Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
What does Jeremiah 17:2 mean?
The sins which men commit make little impression on their minds, yet every sin is marked in the book of God; they are all so graven upon the table of the heart, that they will all be remembered by the conscience.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside Jeremiah 17:1-4 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Jeremiah 17:2
While their children remember their altars - Perhaps an allusion to their sacrifices of children to Moloch. Present perhaps at some such blood-stained rite, its horrors would be engraven forever upon the memory. Groves - "Asherahs," i. e., wooden images of Astarte (see Exodus 34:13 note).
Key words
- Whilst
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Whilst their children remember their altars,.
- children
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Whilst their children remember their altars,.
- remember
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Whilst their children remember their altars,.
Context in Jeremiah 17
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Jeremiah 17 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as conflict with kings, priests, and prophets. Jeremiah combines fierce warning, autobiographical anguish, symbolic action, the promise of a new covenant, and the trauma of Jerusalem’s fall. Read this chapter with the wider themes of judgment, tears, and new covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
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