But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

JEREMIAH 7:24KJV
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Jeremiah 7:24 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 7:24 mean?

Jeremiah 7:24 says that the people did not listen to God or pay attention, but instead followed their own stubborn and evil ideas, which led them away from God rather than closer to Him. The verse highlights their refusal to change and their choice to go in the wrong direction spiritually.

In this verse, the prophet Jeremiah is speaking to the people of Judah on behalf of God. The setting is a warning at the temple gate, where Jeremiah tells the people that their outward religious practices mean nothing if their hearts are rebellious. The verse uses strong language to show that the people deliberately ignored God’s guidance and chose their own way, which the text describes as going “backward, and not forward.”

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 7:24

  • “Hearkened” (שָׁמַע, shama‘) means to listen or obey. The verse emphasizes that the people did not just fail to hear, but actively refused to obey what God was saying.
  • “Imagination” (שְׁרִרוּת, sherirut) is often understood as stubbornness or the willful inclinations of the heart. This word points to a deep-seated determination to follow their own desires, not just passing thoughts.
  • “Evil” (רַע, ra‘) describes the moral quality of their hearts and intentions. The verse is clear that their choices were not just misguided but truly wrong.
  • “Backward” (אָחוֹר, achor) and “forward” (פָּנִים, panim) use physical directions to picture spiritual movement. Instead of progressing toward God, the people were actually regressing.

Why Jeremiah 7:24 matters

  • Jeremiah 7:24 clears up the idea that simply hearing God’s words or participating in religious rituals is enough; the verse stresses the need for genuine listening and obedience.
  • The verse highlights the seriousness of following one’s own stubborn desires (“imagination of their evil heart”), showing that this is not a minor issue but a central reason for spiritual decline.
  • In the wider passage, this verse helps explain why judgment is coming on Judah: it is not because God failed to communicate, but because the people persistently chose to go their own way.

Where else these words appear

“counsels” Hebrew H4156 · used in 7 verses

  • Psalms 5:10 Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.
  • Proverbs 1:31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
  • Hosea 11:6 And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

“imagination” Hebrew H8307 · used in 10 verses

  • Deuteronomy 29:19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
  • Jeremiah 9:14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
  • Jeremiah 16:12 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:

“backward” Hebrew H268 · used in 41 verses

  • Genesis 49:17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
  • Psalms 44:10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
  • Isaiah 41:23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.