Yirmeyah 44:8

8 In that ye provoke Me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning ketoret unto elohim acherim in Eretz Mitzrayim, where ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a kelalah (curse) and a cherpah (reproach) among kol HaGoyim of ha’aretz?

Yirmeyah 44:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 44:8

In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands,
&c.] Their sinful actions, particularly their idolatry, by worshipping images, the works of men's hands; and though it was the queen of heaven they worshipped, which their hands made not, yet it was before images they did that; besides, the things they did to her were the worlds of their hands, as sacrificing, pouring out drink offerings, and as follows: burning incense;
which they did, not only to her, but to other gods in the land of Egypt;
where they were very numerous: whither ye be gone to dwell;
against the express will and command of God: that ye might cut yourselves off;
as from the worship of God, so from being his people, and from being under his care and protection, and from all privileges temporal and spiritual: and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of
the earth?
not that this was their view, end, and design, but this was the event so it was, that they were looked upon as an accursed people of God and man, and their names were taken up for a proverb and a reproach everywhere.

Yirmeyah 44:8 In-Context

6 Wherefore My wrath and Mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the towns of Yehudah and in the streets of Yerushalayim; and they are become a desolate ruin, as at this day.
7 Therefore now thus saith Hashem Elohei Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel: Why commit ye this ra’ah gedolah against your nefashot, to cut off from you ish and isha, olel (child) and yonek (infant), out of Yehudah, to leave you no she’erit (remnant);
8 In that ye provoke Me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning ketoret unto elohim acherim in Eretz Mitzrayim, where ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a kelalah (curse) and a cherpah (reproach) among kol HaGoyim of ha’aretz?
9 Have ye forgotten the ra’ot (wickednesses) of avoteichem, and the ra’ot of the melachim of Yehudah, and the ra’ot of their nashim, and your own ra’ot, and the ra’ot of your nashim, which they have committed in Eretz Yehudah, and in the streets of Yerushalayim?
10 They are not contrite even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in My torah, nor in My chukkot, that I set before you and before avoteichem.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.