The Meaning of Jeremiah 9:14 Explained

Jeremiah 9:14

KJV: But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:

YLT: And they walk after the stubbornness of their heart, And after the Baalim, that their fathers taught them,

Darby: but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them;

ASV: but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But have walked  after  the imagination  of their own heart,  and after  Baalim,  which their fathers  taught  them: 

What does Jeremiah 9:14 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Instead the people had followed their own desires and the Baals, just like their ancestors. "Stubbornness" was one of their chief sins (cf. Deuteronomy 29:18; Psalm 81:13).
"The threat of "stubbornness" still exists today. It has been described as "atrophy of the will." When people stubbornly refuse to do right, the time comes when they cannot do right. Judgment then comes in the form of living in the prison you have erected for yourself." [1]

Context Summary

Jeremiah 9:1-16 - National Perversity
Jeremiah 9:1-6
Once the voice of joy and thanksgiving had been heard in Jerusalem, but now on every side there was bloodshed, and the patriot-prophet could only weep incessantly over the slain. A lodge in the wilderness seemed preferable to the most luxurious mansion in the city. Solitude would be better than association with the ungodly perpetrators of such crimes. Yet we must not go out of the fray so long as our Captain wants us to remain in it, in dependence upon him.
Jeremiah 9:7-16
What a magnificent description of the effect of God's judgments on the land! No bird, no beast, no lowing of cattle, but jackals gamboling over the ruins of Jerusalem. However fast we shut our doors and windows, death enters our homes. Neither palace nor cottage is exempted. There is no escape for young or old from the judgments of God, except in penitence and faith. The secret of national decay and overthrow is the same in all ages. The tree is rotten at the core before it falls beneath the hurricane. Let us turn to 1 Corinthians 1:18, which belongs to this chapter, and learn how little the wisdom and might of the world can avail us in the dread hour of universal desolation. Stand with the Crucified and glory in His Cross; be content to bear His reproach and shame, that you may become a son of the Resurrection, and be accounted worthy to escape those things that must come to pass, and at last stand, before Him. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 9

1  Jeremiah laments the people for their manifold sins;
9  and for their judgment
12  Disobedience is the cause of their bitter calamity
17  He exhorts to mourn for their destruction;
23  and to trust not in themselves, but in God
25  He threatens both Jews and Gentiles

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 9:14 mean?

But they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals which taught them their fathers -
וַיֵּ֣לְכ֔וּ אַחֲרֵ֖י שְׁרִר֣וּת לִבָּ֑ם וְאַחֲרֵי֙ הַבְּעָלִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר לִמְּד֖וּם אֲבוֹתָֽם ס

וַיֵּ֣לְכ֔וּ  But  they  have  walked 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
אַחֲרֵ֖י  according  to 
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.
לִבָּ֑ם  of  their  own  hearts 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
וְאַחֲרֵי֙  and  after 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition
Root: אַחַר 
Sense: after the following part, behind (of place), hinder, afterwards (of time).
הַבְּעָלִ֔ים  the  Baals 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: בַּעַל  
Sense: supreme male divinity of the Phoenicians or Canaanites.
לִמְּד֖וּם  taught  them 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person common plural, third person masculine plural
Root: לָמַד  
Sense: to learn. teach, exercise in.
אֲבוֹתָֽם  their  fathers 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation