Jeremiah's message, compelling the audience to consider God's past actions seriously.
- unto My place (אֶל־מְקוֹמִי - ʾel-mǝqōmî): "My place" refers specifically to God's chosen dwelling. The Hebrew word maqom (place) denotes a designated or sacred locality. The possessive suffix ("My") underscores God's sovereignty over this location, yet paradoxically, it did not exempt it from judgment. It implies God's initial choice and sacred dedication.
- which was in Shiloh (אֲשֶׁר בְּשִׁילוֹ - ʾăšer bǝšîlô): Shiloh (שִׁלוֹ - Shiloh) was a profoundly significant site in Israelite history. Located in Ephraim, it housed the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant for several centuries after the conquest of Canaan (Josh 18:1, Judg 18:31, 1 Sam 1:3), before Jerusalem became the capital. Its name means "Tranquility" or "He whose it is" (potentially referring to the Messiah in Gen 49:10, though its application here is purely geographical). Its destruction marked a pivotal point of national decline, demonstrating God's abandonment due to His people's sin. The phrase "which was in Shiloh" emphasizes its past status and now desolate condition.
- where I set My name (אֲשֶׁר שִׁכַּנְתִּי שְׁמִי - ʾăšer shikka̅ṇtî shǝmî):
- set (שִׁכַּנְתִּי - shikka̅ṇtî): The verb shakan (to dwell, to settle), related to the Tabernacle (Mishkan), signifies God's direct establishment of His presence there. It suggests more than mere selection; it means He caused His presence to abide.
- My name (שְׁמִי - shǝmî): In Hebrew thought, "God's Name" is not merely an appellation but represents His presence, character, authority, reputation, and divine essence. "To set My Name" in a place means that God has chosen and consecrated it as His special dwelling where He makes Himself known and receives worship (Deut 12:5, 1 Kgs 8:29). This implies a covenant relationship and His promise to be there, yet this promise was conditional on the people's fidelity.
- at the first (בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה - bārishônâ): This temporal marker stresses that Shiloh was the original and primary chosen sanctuary before the Temple in Jerusalem. By highlighting its antiquity and foundational status, the point of its destruction becomes even more stark: if God did not spare His first, how could Jerusalem expect special immunity?
- and see what I did to it (וּרְאוּ אֵת אֲשֶׁר־עָשִׂיתִי לוֹ - ūrǝʾū ʾēt ʾăšer-ʿaśîtî lô): Again, an imperative ("and see"). It is a call for Judah to witness, remember, and truly comprehend God's direct and intentional judgment. The verb "did" (ʿaśîtî) is in the first person singular, emphasizing God's personal, sovereign act of destruction.
- for the wickedness (מִפְּנֵי רָעַת - mippǝnê rāʿat): "Because of" or "on account of" (מִפְּנֵי - mippǝnê) connects the destruction directly to the people's actions. Wickedness (רָעַת - rāʿat) here signifies moral corruption, idolatry, covenant breaking, and general evil. This is the explicit causative link. God's actions are righteous judgments in response to human sin.
- of My people Israel (עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל - ʿammî yiśrāʾēl): Despite being called "My people" – a designation of covenant intimacy – their wickedness led to the devastation of their most sacred site. The reference to "Israel" here can be understood in the broader sense, encompassing the original sin that led to Shiloh's fall, drawing a clear historical parallel to Judah, who were also "My people." This demonstrates God's impartial justice; covenant status does not nullify consequences for unfaithfulness.
Jeremiah 7 12 Bonus section
The historical fall of Shiloh (referenced in 1 Sam 4, Psa 78) represented a "first exile" or temporary "departure of glory" (Ichabod in 1 Sam 4:21-22) for the northern tribes, and a national catastrophe before the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles. Its desolation in Jeremiah's day (nearly 600 years later) was still evident enough to serve as a vivid and sobering testament to God's consistent justice. The parallel for Judah was explicit: their claim to divine favor simply by having the Jerusalem Temple was as hollow as the empty ruins of Shiloh. Furthermore, this prophecy subtly foreshadows a future shift in God's dwelling, away from fixed physical structures to a more spiritual presence (as fulfilled in Christ and the New Testament church where believers become the "temple of the Holy Spirit" - 1 Cor 3:16). The theological significance lies in the enduring principle that God values righteous living and sincere faith more than magnificent altars or sacred sites.
Jeremiah 7 12 Commentary
Jeremiah 7:12 is a core element of God's indictment against Judah's false security, driven by a deep historical object lesson. It dismantles their reliance on the Temple as a mere fetish or talisman, immune to God's judgment. By commanding them to consider Shiloh, Jeremiah highlights that divine consecration ("where I set My Name") of a place does not guarantee its perpetual inviolability when the people dwelling in His presence refuse to uphold their covenant obligations. God's "setting His name" signifies His covenant promise to bless and dwell among them if they were obedient. When "My people Israel" succumbed to widespread "wickedness," God directly "did" destroy that place. This profound truth served as a chilling precursor to Jerusalem's own impending destruction and the subsequent exile, confirming that true worship is never merely ritualistic or geographical, but rooted in genuine covenant fidelity and a transformed heart. God's dwelling place is conditional on the faithfulness of His people, prioritizing His character and their obedience over any physical structure.