But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.

JEREMIAH 44:18KJV
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Jeremiah 44:18 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 44:18 mean?

Jeremiah 44:18 records the people of Judah claiming that ever since they stopped burning incense and pouring out drink offerings to the "queen of heaven," they have lacked everything and have suffered from war and famine. The verse shows them blaming their troubles on abandoning their former religious practices.

In this verse, the people are speaking to Jeremiah while living in Egypt after fleeing Judah. They are defending their worship of the "queen of heaven," a foreign goddess, and arguing that their hardships began when they stopped these rituals. This statement reveals their misunderstanding of why disaster has come upon them and highlights the tension between Jeremiah’s message and the people’s beliefs.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 44:18

  • "off" (חָדַל, chadal): This word means "to cease" or "to stop." The people are saying they "left off" or stopped their worship practices, which is central to their argument.
  • "incense" (קָטַר, qatar): This verb means "to burn incense." Burning incense was a key part of ancient worship, often associated with prayers or offerings to deities.
  • "queen" (מְלֶכֶת, meleket): This word means "queen," referring here to the "queen of heaven," likely a title for a goddess such as Ishtar or Astarte, showing the people’s turn to foreign religious practices.
  • "heaven" (שָׁמַיִם, shamayim): This word means "heaven" or "sky," emphasizing the divine or celestial status the people gave to this goddess.
  • "wanted" (חָסֵר, chaser): This verb means "to lack" or "to be without." The people claim they have been lacking all things since they stopped their rituals, showing their belief that these practices brought prosperity.
  • "consumed" (תָּמַם, tamam): This verb means "to be finished" or "to be consumed." The people say they have been "consumed" by sword and famine, expressing the extent of their suffering.

Why Jeremiah 44:18 matters

  • This verse clears up a common misunderstanding: the people believe their suffering is due to stopping idol worship, not because of their disobedience to God as Jeremiah has warned.
  • The verse highlights the deep divide between Jeremiah’s message from God and the people's attachment to old religious customs, even in exile.
  • Jeremiah 44:18 connects to the wider passage by showing the people's stubbornness and unwillingness to accept that their troubles are the result of turning away from God, not from abandoning foreign gods.

Where else these words appear

“queen” Hebrew H4446 · used in 5 verses

  • Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
  • Jeremiah 44:17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
  • Jeremiah 44:19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?

“wanted” Hebrew H2637 · used in 21 verses

  • Genesis 8:3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
  • Deuteronomy 15:8 But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.
  • Proverbs 31:11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

“out” Hebrew H5258 · used in 24 verses

  • Genesis 35:14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.
  • 1 Chronicles 11:18 And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD,
  • Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

“off” Hebrew H2308 · used in 56 verses

  • Genesis 11:8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
  • Ruth 1:18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.
  • Job 16:6 Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?