Jeremiah 7:6 kjv
If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
Jeremiah 7:6 nkjv
if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt,
Jeremiah 7:6 niv
if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm,
Jeremiah 7:6 esv
if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm,
Jeremiah 7:6 nlt
only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols.
Jeremiah 7 6 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Jeremiah 7:6 | "Yet you have wronged foreigners, orphans, and widows. You have not shed innocent blood in this place, nor have you walked after other gods to your own hurt." | Jeremiah 7:5 |
| Deuteronomy 10:18 | "He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing." | God's justice for the vulnerable |
| Isaiah 1:17 | "Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." | Call for justice |
| Jeremiah 22:3 | "Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been plundered, and do no wrong, inflict no violence on the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow." | God's command for justice |
| Luke 18:7-8 | "And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily." | God's eventual justice |
| Matthew 5:25 | "Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be thrown into prison." | Reconciliation |
| Exodus 22:21-24 | "You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat a widow or an orphan." | Old Testament law |
| Leviticus 19:33-34 | "When a sojourner resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress him. The sojourner who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." | Love for the sojourner |
| Psalm 146:9 | "The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he twists." | God protects the vulnerable |
| Zechariah 7:10 | "Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor. And let none of you devise evil in your heart against your brother." | Prohibition of oppression |
| James 1:27 | "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit fatherless children and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." | True religion defined |
| Isaiah 5:7 | "For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting. And he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry!" | Israel's failure |
| Jeremiah 5:28 | "They grow sleek and fat. They know no bounds in their evil deeds. They judge not with right judgment, the judgment of the fatherless, and yet they succeed, and the rights of the needy they do not defend." | Israel's corruption |
| Micah 3:2-3 | "You who hate the good and love the evil, who flay them from their skin and tear their flesh from their bones, who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from them, and break their bones, and chop them up like meat in a stew bowl," | God's judgment on oppressors |
| Ezekiel 22:7 | "In you they have insulted father and mother; in your midst they have wronged the sojourner; in you they have oppressed the fatherless and the widow." | Judgment for oppression |
| Matthew 23:14 | "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. Now I will tell you a greater condemnation." | Hypocrisy and exploitation |
| 1 Peter 3:7 | "Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered." | Respect in marriage |
| Romans 2:11 | "For God shows no partiality." | God's impartiality |
| Acts 10:34 | "So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality," | God shows no partiality |
| Genesis 9:6 | "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." | Sanctity of human life |
Jeremiah 7 verses
Jeremiah 7 6 Meaning
The verse pronounces judgment against those who commit injustice, particularly the oppression of foreigners, orphans, and widows, and who shed innocent blood, stating that their land will become a desolation.
Jeremiah 7 6 Context
Jeremiah 7 is a pivotal chapter where the prophet is sent by God to the temple gate to deliver a severe message of judgment to the people of Judah. This message comes in a period of impending doom, likely around the time of King Josiah's reforms or shortly thereafter, when superficial religious practice masked deep-seated corruption and injustice. The people were relying on their participation in religious rituals, believing the temple itself guaranteed their safety, a belief God strongly refutes. Jeremiah is instructed to stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim this judgment, highlighting the sins that have led to this pronouncement. Verse 6 is part of a list of specific offenses against God's covenant, detailing social injustices that angered the Lord, especially the mistreatment of the vulnerable – foreigners, orphans, and widows – and the shedding of innocent blood. This directly contrasts with the core tenets of the Law given to Israel, which commanded protection for these groups and emphasized righteousness over ritual.
Jeremiah 7 6 Word Analysis
- Yet (וְעַתָּה - wəʿattâ): "And now"; "But now". This is a strong adversative conjunction indicating a sharp contrast between the preceding statement (likely related to God's covenant or the people's misplaced confidence) and the sin that follows. It signals a turning point, a present reality of sin in contrast to what ought to be.
- you have wronged (עָשַׁקְתֶּם - ʿāšəqətem): "you have oppressed"; "you have defrauded"; "you have wronged". This verb signifies cruel, unjust oppression, taking what is not rightfully theirs through exploitation and abuse of power. It is a profound accusation of severe injustice.
- foreigners (גֵּר - gêr): "sojourner"; "stranger"; "foreigner"; "resident alien". This term refers to a non-Israelite living within the land of Israel. The Law of Moses placed specific obligations on the Israelites to treat the ger with kindness and justice, as they themselves had been sojourners in Egypt.
- orphans (יָתוֹם - yāṯôym): "fatherless"; "orphan". One whose father is dead, leaving them particularly vulnerable to exploitation in ancient societies.
- and (וְ - wə): A conjunctive particle.
- widows (אַלְמָנָה - ’almânâ): "widow". A woman whose husband has died, often losing her primary source of security and support.
- you have not shed (לֹא־שָׁפַכְתָּ - lō šāpaḵtā): "you have not shed"; "you have not spilled". While grammatically singular (referring to an implied leader or the collective as one entity), the context of the preceding plural verb ʿāšəqətem suggests a collective responsibility. The critical part is the negation: "you have not spilled."
- innocent blood (דַּם־נָקִי - dam nāqî): "innocent blood"; "blood of the innocent". This refers to blood shed unjustly, the life unjustly taken. In a covenantal context, shedding innocent blood was a direct violation of God's law and a defilement of the land.
- in this place (בַּמָּקוֹם־הַזֶּה - bam·mā·qōm haz·zeh): "in this place". Referring specifically to Jerusalem and the temple precinct, the center of their worship and the locus of God's presence. The hypocrisy is underscored by committing these sins where God’s presence was supposed to sanctify them.
- nor have you walked (וּבְדַרְכֵי־נֵכָר - ū·ḇə·ḏar·ḵê ·nêḵār): "nor have you walked in the ways of a stranger/foreigner". The Hebrew behind this phrase (from the preceding verses which should be read together) is ū·ḇə·ḏar·ḵê ·nêḵār, meaning "and in the ways of the stranger." Jeremiah's actual verse 6 is "...neither have you shed innocent blood, nor have you walked after other gods..." The phrasing here "in the ways of the stranger" implies walking according to the corrupt customs of the nations around them, adopting their unjust practices, which often included idolatry and cruelty. (Correction: the prompt analysis is for Jeremiah 7:6 directly which is linked to the previous verses' thought, but "other gods" is directly in verse 6 for emphasis, see below.)
- after other gods (בְּא��הֵי־נֵכָר - bə’al·hê ·nêḵār): "after other gods". This is a direct accusation of idolatry. It means forsaking Yahweh and turning to worship foreign deities, which was a fundamental breach of the covenant. The juxtaposition of social injustice and idolatry highlights the holistic nature of true worship for God – it encompasses both right relationship with Him and right relationships with others.
- to your own hurt (לְרָעָה - lə·rā‘â): "for destruction"; "to your hurt"; "to evil". This phrase signifies that their actions were not merely abstract sins, but had consequences, bringing ruin and harm upon themselves.
Words Group Analysis:
- "wronged foreigners, orphans, and widows": This grouping of vulnerable individuals represents those most likely to be exploited by a society that had abandoned justice. Their mistreatment is a litmus test for the righteousness of a community.
- "not shed innocent blood, nor have you walked after other gods": This pairing highlights two critical failures: the disregard for human life and the abandonment of faithfulness to God. They failed in both vertical (faithfulness to God) and horizontal (justice to neighbors) dimensions of the covenant.
Jeremiah 7 6 Bonus Section
The concept of the "innocent blood" (דַּם־נָקִי) is highly significant in the Old Testament. Its shedding was seen not only as a crime against humanity but also as a defilement of the land itself, crying out to God for vengeance. This spiritual implication of sin's effect on the physical environment is a recurring theme. The prophet's linkage of social injustice (oppression) with idolatry (walking after other gods) reflects a consistent prophetic theme: true worship of God necessitates adherence to His moral and social commands. There is no separation between piety and justice. The repetition of similar charges against the vulnerable in other prophetic books (Isaiah, Micah, Ezekiel) emphasizes how persistent and widespread these sins were among Israel, leading to national downfall. The very place the people trusted for safety, the Temple, became the platform for their condemnation, highlighting God's rejection of their hollow worship.
Jeremiah 7 6 Commentary
This verse unequivocally condemns Israel for grave social sins and religious apostasy, placing them on par with the highest offenses. The sins listed are not minor transgressions but profound violations of God's law and the covenant relationship. The oppression of the foreigner, orphan, and widow directly contradicted the compassionate and just character of God and the specific commands in the Mosaic Law (e.g., Ex 22:21-24; Deut 10:18-19). Furthermore, shedding innocent blood was a defilement of the land and a grave offense against God, who is the giver of life (Gen 9:6). The additional charge of walking after other gods signifies spiritual infidelity, the ultimate betrayal of the covenant, and a rejection of Yahweh's sole authority. Jeremiah is indicting the people for a perversion of justice and a lapse in pure worship. Their reliance on temple rituals while perpetrating these crimes was utter hypocrisy, demonstrating a religion of the lips rather than the heart. The consequences of these sins, as stated in the following verses, would be devastating – destruction and desolation, not divine protection, because they had fundamentally broken their covenant. This message underscores that genuine faith is inseparable from ethical living and social justice.