Jeremiah 7:24

“But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, etc.] Neither to the law that was given them, nor to the promises that were made unto them, this was the case of the Jewish fathers, and also of their posterity, to whom belonged the law, and the promises, and the service of God: but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart; what their evil heart imagined, advised and directed to, that they attended to, walked in, and pursued after. The heart of man is evil; it is desperately wicked, even wickedness itself; and so is every thought and every imagination of the thoughts of it and all its counsels, machinations and contrivances; and therefore the consequence of walking in…”

“hearkened not--They did not give even a partial hearing to Me (Psa 81:11-12). imagination--rather, as Margin, "the stubbornness" backward, &c.-- (Jer 2:27; Jer 32:33; Hos 4:16).”

“Imagination - Better, as in the margin. And went backward - literally, as in the margin; i. e., they turned their back upon Me to follow their own devices. return to 'Top of Page'”

“7:24-26 Throughout their history, the Israelites had rejected the messages of the Lord’s prophets (2 Chr 36:15; Mark 12:1-10).”

“they: Jer 7:26, Jer 11:7, Jer 11:8; Exo 32:7, Exo 32:8; Neh 9:16-20; Psa 81:11, Psa 81:12, 106:7-48; Eze 20:8, Eze 20:13, Eze 20:16, Eze 20:21 walked: Jer 23:17; Deu 29:19 imagination: or, stubbornness, Jer 3:17 \*marg. went: Heb. were backward: Jer 7:26, Jer 2:27, Jer 8:5, Jer 32:33; Neh 9:29; Hos 4:16 Jeremiah 7:25”

“But they have not regarded that which was foremost and most cardinal in the law. They hearkened not, sc. to my voice; and instead of walking in the ways commanded, they walked in the counsels of the stubbornness of their evil heart. בּמעצות is stat. absol., and בּשׁררוּת is co-ordinated with it in apposition, instead of being subordinated; cf. Ew. 289, c. The lxx have not seen their way to admit such a co-ordination, and so have omitted the second term; and in this, Movers, Hitz., and Graf have followed them, deleting the word as a mere gloss. As to "the stubbornness of their evil heart," see on Jer 3:17. יהיוּ לאחור, they were backwards, not forwards, i.e., they so walked as to turn to me…”