Jeremiah 32:34

They have placed their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Jeremiah conveys Yahweh’s indictment to Judah, recording how the people actively defiled the temple despite repeated divine instruction and warnings.

The words — שִׁקּֽוּצֵי/הֶ֗ם (shi.ku.tzei./hem) translates to "their detestable things," while לְ/טַמְּאֽ/וֹ (le./ta.me./o) means "to make unclean."

The thread — This pattern of defiling the temple appears in Jeremiah 7:30, Ezekiel 8:5, and 2 Kings 21:4.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that ritual space offers no protection against idolatry, requiring readers to reject any practice that treats sacred places as compatible with moral corruption.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיָּשִׂ֣ימוּva/i.ya.Si.muand/ they put שִׁקּֽוּצֵיהֶ֗םshi.ku.tzei./Hemdetestable things/ their בַּבַּ֛יִתba./Ba.yitin the/ house אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-which נִקְרָֽא־nik.ra'-it was called שְׁמִ֥יshe.M/iname/ my עָלָ֖יו'a.La/von/ it לְטַמְּאֽוֹ׃le./ta.me.'/Oto/ make unclean/ it

King James Version

But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 7:30 For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.
Ezekiel 8:5 “Son of man,” He said to me, “now lift up your eyes to the north.” So I lifted up my eyes to the north, and in the entrance north of the Altar Gate I saw this idol of jealousy.
2 Kings 21:4 Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name.”
Jeremiah 23:11 “For both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the LORD.
2 Kings 23:6 He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
2 Chronicles 33:4 Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”
2 Chronicles 33:15 He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, along with all the altars he had built on the temple mount and in Jerusalem, and he dumped them outside the city.