“However their ancestors
Did not obey.
They did not
Incline their ears.
But in the stubbornness
Of their evil will,
They walked
In their own counsels.
They looked backward
Rather than forward.
From the day
That your ancestors came out
Of the land of Egypt
To this day,
I have persistently sent
All my servants,
The prophets,
To them,
Day after day.
Yet they did not listen to me.
They did not pay attention.
But stiffened their necks.
They did worse
Than their ancestors.”
Yahweh points out to Jeremiah that their ancestors did not obey God’s commands. They did not listen because they were stubborn in their evil ways. They relied on their own counsels, looking backward rather than forward. Yet since the day that they left Egypt, Yahweh has sent his prophet servants to them on a daily basis. However, they still have not listened or paid attention. Instead they stiffened their necks and were more disobedient than their ancestors.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 