Jeremiah 44:17
But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
Study Note
Study Note
The Jewish refugees in Egypt invoke the queen of heaven — 'we will burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem' — in explicit defiance of Jeremiah's prohibition. Their argument is consequentialist: while they worshiped the queen of heaven there was plenty; when they stopped there was famine, inferring a causal connection that Jeremiah had inverted (44:22-23). The queen of heaven (likely Ishtar/Astarte) appears also in Jeremiah 7:18 as a practice that entire Judahite families participated in together, suggesting deep popular religion embedded in household worship. The passage illustrates the structural persistence of syncretistic religion and the difficulty of prophetic reform against experiential religious memory.
Other Translations
But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
for we certainly do everything that hath gone out of our mouth, to make perfume to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out to her libations, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our heads, in cities of Judah, and in streets of Jerusalem, and--we are satisfied with bread, and we are well, and evil we have not seen.
But we will certainly do every word which has gone out of our mouths, burning perfumes to the queen of heaven and draining out drink offerings to her as we did, we and our fathers and our kings and our rulers, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then we had food enough and did well and saw no evil.
Cross References
And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord …
If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; …
But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them; then whatsoever proceeded out of …
That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou …
And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according …
And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and …
Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with …
Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and …
Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.