to judge (officially or mentally) · verb, hithpael jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
people
הָעָ֣םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
up
תִּשָּׂ֧אti.Sa'
H5375
to lift · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
cry
רִנָּ֥הri.Nah
H7440
properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
prayer
וּתְפִלָּ֖הu.te.fi.Lah
H8605
intercession · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
them
בְּעַדbe.'ad-
H1157
in up to or over against · cardinal number, both genders singular construct
intercession
תִּפְגַּעtif.ga'-
H6293
to impinge · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
hear
שֹׁמֵ֖עַsho.Me.a'
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Jeremiah 11:14 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto m…
Jeremiah 14:11-12 Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of…
Jeremiah 15:1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight,…
Ezekiel 14:14-20 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GO…
Exodus 32:10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
Jeremiah 18:20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to…
Micah 3:4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themse…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 7:16-20
God had shown them, in the foregoing verses, that the temple and the service of it, of which they boasted and in which they trusted, should not avail to prevent the judgment threatened. But there was another thing which might stand them in some stead, and which yet they had no value for, and that was the prophet's intercession for them; his prayers would do them more good than their own pleas: now here that support is taken from them; and their case is said indeed who have lost their interest in the prayers of God's ministers and people.
I. God here forbids the prophet to pray for them (Jer 7:16): "The decree has gone forth, their ruin is resolved on, therefore pray not thou for this people,…
When people are given up to judicial hardness of heart, intercessory prayer for them is unavailing (Jer 11:14; Jer 14:11; Jer 15:1; Exo 32:10; Jo1 5:16).
John Gill on Jeremiah 7:16
Therefore pray not thou for this people,.... These are the words of the Lord to the Prophet Jeremiah, forbidding him to pray for the people of the Jews; which he either was doing, or about to do, and which, from the great affection he had for them, he was inclined unto; wherefore, to show how much the Lord was displeased with them, and how determined he was to punish them with captivity, he orders the prophet not to make any supplication for them:
neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; referring to the gestures of lifting up the eyes and hands in prayer, and also to the frame of the heart, in the exercise of faith and holy confidence: "cry" and "prayer" are put together, because prayer is…
Jeremiah 7:16
16. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
16. Et tu ne ores pro populo hoc, et ne eleves pro ipsis clamorem et precationem, et ne occurras (intercedas; est enim translativum verbum, nam phn significat obviam ire, sed accipitur pro intercedere, ne ergo intercedas) apud me, quia non exaudiam to.
God, in order to exonerate his servant from every ill-will, forbids him to pray for the people. This might have been done for the sake of the Prophet, as well as of the whole people; for no doubt Jeremiah regarded the ruin of his own nation with great grief and sorrow: as we shall see…
The Church Fathers
And with regard to the deluge again He did the self-same thing, by His acts excusing Himself to Noah. And also to Ezekiel in like manner, when He caused him dwelling in Babylon to see men's evil deeds in Jerusalem. And yet again to Jeremiah, when He said, "Pray not," excusing Himself He added, "Seest thou not what they do?" And everywhere He doeth the selfsame thing, as here also. For what saith He? "The men of Nineveh shall rise up, and shall condemn this generation, because they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here."
Rightly, then, is it said, "Who shall entreat for him?" It implies that it must be such a one as Moses to offer himself for those who sin. Or such as Jeremiah, who, though the Lord said to him, "Pray not for this people," yet prayed and obtained their forgiveness. For at the intercession of the prophet and the entreaty of so great a seer, the Lord was moved. And Jerusalem, which had meanwhile repented for its sins, had said, "O Almighty Lord God of Israel, the soul in anguish and the troubled spirit cries to you. Hear, O Lord, and have mercy."
Just as God knows how to heal, so does he furthermore know how to smite. He knows how to make peace but likewise permits evils. He prefers repentance but moreover commands Jeremiah not to pray for the reversal of ills on behalf of the sinful people. He says, "If they will fast, I still will not listen to their plea." And again: "Do not pray to me on behalf of the people, and do not request on their behalf in prayer and supplication, since I will not listen to them in the time when they shall have invoked me, in the time of their affliction." And further he, the same One who prefers mercy above sacrifice, says, "And do not pray to me on behalf of this people, and do not request that they may obtain mercy, and do not approach me on their behalf, since I will not listen to them in the time wherein they shall have invoked me, in the time of their affliction."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Condescension Of God · Expostulates with backsliding Israel — Expostulates with backsliding Israel
Impenitence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Intercession · OF MAN WITH GOD — OF MAN WITH GOD
Prayer, Intercessory · Unavailing for the obstinately-impenitent — Unavailing for the obstinately-impenitent
Reprobacy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
This punishment will be turned aside, neither by intercession, because the people re2fuses to give up its idolatry, nor by sacrifice, which God desires not, because for long they have turned to Him the back and not the face, and have not hearkened to His words. - Jer 7:16. "But thou, pray not for this people, and lift not up for them cry and prayer; and urge me not, for I do not hear thee. Jer 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Jer 7:18. The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me. Jer 7:19. Provo…
