Jeremiah 7:19

Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces? DO THEY PROVOKE ME TO ANGER? SAITH THE LORD: DO THEY NOT PROVOKE THEMSELVES IN THE CONFUSION OF THEIR OWN FACES? - Is it me that they provoke to anger? Is it not themselves? etc. (; ; ; , "If thou sinnest, what doest thou against Him? ... Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art;" )....

He then subjoins, _Do they provoke me, and not rather to the shame of their own faces? _God here intimates, that however reproachfully the Jews acted towards him, they yet brought no loss to him, for he stood in no need of their worship. Why then does he so severely threaten them? Because he had their sins in view: but yet he shews that he cared not for them nor their sacrifices, for he could without any loss be without them. Hence he says, that they sought their own ruin, and whatever they devised would fall on their own heads. They seek to provoke me; they shall know with whom they have to do.” It is like what is said by the Prophet Zechariah, “They shall know whom they have pierced: I indeed continue uninjured; and though they provoke me as much as they can, I yet despise all their wickedness, for they cannot reach me; they can neither hurt me nor take anything from me.” But he says,...

17-20 The Jews took pride in showing zeal for their idols. Let us learn to be earnest in the service of our God, even from this bad example. Let us think it an honour to be employed in any work for God. Let us be as diligent ourselves, and as careful to teach our children the truths of God, as many are to teach the mysteries of iniquity. The direct tendency of this sin is malice against God, but it will hurt themselves. And they shall find there is no escaping. God's wrath is fire unquenchable....

DO THEY NOT PROVOKE ... - literally, Is it not themselves (“that they provoke”) to the shame of their faces?...

EXPOSITION Ch. 7-10.—Severe rebukes of idolatry alternating with announcements of the impending judgment. The circumstances connected with this discourse, or part thereof, appear to be detailed in Jeremiah 26:1. Among the parallelisms between the two sections, notice especially the reference to the fate of the temple of Shiloh (comp. Jeremiah 26:14 with Jeremiah 26:6). The date of the original utterance of the prophecy is thus fixed for one of the early years of the reign of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah 10:1, however, requires separate consideration....

DO THEY PROVOKE ME TO ANGER? SAITH THE LORD,.... No: he cannot be provoked to anger as men are; anger does not fall upon him as it does on men; there is no such affection in God as there is in men; his Spirit cannot be irritated and provoked in the manner that the spirits of men may be; and though sin, and particularly idolatry, is disagreeable to him, contrary to his nature, and repugnant to his will; yet the damage arising from it is more to men themselves than to him; and though he sometimes does things which are like to what are done by men when they are angry, yet in reality there is no such perturbation in God as there is in men: DO THEY NOT PROVOKE THEMSELVES TO THE CONFUSION OF THEIR OWN FACES? the greatest hurt that is done is done to themselves; they are the sufferers in the end; they bring ruin and destruction upon themselves; and therefore have great reason to be angry with...

THE PROPHET'S TEMPLE ADDRESS (7-9) CHAPTER 7 _ 1. Amend your ways and your doings (Jeremiah 7:1) _ 2. No prayer-answer to be expected (Jeremiah 7:16) 3. Sacrifices rejected; Obedience demanded (Jeremiah 7:21) 4. Jerusalem's rejection (Jeremiah 7:29) Jeremiah 7:1. We call this next address of the prophet “the temple address,” because he was commanded to stand in the gate of the LORD's house. There he stood, a solitary figure, and said: “Hear the Word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in a

THE WORSHIP OF ASTARTE. The prophet is forbidden to intercede for a people who are even now worshipping other gods, to their own deserved ruin. The cult (p. 99) described in Jeremiah 7:18 (and more fully in Jeremiah 44:15) is that of Ashtoreth (Astarte), the queen of heaven, _i.e._ the planet Venus, who was worshipped under the name of Ishtar by the Babylonians (1 Kings 11:5 *). A similar offering of cakes (p. 99) by women to the Virgin Mary, practised by an Arabian sect, is the continuation of this (EBi. col. 3993). Jeremiah 7:18. _Cf._ the drink-offering in the worship of Yahweh ...

PROVOKE. Note the Figure of speech _Ploke_, by which the one word implies. second meaning. "Do they provoke Me... ? No: they bring on themselves" the judgments of Jehovah. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 32:21)....

See introd. note on the section and cp. Jeremiah 15:1. It is hardly probable that this formed part of Jeremiah's address, seeing that it gives us in fact Jehovah's words to His prophet abruptly inserted, without any introductory formula. According to some commentators, e.g. Co., the kind of idolatry here spoken of was not practised as late as Jehoiakim's reign. It is mentioned, however, in Jeremiah 19:13, which may belong to that date. It is true that in ch. 44 the people ascribe their misfortunes to the neglect of it, but it is a question whether the women who there speak are not contrasting their present with _their own_past practice and not with that of a previous generation. Jeremiah's tone of hopelessness also points in the direction of the later period, rather than in that of Josiah's reforms....