The Meaning of Jeremiah 16:12 Explained

Jeremiah 16:12

KJV: 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:

YLT: Ye also have done evil above your fathers, And lo, ye are walking each after the stubbornness of his evil heart, So as not to hearken unto Me.

Darby: and you, ye have done still worse than your fathers; and there ye are walking every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, not to hearken unto me:

ASV: and ye have done evil more than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that ye hearken not unto me:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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: 

What does Jeremiah 16:12 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The punishment was also for their own sins, which were worse than those of their forefathers. They had been stubborn in their hearts and had not responded to the Lord"s Word.

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 16

1  The prophet, under the types of abstaining from marriage,
8  from houses of mourning and feasting, foreshows the utter ruin of the Jews;
10  because they were worse than their fathers
14  Their return from captivity shall be stranger than their deliverance out of Egypt
16  God will doubly recompense their idolatry

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 16:12 mean?

And you worse have done than your fathers for behold follows each one after the dictates of his own heart evil so that no one listens to Me
וְאַתֶּ֛ם הֲרֵעֹתֶ֥ם לַעֲשׂ֖וֹת מֵאֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם וְהִנְּכֶ֣ם הֹלְכִ֗ים אִ֚ישׁ אַֽחֲרֵי֙ שְׁרִר֣וּת לִבּֽוֹ־ הָרָ֔ע לְבִלְתִּ֖י שְׁמֹ֥עַ אֵלָֽי

וְאַתֶּ֛ם  And  you 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, second person masculine plural
Root: אַתְּ 
Sense: you (second pers.
הֲרֵעֹתֶ֥ם  worse 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, second person masculine plural
Root: מֵרֵעַ 
Sense: to be bad, be evil.
לַעֲשׂ֖וֹת  have  done 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
מֵאֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם  than  your  fathers 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
וְהִנְּכֶ֣ם  for  behold 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Interjection, second person masculine plural
Root: הֵן  
Sense: behold, lo, though hypothetical part.
הֹלְכִ֗ים  follows 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
אִ֚ישׁ  each  one 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
אַֽחֲרֵי֙  after 
Parse: Preposition
Root: אַחַר 
Sense: after the following part, behind (of place), hinder, afterwards (of time).
שְׁרִר֣וּת  the  dictates 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: שְׁרִרוּת  
Sense: stubbornness, hardness, firmness.
לִבּֽוֹ־  of  his  own  heart 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
הָרָ֔ע  evil 
Parse: Article, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
לְבִלְתִּ֖י  so  that  no  one 
Parse: Preposition-l
Root: בִּלְתִּי  
Sense: not, except adv.
שְׁמֹ֥עַ  listens 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
אֵלָֽי  to  Me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).