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But they put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it.
Jeremiah 32:34 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB But they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.
  • KJV 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.
  • 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 7:30“For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight,” says Yahweh. “They have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.
  • Ezek 8:5–16Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and saw, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
  • 2 Kgs 21:4–7He built altars in Yahweh’s house, of which Yahweh said, “I will put my name in Jerusalem.”
  • Jer 23:11for both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in my house I have found their wickedness,” says Yahweh.
  • 2 Chr 33:15He took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of Yahweh’s house, and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of Yahweh’s house, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.
  • 2 Chr 33:4–7He built altars in Yahweh’s house, of which Yahweh said, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”
  • 2 Kgs 23:6He brought out the Asherah from Yahweh’s house, outside of Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast its dust on the graves of the common 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.