Jeremiah 7:18 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.
Jeremiah 7:18 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.
Jeremiah 7:18 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.
Jeremiah 7:18 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.
Jeremiah 7:18 nlt
No wonder I am so angry! Watch how the children gather wood and the fathers build sacrificial fires. See how the women knead dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. And they pour out liquid offerings to their other idol gods!
Jeremiah 7 18 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Jeremiah 7:18 | "The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger." | Old Testament, Contemporary Idolatry |
| Jeremiah 7:17 | "Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?" | Old Testament, Divine Observation |
| Jeremiah 7:16 | "As for you, do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or a prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I am not listening." | Old Testament, Prayer Hindered |
| Isaiah 9:13 | "For the people do not turn to him who strikes them, nor do they seek the LORD of hosts." | Old Testament, Lack of Repentance |
| Isaiah 64:11 | "Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, has been burned by fire, and all that we held precious has become a ruin." | Old Testament, Consequence of Disobedience |
| Jeremiah 7:30 | "For the people of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the LORD. They have set their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to make it unclean." | Old Testament, Defilement of Temple |
| Jeremiah 8:12 | "Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not even know how to blush. Therefore they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will be cast down, says the LORD." | Old Testament, Shameless Idolatry |
| Ezekiel 8:14 | "Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD. And behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz." | Old Testament, Forbidden Worship Practices |
| 1 Corinthians 10:20 | "No, I will say that what they sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. To the gods I do not want to be partners with you." | New Testament, Associating with Idolatry |
| 2 Kings 23:4-5 | "And the king commanded..., and he brought out the Asherim from the house of the LORD, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned them at the brook Kidron and turned their ashes into dust. And he removed the male cult prostitutes from the house of the LORD..." | Old Testament, Abolishing Idolatry |
| Acts 17:29 | "Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image carved by art and design of man." | New Testament, True Nature of God |
| Deuteronomy 12:30 | "Take care that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods, that I also may serve them?’" | Old Testament, Warning Against Imitating Paganism |
| Jeremiah 19:13 | "And he defiled the houses, the palaces of the kings of Judah, and he defiled all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the palaces of the kings of Judah, with their refuse." | Old Testament, Judgment on Jerusalem |
| Proverbs 7:26 | "For she has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were a mighty host." | Old Testament, Seductive Nature of Sin |
| Hosea 4:13 | "They sacrifice on the mountain tops and burn incense on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery." | Old Testament, Worship and Immorality Link |
| 1 John 5:21 | "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." | New Testament, Command to Avoid Idolatry |
| Jeremiah 7:23-24 | "But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in thestubbornness of their evil hearts..." | Old Testament, Covenant Disobedience |
| Romans 1:25 | "Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." | New Testament, Idolatry and Creature Worship |
| Psalm 106:37 | "They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons..." | Old Testament, Detestable Sacrifices |
| Jeremiah 2:13 | "For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water." | Old Testament, Forsaking God |
| Jeremiah 7:21 | "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For I did not speak to your fathers or command them on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices." | Old Testament, True Divine Commandment |
Jeremiah 7 verses
Jeremiah 7 18 Meaning
The verse depicts a disturbing ritualistic practice where mothers, under their dominion, are empowered to heat ovens, presumably to bake cakes or breads as offerings. The consequence is the abandonment and destruction of those whom God, the Lord of Hosts, has visited with His anger.
Jeremiah 7 18 Context
Jeremiah 7:18 is part of a larger sermon by the prophet Jeremiah within the Temple. This discourse, often called the "Temple Sermon," strongly rebukes the people of Judah for their hypocrisy and idolatrous practices. They were outwardly participating in Temple worship while inwardly indulging in syncretistic and outright pagan rites. This verse specifically highlights the pervasive influence of the "queen of heaven," a Canaanite deity associated with fertility and the stars, whose worship involved specific domestic rituals like baking cakes. The children, fathers, and women are all involved, indicating a widespread societal embrace of this forbidden worship. God, through Jeremiah, declares His anger because these actions directly defy His commands and betray their covenant relationship with Him. The implication is that such entrenched sin has led to God's judgment, foreshadowed by the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.
Jeremiah 7 18 Word Analysis
"the children" (בָּנִים - banim): Sons and daughters, signifying the involvement of the younger generation in these corrupted practices.
"gather" (אֹסְפִים - os'fim): Collecting, signifying active participation in the preparatory stages of worship.
"wood" (עֵצִים - etsim): Fuel for fires, pointing to the necessary materials for their rituals.
"the fathers" (הָאָבוֹת - ha'avot): The patriarchs, emphasizing that leadership and tradition are contributing to the sin.
"kindle" (מְבַעֲרִים - mev'arim): To light or set ablaze, indicating the active engagement in making fire for their rites.
"the fire" (אֵשׁ - esh): Literal fire, used for baking or for offerings.
"and the women" (וְהַנָּשִׁים - venashim): Females, highlighting their specific role in the ritualistic acts.
"knead" (וְרָדוֹת - veradot): To mix and work dough, a domestic chore intertwined with religious observance.
"the dough" (הַצֵּק - hatz'ek): Raw mixture for baking, the substance prepared for the offerings.
"to make" (לַעֲשׂוֹת - la'asot): To create or prepare, indicating the purpose of their actions.
"cakes" (וּמַעֲשׂוֹת - uma'asot): Small cakes or biscuits, specific food items prepared for worship.
"for the queen" (לְמַלְכַּת - lemalkat): "to the queen," signifying the recipient of their offerings.
"of heaven" (הַשָּׁמַיִם - hashamayim): Referring to the celestial realm, pointing to the deity being worshiped.
"and to pour out" (וְלִנְסֹךְ - venasokh): To make a libation, to offer liquid sacrifices.
"drink offerings" (נִסְכֵיהֶם - niskeyhem): Their libations, the liquid portion of their sacrifices.
"to other gods" (לֵאלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים - le'lohim acherim): To different deities, explicitly naming the illicit worship.
"that they may" (לְמַעַן - lema'an): For the purpose of, indicating intention.
"provoke" (הַכְעִיסִ–ִ — hach'isun): To anger or offend, directly stating the effect on God.
"me" (אֹתִי - oti): Referring to God Himself.
"to anger" (הַכְעִיסִ–ִ — hach'isun): To cause anger or wrath, emphasizing the negative consequence.
Family involvement in idolatry: The verse details a division of labor within the family unit (children gathering wood, fathers kindling fire, women kneading dough) for the purpose of idolatrous worship. This highlights the systemic nature and generational transmission of these sinful practices within society.
Domestic ritual elevated to divine service: Common household tasks like baking are repurposed and sanctified for the worship of illicit deities, demonstrating a deep perversion of true worship and a blurring of the lines between the sacred and the profane in a manner displeasing to God.
"Queen of Heaven" worship: This specific cultic practice is addressed, pointing to the worship of Asherah or Ishtar, deities associated with celestial bodies, particularly Venus, and fertility rites, which were strictly forbidden by Mosaic Law.
Provocation of God's Anger: The explicit mention that these actions are intended to "provoke me to anger" underlines that this is not an accidental transgression but a willful defiance of God’s covenant and His revealed will.
Jeremiah 7 18 Bonus Section
The "queen of heaven" mentioned in this verse is strongly identified with the Canaanite goddess Asherah, often associated with the planet Venus, and later also linked with Astarte (Ishtar). The practices described—baking cakes and pouring drink offerings—were common rituals for appealing to deities for fertility, prosperity, and protection. This specific form of worship was condemned by God because it represented a turning away from the one true God to appeasing pagan powers, thereby breaking the covenant relationship. The involvement of children and mothers underscores the insidious nature of idolatry, how it infiltrates homes and corrupts families, passing down false worship from one generation to the next.
Jeremiah 7 18 Commentary
This verse condemns the deep-seated idolatry prevalent among Judah's people. Their participation in domestic rituals dedicated to "the queen of heaven" illustrates how their worship was a blend of their inherited religious traditions with popular Canaanite fertility cults. The systematic involvement of every family member highlights the pervasive corruption of society. God’s judgment, thus, is not unexpected but a righteous response to their willful transgression and defiance of His covenant. This spiritual unfaithfulness mirrors a pattern seen throughout Israel’s history and serves as a stark warning against the dangers of syncretism and forsaking the Lord.