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But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
Jeremiah 32:34 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB But they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.
  • BSB They have placed their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.
  • NKJV But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it.
  • NASB But they put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it.
  • NLT They have set up their abominable idols right in my own Temple, defiling it.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

They set up idols in the temple bearing God's name, defiling it. They corrupted the very place meant for true worship.

Overview

The people brought their abominations into the house called by God's name, a profound act of profanation. To pollute the temple was to assault the heart of Israel's covenant worship. This defilement of God's dwelling magnifies the work of Christ, who cleanses true worship and whose body is the new temple where God is rightly met (John 2:19-21).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Jer 7:30For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
  • Ezek 8:5–16Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
  • 2 Kgs 21:4–7And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
  • Jer 23:11For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
  • 2 Chr 33:15And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.
  • 2 Chr 33:4–7Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.
  • 2 Kgs 23:6And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Jeremiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Jeremiah 32:34YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JeremiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.

How Jeremiah 32:34 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.