Jeremiah 12:9

Jeremiah 12:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.
• New International Version (NIV)Has not my inheritance become to me like a speckled bird of prey that other birds of prey surround and attack? Go and gather all the wild beasts; bring them to devour.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Is my heritage to me like a hyena's lair? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, assemble all the wild beasts; bring them to devour.
• New King James Version (NKJV)My heritage is to Me like a speckled vulture; The vultures all around are against her. Come, assemble all the beasts of the field, Bring them to devour!

Context of Jeremiah 12:9

7I have decided to turn away from my nation. I will leave the people that I chose to belong to me. I will put the people that I love under the power of their enemies. 8The people that belong to me have turned against me. They are like a lion that hides in the forest. It roars and is ready to attack me. Because of that, I have turned against my people. They attack me like hyenas, but vultures are ready to attack them. Tell all the wild animals to come, so that they can eat their dead bodies! 10Many foreign leaders will come. They will destroy the land where my people live. It was a beautiful garden where I planted my people. But enemies will make it become like a desert. 11They will make it a dry and empty place, where nobody lives and nothing grows. The whole land will be like a desert. There will be nobody to take care of it.

Jeremiah 12:9 word by word

הַעַ֨יִט צָב֤וּעַ נַחֲלָתִי֙ לִ֔י הַעַ֖יִט סָבִ֣יב עָלֶ֑יהָ לְכ֗וּ אִסְפ֛וּ כָּל־חַיַּ֥ת הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה הֵתָ֥יוּ לְאָכְלָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Mine heritageנַחֲלָהnachălâh · inheritanceH5159
• a speckledצָבוּעַtsâbûa‛ · variegatedH6641
• birdעַ֫יִט‛ayiţ · bird of preyH5861
• round aboutסָבִיבsâbîyb sebîybâh · aroundH5439
• against her; comeיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
• ye, assembleאָסַף'âsaph · to gatherH622
• all the beastsחַיָּהchay · living thingH2416
• of the fieldשָׂדֶהώâdeh ώâday · land: wildlifeH7704
• comeאָתָה'âthâh 'âthâ' · to comeH857
• to devourאׇכְלָה'ôklâh · foodH402

Cross-references for Jeremiah 12:9

• Jeremiah 2:15Their enemies have attacked them like lions. They have destroyed my people's land. They have destroyed your cities with fire. Nobody lives in them any more.
• 2 Kings 24:2The Lord sent groups of soldiers to attack towns in Judah. The soldiers came from Babylon, Syria, Moab and Ammon. The Lord sent them to destroy Judah. He had already sent his servants, the prophets, to warn the people of Judah about this.
• Ezekiel 16:36This is what the Almighty Lord says: You wanted to have sex with many men. You offered your bare body to them, like a prostitute. You have worshipped disgusting idols. You have killed your own children as sacrifices to those idols.
• Ezekiel 23:22So this is what the Almighty Lord says to you, Oholibah: “Listen to me! I will cause your lovers to become angry with you. The lovers that you turned away from will come to attack you. I will bring them from every direction to attack you.
• Revelation 17:16The wild animal and the ten horns that you saw will hate the prostitute. Those rulers will destroy her. They will remove all her clothes. They will eat the meat on her body. Then they will burn her with fire.
• Jeremiah 7:33Then the bodies of dead people will lie on the ground. Birds and animals will come and eat them. There will be nobody to chase them away.
• Isaiah 56:9‘Come here, you wild animals! Come, you wild animals that live in the forest! Come and eat my people!
• Ezekiel 39:17Son of man, this is what the Lord God says: Shout to all kinds of birds and wild animals, “Come here from all the country to eat the meal that I have prepared for you. It is a great sacrifice on Israel's mountains. There you will eat meat and you will drink blood.
• Revelation 19:17Then I saw an angel who was standing in the sun. He shouted loudly to all the birds that were flying high in the sky, ‘Come here! Come together to eat the big meal that God has prepared.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 12:9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Is unto me as a speckled bird - A bird of divers colors. This is a people who have corrupted the worship of the true God with heathenish rites and ceremonies; therefore, the different nations, (see Jeremiah 12:10; whose gods and forms of worship they have adopted shall come and spoil them. As far as you have followed the surrounding nations in their worship, so far shall they prevail over your state. Every one shall take that which is his own; and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7-9Verses 7-9 Yahweh shows that the downfall of the nation was occasioned by no want of love on His part, but by the nation‘s conduct. Left - More correctly, cast away. Jeremiah 12:8 Judah has not merely refused obedience, but become intractable and fierce, like an untamed lion. It has roared against God with open blasphemy. As His favor is life, so is His hatred death, i. e., Jerusalem‘s punishment shall be as if inflicted by one that hated her. Jeremiah…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-13Verses 7-13 God's people had been the dearly-beloved of his soul, precious in his sight, but they acted so, that he gave them up to their enemies. Many professing churches become like speckled birds, presenting a mixture of religion and the world, with its vain fashions, pursuits, and pollutions. God's people are as men wondered at, as a speckled bird; but this people had by their own folly made themselves so; and the beasts and birds are called to prey…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9Large flocks of speckled vultures would prey on the people of Judah. Soon, wild animals would pick their bodies clean.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. speckled bird--Many translate, "a ravenous beast, the hyena"; the corresponding Arabic word means hyena; so the Septuagint. But the Hebrew always elsewhere means "a bird of prey." The Hebrew for "speckled" is from a root "to color"; answering to the Jewish blending together with paganism the altogether diverse Mosaic ritual. The neighboring nations, birds of prey like herself (for she had sinfully assimilated herself to them), were ready to pounce upon…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 12:9

• Birds
• Jeremiah

In the dictionaries

• Pluck
• Talk
• Birds
• Birds of Prey
• Color; Colors
• Covenant, the New
• Crime; Crimes
• Fowl
• Hyena
• Hyaena

Commentaries on Jeremiah 12

• 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