- Why is Jeremiah instructed to stand in the gate of the city? Why is this an appropriate location?
- Essentially, in Jeremiah 7:3, what is the meaning of “improve your ways and your deeds”? How does this relate to the reference in Jeremiah 7:4: “God’s house, “God’s house”, “God’s house”?
- Specifically, what is called for in Jeremiah 7:5-6 — “ritual” (in the externalistic, meaningless sense) or social action?
- In Jeremiah 7:9 there is a mélange of mitzvah transgression. What two elements are admixed?
- And, in Jeremiah 7:10, what is the reaction if, following mitzvah violation, one comes to “God’s house” to ask for “salvation”?
- What is the nature of God’s house as set forth in Jeremiah 7:11-12?
- Indeed, as a result of the actions of the Judeans and their “relationship” to God’s house, what is to become of it (Jeremiah 7:14)?
- How does the historical reference to Shiloh relate to the prediction in Jeremiah 7:14?
- And to the prophet (Jeremiah 7:17), what is God’s mandate and why is it so voiced?
- In Jeremiah 7:20 what is “this place” and what is to become of it?
- In Jeremiah 7:21-24, is the meaning of the castigation that the externals of worship have no pertinence or relevance or, rather, that when unaccompanied by appropriate personal action these “rituals” are misdirected and actual travesties?
- Jeremiah 7:25-26 indicate a particular perception as to when prophets first emerged in Israel. According to these verses, who, then, would have been the first prophet and is there any reference to this in the book of Deuteronomy?
- Would Jeremiah 7:30 indicate that the Temple included idols and other objects of alien faiths?
- Were there other sites for idol worship and what took place at these sites according to the prophet (Jeremiah 7:31)?
- There is a play on words in Jeremiah 7:32 involving a well-known site in Jerusalem. What will this valley be called?
- In sum, will there be any softening of the prediction of destruction (Jeremiah 7:34)?
- Would this type of chapter seem to warrant the term “Jeremiad”?
