JérémieChapitre 7

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The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

Stand in the gate of the LORD's house and proclaim this word there: Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD.

This is what the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: Mend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place.

Do not trust in deceptive words, chanting, "The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!"

But if you truly mend your ways and your deeds, if you truly deal justly with one another,

if you do not oppress the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow, if you do not shed innocent blood in this place, and do not follow other gods to your own ruin,

then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land I gave to your fathers, from age to age.

But look—you are trusting in deceptive words that are worth nothing.

Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods you have not known,

and then come and stand before me in this house that bears my name, and say, "We are safe"—only to go on doing all these detestable things?

Has this house that bears my name become a den of robbers in your eyes? I myself have seen it, declares the LORD.

Go now to my place at Shiloh, where I first made my name dwell, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.

And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD—I spoke to you again and again, but you would not listen; I called you, but you would not answer—

therefore I will do to this house that bears my name, the house you trust in, and to the place I gave to you and your fathers, what I did to Shiloh.

I will cast you out of my presence, just as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.

As for you, do not pray for this people; raise no cry or prayer on their behalf, and do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.

Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

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 to provoke me to anger.

But is it me they are provoking? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves, to their own shame?

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: My anger and my fury will be poured out on this place—on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground—and it will burn and not be quenched.

This is what the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, pile your burnt offerings on your sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!

For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to them or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.

But this is what I commanded them: Obey my voice, and I will be your God and you will be my people; walk in every way I command you, so that it may go well with you.

But they did not listen or pay attention. They followed their own counsels, the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward instead of forward.

From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent you all my servants the prophets, sending them again and again, day after day, early and late.

Yet they did not listen to me or pay attention. They stiffened their necks and did worse than their fathers.

So you will speak all these words to them, and they will not listen to you; you will call to them, and they will not answer you.

Then say to them: This is the nation that would not obey the voice of the LORD its God or accept correction. Faithfulness has perished; it has vanished from their lips.

Shear off your consecrated hair and throw it away; raise a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned the generation of his wrath.

For the people of Judah have done what is evil in my eyes, declares the LORD. They have set their detestable idols in the house that bears my name, defiling it.

They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded and that never entered my mind.

So the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth until there is no room left.

The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, with no one to drive them away.

And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land will lie in ruins.

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Résumé2

Chapitre 7

Main Theme: God condemns Judah's false trust in the temple and demands genuine repentance rather than empty religious practice.

Content: Jeremiah proclaims at the temple gate that the people cannot rely on the temple as a guarantee of security while they live in sin. God requires justice, care for vulnerable groups, and faithfulness to the covenant—not merely outward rituals. The people have turned the temple into a "den of robbers" and worship foreign gods, including child sacrifices in the Valley of Hinnom. God points to the destruction of Shiloh as a warning and forbids Jeremiah from praying for the people, since judgment is unavoidable.

Key Words/Images:

"The temple of the Lord" (v.4): The false sense of security the people found in repeating this phrase, as if the temple automatically protected them.
Den of robbers (v.11): The temple has become a refuge for sinners who continue their evil deeds.
Shiloh (vv.12–14): The former sanctuary that God destroyed because of Israel's sin—a warning about Jerusalem's fate.
Queen of Heaven (v.18): A fertility goddess whom entire families participated in worshipping, to God's provocation.
Topheth/Valley of Hinnom (vv.31–32): The place of child sacrifices that will become the "Valley of Slaughter"—a symbol of coming judgment.

Contexte historique

Places

The Temple Gate and the Temple in Jerusalem (verses 2, 10–11, 14): Jeremiah was commanded to stand at the entrance of the Lord’s house and proclaim a message. This location was strategically vital because the temple gate served as a central gathering place, especially during major festivals when people from all over Judah flocked there to worship. The temple in Jerusalem, built under Solomon, had become a symbol of God’s unbreakable presence and protection—an understanding Jeremiah directly challenged.

Shiloh (verses 12, 14): Jeremiah refers to Shiloh, the ancient religious center where the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant stood during the period of the judges (Josh 18:1; 1 Sam 1–4). Archaeological excavations at Khirbet Seilun have revealed a significant destruction layer dating to around 1050 B.C., likely from the time of the Philistines following the battle at Aphek (1 Sam 4). The site was never rebuilt as a religious center. Jeremiah’s point was shocking: God’s former dwelling place had been destroyed because of the people’s sin—the same could happen to the temple in Jerusalem.

Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom (verses 31–32): The Valley of Hinnom (Hebrew: גֵּיא בֶן־הִנֹּם, Ge-Hinnom) lay south and west of Jerusalem. Topheth (הַתֹּפֶת) was a specific cultic site in this valley where children were sacrificed by fire. The name possibly derives from an Aramaic word meaning "hearth" or "burning place." The site has been confirmed through archaeological investigations, and the valley later became so associated with evil that its name (Gehenna) was used to refer to hell in later Jewish and Christian tradition.

Events and Customs

Temple Theology and the Slogan "The Temple of the Lord" (verse 4): The triple repetition "the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord" reflects a liturgical slogan circulating in Jerusalem. This "Zion theology" was based on the belief that God had chosen Jerusalem and the temple as His eternal dwelling (Ps 132:13–14), and therefore the city was invincible. The people had distorted this faith into a magical guarantee of security, regardless of moral behavior.

Worship of "the Queen of Heaven" (verse 18): This verse describes a family-involved cultic practice in which the entire household participated: children gathered wood, fathers kindled the fire, and women kneaded dough to make sacrificial cakes (כַּוָּנִים, kawwanim). "The Queen of Heaven" (מְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם) is commonly identified with the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar (Akkadian) or her West Semitic equivalent Astarte/Ashtoreth. Archaeological finds from Judah, including female pillar figurines and inscriptions from Kuntillet Ajrud mentioning "Yahweh and his Asherah," confirm the widespread nature of goddess worship during this period.

Child Sacrifice (verse 31): The practice of "burning sons and daughters in the fire" was linked to the worship of Molech or Baal and was explicitly forbidden in Israelite law (Lev 18:21; 20:2–5). Despite this, the practice was introduced under kings Ahaz and Manasseh (2 Kgs 16:3; 21:6). Phoenician and Punic parallels, especially from Carthage, confirm that such sacrifices occurred in the region.

Key Terms

"Den of Thieves" (verse 11): The Hebrew expression מְעָרַת פָּרִצִים (me'arat paritsim) describes the temple as a refuge for criminals. Just as robbers seek shelter in a cave after their crimes, the people used the temple as a "sanctuary" that gave them a false sense of security while they continued in wrongdoing. Jesus combined this expression with Isaiah 56:7 during His cleansing of the temple (Matt 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46).

"Cut off your hair" (verse 29): The expression גָּזִּי נִזְרֵךְ refers to cutting off the locks of a Nazirite or consecrated hair. This was a symbol of mourning and loss of holiness. Jerusalem is personified here as a woman who must perform this humiliating mourning ritual because God has rejected "the generation of His wrath" (דּוֹר עֶבְרָתוֹ).

Personnages2

Ba'al (Canaanite god worshipped by the Israelites)1 Jeremiah1

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Mots-clés8

Temple — A holy building dedicated to God, where people came to worship and offer sacrifices; in the book of Jeremiah chapter 7, the temple in Jerusalem is central.
Shiloh — A city in ancient Israel, formerly the location of the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant; used as a warning that God's protection is not guaranteed.
Hearken — To be attentive and willing to follow God's instructions; in the book of Jeremiah chapter 7, the people of Israel are criticized for not heeding God.
Sacrifice — A gift or act given to God as a form of worship, thanksgiving, or atonement for sins; the book of Jeremiah chapter 7 criticizes the people's empty rituals and lack of sincerity in their sacrifices.
Justice — Ethical and moral principles that reflect God's will; the book of Jeremiah chapter 7 calls on the people of Israel to practice justice in their lives.
Unjust deeds — Actions that contradict God's will and morality; the book of Jeremiah chapter 7 accuses the people of Israel of committing unjust deeds and warns them of the consequences.
Punishment — God's response to human disobedience and sin; in the book of Jeremiah chapter 7, the people of Israel are warned that they will be punished for their godless actions and rejection of God's commands.
Repent — To regret and change one's behavior to return to God's way; the book of Jeremiah chapter 7 calls on the people of Israel to repent from their sinful lifestyle.