Tree of Life Version
Jeremiah 13:21
21What will you say, when He sets up the allies you cultivated for yourself, over you as head? Will not labor pains seize you, like a woman in travail?
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 towns of the South will be shut up, with no one to open them. All Judah is taken into exile— utterly swept into exile. 20Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock given to you, Your beautiful sheep? What will you say, when He sets up the allies you cultivated for yourself, over you as head? Will not labor pains seize you, like a woman in travail? 22Suppose you say in your heart, “Why did these things happen to me?” Because of your great iniquity, your skirts are uncovered and your heels suffer violence. 23Can the Ethiopian change his skin? Or the leopard his spots? So, could you do good, that are accustomed to doing evil?
Read all of Jeremiah 13Jeremiah 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, the kohanim rule by their own authority, and My people love it this way! But what will you do in the end?”
- Jeremiah 22:23O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs come on you, pain like a woman in travail!
- Isaiah 10:3What will you do in the day of visitation, when desolation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?
- Ezekiel 28:9Will you still say, ‘I am a god’ before the one who slays you? Yet you are man, and not a god, in the hand of those who pierce you.
- 2 Kings 16:7So Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.”
- Isaiah 39:2Now Hezekiah was pleased with them, so he showed them his treasure house—the silver and the gold, the spices and the precious oil—and his whole armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
- Jeremiah 4:31For I heard a cry like one in labor, the anguish of one giving birth to her first child— the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands saying, “Oy , now to me! For my soul faints before murderers.”
- Jeremiah 6:24“We have heard of their fame. Our hands hang limp; anguish has gripped us, pain like a woman in labor.
- Jeremiah 30:6Ask now, and see whether a man can give birth. Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman giving birth? Why have all faces turned pale?
- Jeremiah 48:41The towns are captured, the strongholds seized. The hearts of Moab’s warriors in that day will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
- Isaiah 13:8They will be terrified; pain and anguish will take hold of them; they will writhe as a woman in labor; they will look aghast at one another— their faces aflame!
- Isaiah 21:3Therefore my body is filled with pain. Pangs have taken hold of me like the pangs of a woman in labor. I am bewildered by what I hear, terrified by what I see.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3When they are saying, “Shalom and safety,” sudden destruction comes upon them like a woman having birth pains in the womb—there is no way they will 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
In the dictionaries
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
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