Jeremiah 13:21

Jeremiah 13:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
• New International Version (NIV)What will you say when the Lord sets over you those you cultivated as your special allies? Will not pain grip you like that of a woman in labor?
• English Standard Version (ESV)What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you? Will not pangs take hold of you like those of a woman in labor?
• New King James Version (NKJV)What will you say when He punishes you? For you have taught them To be chieftains, to be head over you. Will not pangs seize you, Like a woman in labor?

Context of Jeremiah 13:21

19The cities of the Negev are under siege; no one can help them. All of Judah has been taken into exile, taken completely into exile. 20Look up and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride? What will you say when he appoints close friends as leaders over you, ones you yourself trained? Won’t labor pains seize you, as they do a woman in labor? 22And when you ask yourself, “Why have these things happened to me?” it is because of your great guilt that your skirts have been stripped off, your body exposed. 23Can the Cushite change his skin, or a leopard his spots? If so, you might be able to do what is good, you who are instructed in evil.

Jeremiah 13:21 word by word

מַה־תֹּֽאמְרִי֙ כִּֽי־יִפְקֹ֣ד עָלַ֔יִךְ וְ֠אַתְּ לִמַּ֨דְתְּ אֹתָ֥ם עָלַ֛יִךְ אַלֻּפִ֖ים לְרֹ֑אשׁ הֲל֤וֹא חֲבָלִים֙ יֹאחֱז֔וּךְ כְּמ֖וֹ אֵ֥שֶׁת לֵדָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• What wilt thou sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• when he shall punishפָּקַדpâqad · to reckon: overseerH6485
• thee? for thou hast taughtלָמַדlâmad · to learn: teachH3925
• captainsאַלּוּף'alûph 'allûph · tameH441
• as chiefרֹאשׁrô'sh · head: leaderH7218
• over thee: shall not sorrowsחֵ֫בֶלchebel chêbel · painH2256
• takeאָחַז'âchaz · to graspH270
• thee, as a womanאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• in travailיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205

Cross-references for Jeremiah 13:21

• Jeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it like this. But what will you do at the end of it?
• Jeremiah 22:23You residents of Lebanon, nestled among the cedars, how you will groan when pains come on you, agony like a woman in labor.
• Isaiah 10:3What will you do on the day of punishment when devastation comes from far away? Who will you run to for help? Where will you leave your wealth?
• Ezekiel 28:9Will you still say, “I am a god,” in the presence of those who slay you? Yet you will be only a man, not a god, in the hands of those who kill you.
• 2 Kings 16:7So Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. March up and save me from the grasp of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.”
• Isaiah 39:2Hezekiah was pleased with the letters, and he showed the envoys his treasure house — the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil — and all his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
• Jeremiah 4:31I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child. The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands: “Woe is me, for my life is weary because of the murderers!”
• Jeremiah 6:24We have heard about it, and our hands have become weak. Distress has seized us — pain, like a woman in labor.
• Jeremiah 30:6Ask and see whether a male can give birth. Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?
• Jeremiah 48:41The towns have been captured, and the strongholds seized. In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.
• Isaiah 13:8They will be horrified; pain and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look at each other, their faces flushed with fear.
• Isaiah 21:3Therefore I am filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor. I am too perplexed to hear, too dismayed to see.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:3When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 13:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Thou 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.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Translate, “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.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-27Verses 18-27 Here is a message sent to king Jehoiakim, and his queen. Their sorrows would be great indeed. Do they ask, Wherefore come these things upon us? Let them know, it is for their obstinacy in sin. We cannot alter the natural colour of the skin; and so is it morally impossible to reclaim and reform these people. Sin is the blackness of the soul; it is the discolouring of it; we were shapen in it, so that we cannot get clear of it by any power of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-22King Jehoiachin did not care about the well-being of his people, the beautiful flock of Judah. Because of the king's many sins, Judah suffered abuse from its supposed allies.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. captains, and as chief--literally, "princes as to headship"; or "over thy head," namely, the Chaldeans. Rather, translate, "What wilt thou say when God will set them (the enemies, Jr 13:20) above thee, seeing that thou thyself hast accustomed them (to be) with thee as (thy) lovers in the highest place (literally, 'at thy head')? Thou canst not say God does thee wrong, seeing it was thou that gave occasion to His dealing so with thee, by so eagerly…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 13:21

• Idolatry
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning

In the dictionaries

• Appear
• Pity
• Principality
• Captain
• Hosea
• Pain

Commentaries on Jeremiah 13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings