Jeremiah 7 24

Jeremiah 7:24 kjv

But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Jeremiah 7:24 nkjv

Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.

Jeremiah 7:24 niv

But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.

Jeremiah 7:24 esv

But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.

Jeremiah 7:24 nlt

"But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.

Jeremiah 7 verses

Jeremiah 7 24 Meaning

Jeremiah 7:24 conveys Judah's persistent and escalating rebellion against God. Despite divine instruction, the people actively refused to listen or give heed, instead stubbornly resisting God's commands. Their actions marked a deeper depravity, surpassing the wickedness and disobedience exhibited by their ancestors. This verse encapsulates a profound spiritual crisis where conscious rejection of God's word led to entrenched rebellion.

Jeremiah 7 24 Context

Jeremiah 7:24 is part of Jeremiah's Temple Sermon (Jer 7:1-15), delivered at the gate of the Jerusalem Temple. Historically, this sermon occurred during the reign of King Jehoiakim, a period roughly between 609 and 598 BCE, prior to the major Babylonian exiles. The people of Judah placed a false, superstitious confidence in the presence of the Temple in Jerusalem, believing that God would protect them from any disaster regardless of their moral conduct. They chanted, "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these!" (Jer 7:4), while actively engaging in idolatry, social injustice, and covenant disobedience (Jer 7:5-10).

Jeremiah's message directly challenges this misplaced confidence, asserting that rituals and the physical temple offered no security without genuine obedience to God's law. Verse 24 specifically details the people's long-standing and worsening pattern of spiritual unresponsiveness, contrasting it sharply with God's repeated efforts to call them to repentance, as indicated in the verses immediately preceding (Jer 7:23: God desiring to be their God and them to be His people). The verse sets up the stark reality of their persistent rebellion that makes impending judgment inevitable.

Jeremiah 7 24 Word analysis

• But they harkened not:

  • Hebrew: wĕlo shāməʿū (וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ).
  • wĕlo (וְלֹא): "But not" or "And not." The waw (וְ) indicates a contrast or continuation. lo is a strong negative, meaning "no" or "not."
  • shāməʿū (שָׁמְעוּ): "they heard" or "they obeyed" (root shamaʿ, שָׁמַע). This verb means more than merely perceiving sound; in a covenantal context, it deeply implies listening with the intent to obey or to "heed." Thus, "harkened not" means a refusal to obey God's commands and instructions. It's a rejection of active compliance.

• nor inclined their ear:

  • Hebrew: wĕlo hēṭṭū ʾoznām (וְלֹא הִטּוּ אָזְנָם).
  • hēṭṭū (הִטּוּ): "they inclined" or "they turned" (root natah, נָטָה). This signifies an active posture of listening, to lean in, to pay attention.
  • ʾoznām (אָזְנָם): "their ear" (root ozen, אֹזֶן, + possessive suffix).
  • The phrase describes a conscious, deliberate refusal to direct one's attention toward God's words, implying an internal closing off, not just an external failing.

• but stiffened their neck:

  • Hebrew: kî hiqšū ʿorfām (כִּי הִקְשׁוּ עָרְפָּם).
  • kî (כִּי): "but" or "for." Here, it introduces a reason or explanation for their failure to hear/incline their ear.
  • hiqšū (הִקְשׁוּ): "they stiffened" or "they hardened" (root qashah, קָשָׁה). This word refers to making something hard, firm, or difficult.
  • ʿorfām (עָרְפָּם): "their neck" (root oreph, עֹרֶף, + possessive suffix). The "neck" often symbolizes submission, especially when applied to yokes for animals. A stiff neck indicates stubborn refusal to bow or submit, much like an untamed ox refusing the yoke of its master. It signifies obstinacy and defiance. This metaphor is frequent in the Old Testament to describe Israel's rebellion against God's authority.

• they did worse than their fathers:

  • Hebrew: hēraʿū mēʾavōtām (הֵרַעוּ מֵאֲבוֹתָם).
  • hēraʿū (הֵרַעוּ): "they did evil" or "they acted wickedly" (root raʿaʿ, רָעַע or ra as in evil, רַע). This describes a progression into greater sinfulness.
  • mēʾavōtām (מֵאֲבוֹתָם): "from their fathers" (prefix min (מֵ) "from, than" + ʾavōtām (אֲבוֹתָם) "their fathers" (root ʾav, אָב). This phrase is comparative, indicating that the current generation's wickedness had exceeded the historical precedent set by their ancestors, despite having a clearer revelation of God's will and judgment (such as Josiah's reforms).

• Words-group by words-group analysis:

  • "But they harkened not, nor inclined their ear": This double negative (refusal to hear, refusal to lean in) emphasizes the active, deliberate nature of their disobedience. It’s not accidental; it’s an intentional closing of mind and spirit to God’s word, indicating both a physical and spiritual rejection. It suggests an unwillingness to engage with the truth God presents.
  • "but stiffened their neck": This provides the underlying reason for their non-listening: stubborn refusal to submit to God's authority. It vividly pictures a people determined to follow their own path, rejecting divine guidance and control, thus acting as their own authority rather than bowing to God's. This spiritual hardness becomes a barrier to receiving revelation and grace.
  • "they did worse than their fathers": This highlights the cumulative and accelerating nature of their sin. It suggests a tragic trajectory where each generation further deviates, demonstrating a deeper level of rebellion, a failure to learn from historical judgments, and an increased rejection of God's sustained grace and patience. This escalation made their current situation dire and judgment imminent.

Jeremiah 7 24 Bonus section

The consistent use of anthropomorphic language ("inclined their ear," "stiffened their neck") allows for a vivid portrayal of the human-divine relationship. It personalizes their defiance, showing it as a deliberate act of choosing to not relate to God as their sovereign. This spiritual insensitivity leads to the point where even the most clear and direct communication from God (e.g., through prophets) is not only ignored but actively resisted. The escalation of "worse than their fathers" implies a dangerous precedent for all generations, warning against a desensitization to sin that can become progressively entrenched. This verse foreshadows the ultimate spiritual blindness that will lead to rejection of God's Messiah, a theme echoed in the New Testament when Jesus confronts the scribes and Pharisees regarding their lineage of unrepentance.

Jeremiah 7 24 Commentary

Jeremiah 7:24 distills Judah's core spiritual problem: an unwavering, active refusal to submit to God. This isn't passive ignorance but a determined, willful rebellion expressed through metaphors of non-listening, spiritual deafness, and stubborn defiance. Their ancestors, too, had been disobedient, yet this generation had deepened its wickedness, demonstrating a higher degree of culpability. This verse is a stern indictment, revealing that despite God's clear covenant instruction and patient dealings, the people consistently chose their own path of evil, thus justifying the severe judgment that God, through Jeremiah, declared would come upon them. It speaks to the ultimate consequence of repeatedly rejecting divine truth.