Jeremías 44:18

18 Pero desde que dejamos de ofrecer incienso y libaciones a la Reina del Cielo nos ha faltado todo, y el hambre y la espada están acabando con nosotros.

Jeremías 44:18 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 44:18

But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven,
&c.] Or were restrained from it, as the Targum, through the force of the prophet's sermons, or by the authority of their governors: this Abarbinel thinks was in the times of Jehoiakim, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah; but perhaps it only regards some space of time in the latter part of Zedekiah's reign, a little before the destruction of Jerusalem, when they refrained from their idolatry; fearing the wrath of God, and what was coming upon them; though Kimchi is of opinion that they never ceased; but they would say, when any evil came upon them, it was because they ceased to burn incense to the queen of heaven, of were not so ready to it as at first: and to pour out drink offerings to her:
another part of worship they performed to her but for a while left off: and from that time they say, we have wanted all [things], and have been consumed by the sword, and
by the famine;
wanted all the necessaries of life, meat and drink, and clothing and a habitation to dwell in; and multitudes were destroyed by the sword of the king of Babylon; and others perished with famine during the siege; these evils they imputed to their cessation from idolatry, when it was the very thing that brought them on them.

Jeremías 44:18 In-Context

16 —No le haremos caso al mensaje que nos diste en el nombre del SEÑOR.

17 Al contrario, seguiremos haciendo lo que ya hemos dicho: Ofreceremos incienso y libaciones a la Reina del Cielo, como lo hemos hecho nosotros, y como antes lo hicieron nuestros antepasados, nuestros reyes y nuestros funcionarios, en las ciudades de Judá y en las calles de Jerusalén. En aquel tiempo teníamos comida en abundancia, nos iba muy bien y no sufríamos ninguna calamidad.

18 Pero desde que dejamos de ofrecer incienso y libaciones a la Reina del Cielo nos ha faltado todo, y el hambre y la espada están acabando con nosotros.

19 Y las mujeres añadieron:—Cuando nosotras ofrecíamos incienso y libaciones a la Reina del Cielo, ¿acaso no sabían nuestros maridos que hacíamos tortas con su imagen, y que les ofrecíamos libaciones?

20 Entonces Jeremías le respondió a todo el pueblo, es decir, a los hombres y mujeres que le habían contestado: