Jeremiah 7:22

For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices,

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Yahweh speaks through Jeremiah to the people of Israel/Judah, confronting a generation that treats ritual observance as a substitute for covenant loyalty.

The words — כִּי (ki) = "for" and לֹא (lo') = "not" anchor the clause, which contrasts the Exodus deliverance with the limited scope of the initial Mosaic instructions. The verbs דִבַּרְתִּי (dibbartî, "I spoke") and צִוִּיתִי (tṣiwwîtî, "I commanded") are explicitly separated by the phrase "your fathers" and the conjunction "and not," preventing a false equivalence between divine speech and divine command.

The thread — This motif of ritual subordination to moral obedience recurs in Hosea 6:6, 1 Samuel 15:22, and Psalm 51:16.

Why it lands — The text asserts that God’s primary directive at the Exodus was relational obedience, not ritual inventory, requiring the reader to examine whether external religious acts mask internal disobedience.

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

כִּ֠יkifor לֹֽא־lo'-not דִבַּ֤רְתִּיdi.Bar.tiI spoke אֶת־'et-with אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙'a.vo.tei./Khemancestors/ your וְלֹ֣אve./Lo'and/ not צִוִּיתִ֔יםtzi.vi.Ti/mI commanded/ them בְּי֛וֹםbe./Yomon/ [the] day הוֹצִיאִ֥יho.tzi/'brought out/ I אוֹתָ֖ם'o.Ta/m<obj.>/ them מֵאֶ֣רֶץme./'E.retzfrom/ [the] land of מִצְרָ֑יִםmitz.Ra.yimEgypt עַל־'al-on דִּבְרֵ֥יdiv.Reimatters of עוֹלָ֖הo.Lahburnt offering וָזָֽבַח׃va./Za.vachand/ sacrifice

King James Version

For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

Cross-references

Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.
Psalms 51:16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.
Matthew 9:13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Psalms 40:6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.
Psalms 50:8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.
Mark 12:33 and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. This is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”