Jeremiah 19:4

I will do so because these people ¹  have rejected me and have defiled ²  this place. They have offered sacrifices in it to other gods which neither they nor their ancestors ³  nor the kings of Judah knew anything about. They have filled it with the blood of innocent children. ⁴ 

De 13:6,13; De 28:20; De 28:36,64; De 31:16-18; De 32:15-23; De 32:17; 2Ki 21:4,5,7; 2Ki 21:6,16; 2Ki 22:16,17; 2Ki 23:11,12; 2Ki 24:4; 2Ch 33:4-7; Isa 59:7; Isa 65:11; Jer 2:13,17,19,34; Jer 2:30,34; Jer 5:6; Jer 7:9; Jer 7:31,32; Jer 11:13; Jer 15:6; Jer 16:11; Jer 17:13; Jer 18:15; Jer 22:17; Jer 26:15,23; Jer 32:29-35; La 4:13; Da 9:5-15; Mt 23:34,35; Lu 11:50; Re 16:6

¹ tn The text merely has “they.” But since a reference is made later to “they” and “their ancestors,” the referent must be to the people that the leaders of the people and leaders of the priests represent.

² sn Heb “have made this city foreign.” The verb here is one that is built off of the noun and adjective which relate to foreign nations. Comparison may be made to Jer 2:21 where the adjective refers to the strange, wild vine as opposed to the choice vine the Lord planted and to 5:19 and 8:19 where the noun is used of worshiping foreign gods. Israel through its false worship has “denationalized” itself in its relation to God.

³ tn Heb “fathers.”

⁴ tn Heb “the blood of innocent ones.” This must be a reference to child sacrifice as explained in the next verse. Some have seen a reference to the sins of social injustice alluded to in 2 Kgs 21:16 and 24:4 but those are connected with the city itself. Hence the word children is supplied in the translation to make the referent explicit.