Yeremia 7:12-14

7:12 So, go to the place in Shiloh where I allowed myself to be worshiped ¹  in the early days. See what I did to it ²  because of the wicked things my people Israel did. 7:13 You also have done all these things, says the Lord, and I have spoken to you over and over again. ³  But you have not listened! You have refused to respond when I called you to repent! ⁴  7:14 So I will destroy this temple which I have claimed as my own, ⁵  this temple that you are trusting to protect you. I will destroy this place that I gave to you and your ancestors, ⁶  just like I destroyed Shiloh. ⁷ 

Yeremia 7:1

Faulty Religion and Unethical Behavior Will Lead to Judgment

7:1 The Lord said to Jeremiah: ⁸ 

1 Samuel 4:10-12

4:10 So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home. ⁹  The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers fell in battle. 4:11 The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were killed.

Eli Dies

4:12 On that day ¹⁰  a Benjaminite ran from the battle lines and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn and dirt was on his head.

1 Samuel 4:19-22

4:19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant and close to giving birth. When she heard that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she doubled over and gave birth. But her labor pains were too much for her. 4:20 As she was dying, the women who were there with her said, “Don’t be afraid! You have given birth to a son!” But she did not reply or pay any attention. ¹¹ 

4:21 She named the boy Ichabod, ¹²  saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 4:22 She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been captured.”

Mazmur 78:60-64

78:60 He abandoned ¹³  the sanctuary at Shiloh,

the tent where he lived among men.

78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; ¹⁴ 

he gave the symbol of his splendor ¹⁵  into the hand of the enemy. ¹⁶ 

78:62 He delivered his people over to the sword,

and was angry with his chosen nation. ¹⁷ 

78:63 Fire consumed their ¹⁸  young men,

and their ¹⁹  virgins remained unmarried. ²⁰ 

78:64 Their ²¹  priests fell by the sword,

but their ²²  widows did not weep. ²³ 

[7:12]  ¹ tn Heb “where I caused my name to dwell.” The translation does not adequately represent the theology of the Lord’s deliberate identification with a place where he chose to manifest his presence and desired to be worshiped (cf. Exod 20:25; Deut 16:2, 6, 11).

[7:12]  ² sn The place in Shiloh…see what I did to it. This refers to the destruction of Shiloh by the Philistines circa 1050 b.c. (cf. Ps 78:60). The destruction of Shiloh is pertinent to the argument. The presence of the tabernacle and ark of the covenant did not prevent Shiloh from being destroyed when Israel sinned. The people of Israel used the ark as a magic charm but it did not prevent them from being defeated or the ark being captured (1 Sam 4:3, 11, 21-22).

[7:13]  ³ tn This reflects a Hebrew idiom (e.g., 7:25; 11:7; 25:3, 4), i.e., an infinitive of a verb meaning “to do something early [or eagerly]” followed by an infinitive of another verb of action. Cf. HALOT 1384 s.v. שָׁכַם Hiph.2.

[7:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “I called to you and you did not answer.” The words “to repent” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.

[7:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 25, 26).

[7:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will do to this house which I…in which you put…and to this place which…as I did to Shiloh.”

[7:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord.”

[4:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “and they fled, each to his tents.”

[4:12]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps, “the same day.” On this use of the demonstrative pronoun see Joüon 2:532 §143.f.

[4:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and she did not set her heart.”

[4:21]  ¹² sn The name Ichabod (אִי־כָבוֹד) may mean, “Where is the glory?”

[78:60]  ¹³ tn Or “rejected.”

[78:61]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he gave to captivity his strength.” The expression “his strength” refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant, which was housed in the tabernacle at Shiloh.

[78:61]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and his splendor into the hand of an enemy.” The expression “his splendor” also refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant.

[78:61]  ¹⁶ sn Verses 60-61 refer to the Philistines’ capture of the ark in the days of Eli (1 Sam 4:1-11).

[78:62]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “his inheritance.”

[78:63]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

[78:63]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

[78:63]  ²⁰ tn Heb “were not praised,” that is, in wedding songs. The young men died in masses, leaving no husbands for the young women.

[78:64]  ²¹ tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

[78:64]  ²² tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

[78:64]  ²³ sn Because of the invading army and the ensuing panic, the priests’ widows had no time to carry out the normal mourning rites.