Jeremiah 19:14-15 details how Jeremiah obeyed God’s command and delivered His message of coming judgment. Jeremiah then went from the valley of Hinnom to the temple, where he reiterated to all the people of Jerusalem that God had declared that Judah would be destroyed because of its stubborn disobedience, its idolatry, its heinous child-sacrifices. The covenant has been broken, and God will fulfill the stipulations of cursings for these violations.
In Jeremiah 19:14-15, the prophet leaves Topheth, where he gave the prophecy God asked him to convey, and announces to the people of Jerusalem the looming calamity decreed for the city in a public area of the temple. Verse 14 clearly infers that Jeremiah did as God directed in the prior verses of Chapter 19, giving the prophecy and breaking the earthen jar while overlooking the Hinnom Valley, also known as Topheth. Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD’s house and said to all the people: (v. 14).
Topheth is another name for the Valley of Ben-hinnom (Gehenna in Greek), currently known as the Hinnom Valley. It is a deep ravine curving along the city’s western and southern borders. Scripture associates it with horrific child sacrifice (Jeremiah 7:31-32; 19:5-6, 2 Kings 23:10). This unholy site is outside the city walls near the Potsherd Gate where broken vessels were discarded (Jeremiah 19:2).
God asked Jeremiah to assemble elders and priests in front of the Potsherd Gate overlooking Topheth to break an earthen pot and announce that Judah and Jerusalem would be similarly smashed to pieces (Jeremiah 19:1-2). That verse 14 says Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophecy and traveled to the court of the LORD’s house indicates that he did just what God instructed.
It is only a few minutes’ walk from the edge of the Hinnom Valley near the modern Dung Gate to the Temple Mount, which would be the location of the LORD’s house, the temple. The Potsherd Gate might have been near or in the same general vicinity as the Dung Gate. Each name reflects the basic notion of taking refuse out of the city, likely to have been dumped off the edge of the cliff to topple down into the valley, over a hundred feet below. After giving his prophecy to the elders and leaders, Jeremiah went immediately to the Temple Mount and stood in the court of the LORD’s house.
The phrase court of the LORD’s house likely refers to the public outer courtyard of the temple, where ordinary worshipers gathered. Jeremiah made the pronouncement of doom to some of the “senior priests” in a private meeting, as instructed in Jeremiah 19:1. Now he makes an announcement to the general public. This announcement will get him arrested by the “chief officer in the house of the LORD” in the next chapter (Jeremiah 20:1-2). This indicates that Jeremiah gave the full prophecy, without softening it to protect himself from criticism.
We are not told whether Jeremiah took this upon himself, or God gave the directive, and it was not recorded. But in any event, Jeremiah’s sermon is concise and direct: “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words’” (v. 15).
The divine title LORD of hosts (Yahweh Tsebaoth) could also be translated as “LORD of Armies.” It evokes God as the Commander of angelic forces. As Jesus stated in Matthew 26:53, had He asked His Father, He would have had “more than twelve legions of angels” dispatched to come to His aid.
God is not a mere local deity that can be manipulated by the immediate population. He is the King of Heaven and Earth. However, He has also chosen to be the God of Israel (Deuteronomy 32:9). This was of His own choosing, because of His love (Deuteronomy 7:7-8).
But Judah has broken the covenant/treaty they made with their God. They have bowed to pagan gods and adopted the pagan culture of selfishness and exploitation, even to the point of sacrificing their own children (Jeremiah 19:4-5). God’s judgment will extend to Jerusalem (this city) as well as to the rest of Judah (and all its towns). The pronoun its refers to Jerusalem, which is the capital of the southern kingdom of Judah.
Israel became two kingdoms during the reign of Solomon’s son Rehoboam, who retained the reign over the southern kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 12:15-17). At the time of Jeremiah, the northern kingdom of Israel had been defeated and exiled by Assyria in 722 BC. God had spared Judah from Assyria during the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:35-36). At that time Hezekiah had humbled himself before God and his realm was spared (2 Kings 19:1-7).
The Babylonians defeated the Assyrians and took over as the dominant empire, capturing Assyria’s capital Nineveh in 612 BC. Now Jeremiah is pronouncing the imminent doom of Judah, which will fall completely to Babylon in 586 BC. Unlike Hezekiah, the leaders during Jeremiah’s term of prophetic office will not listen to him and humble themselves before their covenant God. Rather, Judah’s leaders have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.
In this we can see that Jeremiah’s words are God’s words. God uses humans as instruments of His word. This is true of all the scriptures, as we are instructed:
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16)
“But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
What God had long declared through His prophets (Jeremiah 7; 11; 18-19) He will now bring on this city and the rest of Judah. Historically this culminated in Babylon’s campaigns under Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC), with Jerusalem’s complete fall in 586 BC.
The idiom of a neck that is stiffened reaches back to Israel’s earliest rebellions. This includes Exodus 32:9, when Israel broke their covenant with God immediately after making it. Untrained donkeys are called stiff-necked because through they are led in a particular direction by their master, they ultimately will pull their neck in the opposite direction rejecting the master’s guidance. We can see in Deuteronomy 10:16 that having a stiffened neck is contrasted with having a circumcised heart. The preacher Stephen makes the same connection in Acts 7:51. The contrast is between “I must have my own way” (stiff-necked) and “I will follow God’s way” (circumcised heart).
Jesus later confronts the same obstinacy in Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37-39) and weeps over the city that “did not recognize the time of its visitation” from God, in the form of Jesus Christ (Luke 19:41-44). The LORD of hosts still speaks; the decisive question remains, whether His people will stiffen their neck and follow their own way, or have renewed hearts and minds and follow in God’s ways.
Jeremiah 19:14-15
14 Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD's house and said to all the people:
15 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.' ”
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Jeremiah 19:14-15 meaning
In Jeremiah 19:14-15, the prophet leaves Topheth, where he gave the prophecy God asked him to convey, and announces to the people of Jerusalem the looming calamity decreed for the city in a public area of the temple. Verse 14 clearly infers that Jeremiah did as God directed in the prior verses of Chapter 19, giving the prophecy and breaking the earthen jar while overlooking the Hinnom Valley, also known as Topheth. Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD’s house and said to all the people: (v. 14).
Topheth is another name for the Valley of Ben-hinnom (Gehenna in Greek), currently known as the Hinnom Valley. It is a deep ravine curving along the city’s western and southern borders. Scripture associates it with horrific child sacrifice (Jeremiah 7:31-32; 19:5-6, 2 Kings 23:10). This unholy site is outside the city walls near the Potsherd Gate where broken vessels were discarded (Jeremiah 19:2).
God asked Jeremiah to assemble elders and priests in front of the Potsherd Gate overlooking Topheth to break an earthen pot and announce that Judah and Jerusalem would be similarly smashed to pieces (Jeremiah 19:1-2). That verse 14 says Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophecy and traveled to the court of the LORD’s house indicates that he did just what God instructed.
It is only a few minutes’ walk from the edge of the Hinnom Valley near the modern Dung Gate to the Temple Mount, which would be the location of the LORD’s house, the temple. The Potsherd Gate might have been near or in the same general vicinity as the Dung Gate. Each name reflects the basic notion of taking refuse out of the city, likely to have been dumped off the edge of the cliff to topple down into the valley, over a hundred feet below. After giving his prophecy to the elders and leaders, Jeremiah went immediately to the Temple Mount and stood in the court of the LORD’s house.
The phrase court of the LORD’s house likely refers to the public outer courtyard of the temple, where ordinary worshipers gathered. Jeremiah made the pronouncement of doom to some of the “senior priests” in a private meeting, as instructed in Jeremiah 19:1. Now he makes an announcement to the general public. This announcement will get him arrested by the “chief officer in the house of the LORD” in the next chapter (Jeremiah 20:1-2). This indicates that Jeremiah gave the full prophecy, without softening it to protect himself from criticism.
We are not told whether Jeremiah took this upon himself, or God gave the directive, and it was not recorded. But in any event, Jeremiah’s sermon is concise and direct: “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words’” (v. 15).
The divine title LORD of hosts (Yahweh Tsebaoth) could also be translated as “LORD of Armies.” It evokes God as the Commander of angelic forces. As Jesus stated in Matthew 26:53, had He asked His Father, He would have had “more than twelve legions of angels” dispatched to come to His aid.
God is not a mere local deity that can be manipulated by the immediate population. He is the King of Heaven and Earth. However, He has also chosen to be the God of Israel (Deuteronomy 32:9). This was of His own choosing, because of His love (Deuteronomy 7:7-8).
But Judah has broken the covenant/treaty they made with their God. They have bowed to pagan gods and adopted the pagan culture of selfishness and exploitation, even to the point of sacrificing their own children (Jeremiah 19:4-5). God’s judgment will extend to Jerusalem (this city) as well as to the rest of Judah (and all its towns). The pronoun its refers to Jerusalem, which is the capital of the southern kingdom of Judah.
Israel became two kingdoms during the reign of Solomon’s son Rehoboam, who retained the reign over the southern kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 12:15-17). At the time of Jeremiah, the northern kingdom of Israel had been defeated and exiled by Assyria in 722 BC. God had spared Judah from Assyria during the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:35-36). At that time Hezekiah had humbled himself before God and his realm was spared (2 Kings 19:1-7).
The Babylonians defeated the Assyrians and took over as the dominant empire, capturing Assyria’s capital Nineveh in 612 BC. Now Jeremiah is pronouncing the imminent doom of Judah, which will fall completely to Babylon in 586 BC. Unlike Hezekiah, the leaders during Jeremiah’s term of prophetic office will not listen to him and humble themselves before their covenant God. Rather, Judah’s leaders have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.
In this we can see that Jeremiah’s words are God’s words. God uses humans as instruments of His word. This is true of all the scriptures, as we are instructed:
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
(2 Timothy 3:16)
“But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
(2 Peter 1:20-21)
What God had long declared through His prophets (Jeremiah 7; 11; 18-19) He will now bring on this city and the rest of Judah. Historically this culminated in Babylon’s campaigns under Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC), with Jerusalem’s complete fall in 586 BC.
The idiom of a neck that is stiffened reaches back to Israel’s earliest rebellions. This includes Exodus 32:9, when Israel broke their covenant with God immediately after making it. Untrained donkeys are called stiff-necked because through they are led in a particular direction by their master, they ultimately will pull their neck in the opposite direction rejecting the master’s guidance. We can see in Deuteronomy 10:16 that having a stiffened neck is contrasted with having a circumcised heart. The preacher Stephen makes the same connection in Acts 7:51. The contrast is between “I must have my own way” (stiff-necked) and “I will follow God’s way” (circumcised heart).
Jesus later confronts the same obstinacy in Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37-39) and weeps over the city that “did not recognize the time of its visitation” from God, in the form of Jesus Christ (Luke 19:41-44). The LORD of hosts still speaks; the decisive question remains, whether His people will stiffen their neck and follow their own way, or have renewed hearts and minds and follow in God’s ways.