Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?

JEREMIAH 7:19KJV
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Jeremiah 7:19 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 7:19 mean?

Jeremiah 7:19 says that when the people provoke God to anger, they are actually harming themselves and bringing confusion and shame upon their own faces. The verse points out that their actions do not truly injure God, but instead lead to their own disgrace and trouble.

In this verse, God is speaking through the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Judah, who have been worshiping other gods and ignoring God's commands. The question God asks is rhetorical, highlighting that their rebellion does not ultimately hurt Him, but rather brings about their own downfall. The verse uses strong language to show that turning away from God leads to self-inflicted confusion and shame.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 7:19

  • anger (כָּעַס, ka'as): This word means to provoke or irritate to anger. Here, it emphasizes that the people’s actions are offensive, but the real harm falls back on themselves.
  • confusion (בֹּשֶׁת, boshet): This word often means shame or disgrace. The verse uses it to show that the result of their choices is not just emotional confusion, but public shame and humiliation.
  • faces (פָּנִים, panim): Literally "faces," this word points to the visible, outward experience of shame. It suggests that their disgrace will be obvious to others, not just a private feeling.

Why Jeremiah 7:19 matters

  • Jeremiah 7:19 clarifies that disobedience to God is self-destructive, not just offensive to God. The people’s actions rebound on themselves.
  • The verse shifts the focus from God’s anger to the consequences for the people, making it clear that God’s warnings are for their own good.
  • In the wider passage, this verse helps explain why judgment is coming: not because God is easily angered, but because the people’s choices naturally lead to ruin and public shame.

Where else these words appear

“confusion” Hebrew H1322 · used in 29 verses

  • 1 Samuel 20:30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness?
  • Psalms 109:29 Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.
  • Jeremiah 3:25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

“anger” Hebrew H3707 · used in 53 verses

  • Deuteronomy 4:25 When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:
  • 1 Kings 22:53 For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.
  • Ecclesiastes 5:17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.