Jeremiah 32:29

Jer 32:29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.

Ver. 29. With the houses, upon whose roofs.] Such was their impudence, and so far was this now from being, as once, the holy city. It was become a very Poneropolis, excessively superstitious, as was afterwards Athens. {Act 17:22}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

burn . . . houses upon whose roofs . . . incense unto Baal--retribution in kind. They burnt incense to Baal, on the houses, so the houses shall be burnt (Jer 19:13). The god of fire was the object of their worship; so fire shall be the instrument of their punishment.

to provoke me--indicating the design, not merely the event. They seemed to court God's "anger," and purposely to "provoke" Him.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 29. With the houses, upon whose roofs] As it is most probable that Baal was the sun, they might have chosen the tops of the houses, which were always flat, with battlements around, to offer incense and sacrifice to him at his rising, and while he was in sight above the horizon.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And therefore he adds, enter in shall the Chaldeans who assail the city; for he does not say that they would come, but he confirms in other words what he had said; Break then into the city shall the Chaldeans, though it was closed up and fortified; and shall set on fire this city It was not without purpose that he mentioned the word city so often; for as it was the sanctuary of God, and the royal seat, the Jews thought that it was impregnable, and that the sun could be sooner cast down from heaven than that; enemies could take possession of it: in order then to subvert this false confidence, God often mentioned the word city. He at last adds, that the Chaldeans would burn it, as though he had said, that whatever Jeremiah had predicted would certainly be fulfilled, not only respecting the attack on the city, but also its destruction, so that not a stone would be left on a stone, but that there would be a dreadful desolation until the time of its restoration. The rest to-morrow.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(29) Upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal . . .—On the mode of worship to which the words refer, see Note on Jer_19:13. Here the leading thought is that of the righteous judgment which is to fall on the very spots that had thus been turned from the worship of Jehovah to that of the false gods whom men had worshipped in His stead. The incense-smoke of their false worship had, as its end, the smoke of burning roof and timbers.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For the children of Israel and the children of Judah,.... The former are mentioned, as well as the latter, though they had been carried captive some years ago, to justify the dealings of God with them; and besides, there were some of the ten tribes that remained, and were mingled with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin: of all which it is said, that they

have only done evil before me from their youth; from their infancy, being conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity; and so being destitute of the grace of God, did nothing else but sin all their days, as is said of the men of the old world, Gen 6:5. Some understand this, from the time of their becoming a people, a body politic; or from the time of their coming out of Egypt, and being in the wilderness, when their idolatry began, they brought out of Egypt; or from the time of the judges:

for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the Lord; with their idols, made by their own hands; these they worshipped instead of their Creator and Benefactor; which must be very provoking indeed!

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Baal, the sun, &c., chap. xix. 13., Sophonias i. 5., and 4 Kings xxiii. 12. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Thou judgest right, this city shall be taken, and that by this very army of Chaldeans which now besiegeth it, they shall set fire on it, and burn the houses; I have made all flesh, and I have power to dispose of it, I will give this city into their hands. But in this execution of my vengeance I shall not act by prerogative, but as a just and righteous judge, vindicating the violation of my laws: they have polluted their houses by idolatry upon the roofs of them, they have offered incense, paid a divine homage, to the idol Baal; and in them they have worshipped other gods; therefore I will watch over and protect them no longer, but send the Chaldeans by their fires to purge them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And burn it. A still more significant prediction to Jewish hearers than to us, for it implies that Jerusalem had become utterly rebellious, and deserved the punishment of the old Canaanitish cities. It was to be made a cherem . (Deu_3:6)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking to Jeremiah.

in order to provoke me

"so that I would become very angry"

doing evil before my eyes

Here the metonym "eyes" represents what God sees. Possible meanings are 1) "doing what I consider evil" or 2) "doing evil knowing that I am watching" (See: Metonymy)

since their youth

A person being young is a metaphor for the people of Israel first becoming a nation. AT: "from the time they were young" or "from the time that they became a nation" (See: Metaphor)

the practices of their hands

The word "hands" is a metonym for the things the person does with his hands. AT: "the evil things they have done" (See: Metonymy)

this is Yahweh's declaration

Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 1:8. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

translationWords

Chaldea

worship

Baal

drink offering

false god

kingdom of Israel

kingdom of Judah

evil

declare

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.