Jeremiah 13:21

Lexham English Bible

Contextual Overview

¹² "Therefore, you shall say to them this word, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: "Every jar must be filled with wine."' And they will say to you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every jar should be filled with wine?' ¹³ Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh: "Look, I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings who sit on David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness. ¹⁴ And I will smash them, each one against his brother, and the fathers and the sons together," declares Yahweh. "I will not have compassion, and I will not take pity, and I will not show compassion from destroying them."'" ¹⁵ Listen, and pay attention, you must not be haughty, for Yahweh has spoken. ¹⁶ Give glory to Yahweh your God before he brings darkness, and before your feet stumble on the mountains at twilight. And you will hope for light, but he makes it as gloom, he makes it as thick darkness. ¹⁷ But if you will not listen to it, my inner self will weep in secret places, because of the presence of your pride. And my eyes will weep bitterly, and they will melt in tears, because the flock of Yahweh has been taken captive. ¹⁸ "Say to the king and to the queen mother, ‘Take a lower seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head.' ¹⁹ The towns of the Negev are shut up, and there is no one who opens them. All of Judah is deported; it is deported in completeness. ²⁰ Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your magnificent flock? ²¹ What will you say when he sets over you— and you have taught them—allies as head over you? Will not labor pains take hold of you, like a woman giving birth?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

wilt: Jeremiah 5:31, Jeremiah 22:23, Isaiah 10:3, Ezekiel 28:9

punish: Heb. visit upon

for: 2 Kings 16:7, Isaiah 39:2-4

shall not: Jeremiah 4:31, Jeremiah 6:24, Jeremiah 30:6, Jeremiah 48:41, Isaiah 13:8, Isaiah 21:3, 1 Thessalonians 5:3

Reciprocal: Genesis 3:16 - in sorrow Jeremiah 4:30 - And when Jeremiah 23:2 - I Jeremiah 49:22 - the heart of the Jeremiah 51:47 - do judgment upon Ezekiel 22:14 - Thine heart Hosea 13:13 - sorrows Amos 3:2 - punish Mark 13:8 - sorrows

Gill's Notes on the Bible

What will thou say when he shall punish thee?.... Or, "visit upon thee" f; that is, either when God shall punish thee for thy sins, thou canst bring no charge of injustice against him, or murmur and repine at the punishment inflicted on thee; so Jarchi; to which agrees the Targum,

"when he shall visit on thee thy sin;''

or else, to which the following words seem to incline, when the enemy shall visit upon thee; so Kimchi and Abarbinel, when the Chaldeans shall come upon thee, and pay thee a visit, an unwelcome one; yet who wilt thou have to blame but thyself? so the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "when they shall visit thee"; these words are directed, not to the king, nor to the queen neither; but to the body of the people, the Jewish state, represented as a woman; who, upon consideration of things past, would have a great deal of reason to reflect upon themselves for what they had done in former times, which had led on to their ruin and destruction:

(for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee;) the Jews showed the Assyrians the way into their country, used them to come thither, and taught them how to conquer them, and be masters over them; or, "hast taught them against thee" g; to thy hurt and detriment, to be captains or governors;

for an head, to have the rule over them: this was done by Ahaz, when he sent to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria to come and save him out of the hands of the kings of Syria and Israel, 2 Kings 16:7 and by Hezekiah, when he showed the messengers of the king of Babylon all his treasures; these were invitations and temptations to come and plunder them:

shall not sorrows take thee as a woman in travail? denoting the suddenness of their calamities; the sharpness and severity of them; and that they would be inevitable, and could not be prevented.

f כי יפקד עליך "quando visitabit super te"; Cocceius; "quum visitaverit super te", Schmidt. g ואת למדת אתם עליך "docuisti istos contra te", Piscator.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Translate, “What wilt thou say, O Jerusalem, when He, Yahweh, shall set over thee for head those whom thou hast taught to be thy bosom friends?” The foreign powers, whose friendship she has been courting, will become her tyrants.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 13:21. Thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee — This is said of their enemies, whether Assyrians or Chaldeans: for ever since Ahaz submitted himself to the king of Assyria, the kings of Judah never regained their independence. Their enemies were thus taught to be their lords and masters.