Bible Strands
Jeremiah 44:9
Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers and of the kings of Judah and their wives, as well as the wickedness that you and your wives committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah speaks to Judean refugees who have settled in Egypt, confronting them during a period of ongoing idolatry and impending national ruin. He challenges their collective memory to explain their current exile and suffering.
The words — הַֽשְׁכַחְתֶּם (ha-shkachattem) translates literally as "have you forgotten," directly paired with רָעוֹת (ra'ot), meaning "wicked deeds," to mark the specific sins of their ancestors, kings, wives, and themselves.
The thread — The persistence of ancestral guilt across generations appears in Joshua 22:17 and Ezra 9:7, both of which track how unaddressed past disobedience continues to impact subsequent communities.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to trace present consequences directly to specific, recorded actions rather than abstract fate or external blame. It demands explicit acknowledgment of personal and inherited sin before any understanding of judgment can begin.
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
King James Version
Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 7:17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
- Joshua 22:17 Was not the sin of Peor enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day? It even brought a plague upon the congregation of the LORD.
- Ezra 9:7 From the days of our fathers to this day, our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities, we and our kings and priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the earth and subjected to the sword and to captivity, to pillage and humiliation, as we are this day.
- Jeremiah 44:15 Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing by—a great assembly—along with all the people living in the land of Egypt and in Pathros, said to Jeremiah,
- Jeremiah 44:21 “As for the incense you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you, your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land—did the LORD not remember and bring this to mind?
- Daniel 9:5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.