Jeremiah 7:4

lying words those of the false prophets, who maintained that the possession of the Temple was enough. Jehovah would never suffer it to be overthrown, and thus its presence would be a kind of charm or fetish. They doubtless relied on such passages as Isaiah 37:22 ff., with the signal overthrow of Assyria that followed, as well as on the sentiment produced by the centralisation of worship at Jerusalem under Josiah.

The temple of the Lord Cp. for the threefold repetition Jeremiah 22:29; Isaiah 6:3. Here it seems intended as a charm. Cp. 1 Kings 18:26 as illustrated by Mussulman Dervishes at the present day. See Stanley, f. Ch. II. 254, 438.

these the buildings of the Temple.