Jeremiah 7:16-20

The Worship of Astarte. The prophet is forbidden to intercede for a people who are even now worshipping other gods, to their own deserved ruin. The cult (p. 99) described in Jeremiah 7:18 (and more fully in Jeremiah 44:15) is that of Ashtoreth (Astarte), the queen of heaven, i.e. the planet Venus, who was worshipped under the name of Ishtar by the Babylonians (1 Kings 11:5 *). A similar offering of cakes (p. 99) by women to the Virgin Mary, practised by an Arabian sect, is the continuation of this (EBi. col. 3993).

Jeremiah 7:18. Cf. the drink-offering in the worship of Yahweh (Numbers 15:5 ff.). provoke to anger, here and elsewhere, should be vex.