Jeremiah 1:16
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I will pronounce My judgments against them for all their wickedness, because they have forsaken Me to burn incense to other gods and to worship the works of their own hands.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
God holds judgment upon the inhabitants of Judah in this very way, viz., by bringing these nations and permitting them to set up their lordship before the gates of Jerusalem, and against all cities of Judah. The suffix in אותם refers to ישׁבי, Jer 1:14, and אותם stands by later usage for אתּם, as frequently in Jer.; cf. Ew. 264, b. 'דּבּר משׁפּטים את־פ, speak judgment, properly, have a lawsuit with one, an expression peculiar to Jeremiah - cf. Jer 4:12; Jer 12:1; Jer 39:5; Jer 52:9, and Kg2 25:6 - is in substance equivalent to נשׁפּט את, plead with one, cf. Jer 12:1 with Jer 2:35, Eze 20:35., and signifies not only remonstrating against wrong doing, but also the passing of condemnation, and so comprehends trial and sentencing; cf. Jer 39:5; Jer 42:9. "All their wickedness" is more exactly defined in the following relative clauses; it consists in their apostasy from God, and their worship of heathen gods and idols made by themselves; cf. Jer 19:4, Kg1 11:33, Kg2 22:17. קטּר, offer odours, cause to rise in smoke, used not of the burning of incense alone, but of all offerings upon the altar, bloody offerings and meat-offerings; hence frequently in parallelism with זבח; cf. Hos 4:13; Hos 11:2, etc. In the Pentateuch the Hiphil is used for this sense. Instead of the plural מעשׂי, many MSS give the singular מעשׂה as the ordinary expression for the productions of the hand, handiwork; cf. Jer 25:6-7, Jer 25:14; Jer 32:30; Kg2 22:17, etc.; but the plural too is found in Jer 44:8; Ch2 34:25, and is approved by these passages. The sense is no way affected by this variation.
Open source ↗In this chapter we have, I. The general inscription or title of this book, with the time of the continuance of Jeremiah's public ministry (Jer 1:1-3). II. The call of Jeremiah to the prophetic office, his modest objection against it answered, and an ample commission given him for the execution of it (Jer 1:4-10). III. The visions of an almond-rod and a seething-pot, signifying the approaching ruin of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Jer 1:11-16). IV. Encouragement given to the prophet to go on undauntedly in his work, in an assurance of God's presence with him (Jer 1:17-19). Thus is he set to work by one that will be sure to bear him out.
Open source ↗Cross-references
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Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,
because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in this place to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have ever known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.
The LORD will send curses upon you, confusion and reproof in all to which you put your hand, until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the wickedness you have committed in forsaking Him.
At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.
Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.
If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, He will turn and bring disaster on you and consume you, even after He has been good to you.”
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.
But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images.
For this thing is from Israel— a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria.
Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster.