“ ‘ “I will make the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem void in this place. I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies to be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth. I will make this city an astonishment and a hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues. I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters. They will each eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, will distress them.” ’
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘ “I will make the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem void in this place. I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies to be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth.
I will make this city an astonishment and a hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues.
I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters. They will each eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, will distress them.” ’
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And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
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and I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of them that seek their life; and their carcasses will I give to be food for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth;
and I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof;
and I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall straiten them.
Cross-references (41)
- Isaiah 9:20 (v9) One will devour on the right hand, and be hungry; and he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied. Everyone will eat the…
- Leviticus 26:17 (v7) I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when…
- Leviticus 26:29 (v9) You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.
- Jeremiah 18:16 (v8) to make their land an astonishment, and a perpetual hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished, and shake his head.
- Lamentations 4:10 (v9) The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children. They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Show all 41 cross-references
- Deuteronomy 28:53-57 (v9) You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and…
- 1 Kings 9:8 (v8) Though this house is so high, yet everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to…
- Jeremiah 16:4 (v7) “They will die grievous deaths. They will not be lamented, neither will they be buried. They will be as dung on the surface of the ground.…
- Jeremiah 49:13 (v8) For I have sworn by myself,” says Yahweh, “that Bozrah will become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. All its cities will…
- Ezekiel 5:10 (v9) Therefore the fathers will eat the sons within you, and the sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you; and I will…
- Deuteronomy 28:25-26 (v7) Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You…
- 2 Kings 6:26-29 (v9) As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” He said, “If Yahweh doesn’t help…
- 2 Chronicles 7:20-21 (v8) then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will…
- Psalms 33:10-11 (v7) Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect. The counsel of Yahweh stands…
- Psalms 79:2-3 (v7) They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your saints to the animals of the earth.…
- Isaiah 28:17-18 (v7) I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will…
- Jeremiah 7:33 (v7) The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth. No one will frighten them away.
- Jeremiah 15:2 (v7) It will happen, when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go out?’ then you shall tell them, ‘Yahweh says: “Such as are for death, to death; such…
- Jeremiah 15:9 (v7) She who has borne seven languishes. She has given up the spirit. Her sun has gone down while it was yet day. She has been disappointed and…
- Jeremiah 25:18 (v8) Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, with its kings and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as…
- Jeremiah 34:20 (v7) I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies will be food for…
- Jeremiah 50:13 (v8) Because of Yahweh’s wrath she won’t be inhabited, but she will be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon will be astonished, and…
- Lamentations 2:20 (v9) “Look, Yahweh, and see to whom you have done thus! Should the women eat their offspring, the children that they held and bounced on their…
- Zephaniah 2:15 (v8) This is the joyous city that lived carelessly, that said in her heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” How she has become a…
- Leviticus 26:32 (v8) I will bring the land into desolation, and your enemies that dwell in it will be astonished at it.
- Job 5:12-13 (v7) He frustrates the plans of the crafty, So that their hands can’t perform their enterprise. He takes the wise in their own craftiness; the…
- Proverbs 21:30 (v7) There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against Yahweh.
- Isaiah 8:10 (v7) Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand, for God is with us.”
- Isaiah 30:1-3 (v7) “Woe to the rebellious children”, says Yahweh, “who take counsel, but not from me; and who make an alliance, but not with my Spirit, that…
- Jeremiah 8:2 (v7) They will spread them before the sun, the moon, and all the army of the sky, which they have loved, which they have served, after which…
- Jeremiah 9:9-11 (v8) Shouldn’t I punish them for these things?” says Yahweh. “Shouldn’t my soul be avenged on a nation such as this? I will weep and wail for…
- Jeremiah 9:21-22 (v7) For death has come up into our windows. It has entered into our palaces to cut off the children from outside, and the young men from the…
- Jeremiah 18:21 (v7) Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and…
- Jeremiah 22:19 (v7) He will be buried with the burial of a donkey, drawn and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
- Jeremiah 22:25 (v7) I would give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of them of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of…
- Jeremiah 46:26 (v7) I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of…
- Lamentations 2:15-16 (v8) All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men…
- Lamentations 3:37 (v7) Who is he who says, and it comes to pass, when the Lord doesn’t command it?
- Romans 3:31 (v7) Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law.
- Romans 4:14 (v7) For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect.
- Revelation 19:18-21 (v7) that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them,…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv7–9 This amplification further exasperated the minds of the people,…
This amplification further exasperated the minds of the people, — that they in vain trusted that this place would be to them a fortress. For, as we have already stated, they had persuaded themselves that it was abundantly sufficient to reconcile them with God, when they spared not their own children, and so zealously performed tlheir acts of worship. And hypocrites are commonly inflated with this presumption, for they prefer what pleases them to what pleases God; they regard not what the law bids, what God approves, but they adore their own inventions. Since then almost all the superstitious are filled with such a presumption, God here rightly declares, that he would make void their counsels
It is indeed certain that there is neither wisdom nor counsel in deluded men, while they thus devise new and frivolous modes of worship, for these are sheer mummeries. But we ought to observe what Paul says in Colossians 2:23, that all the fictions which men devise for themselves have in them some appearance of wisdom; for we know that wherever our imagination may carry us, we think ourselves wise, and that whatever God prescribes becomes insipid to us. Then the Prophet concedes “counsel,” though improperly, to frivolous and vain inventions, but not without reason, for experience teaches us sufficiently, that men ever take great delight in their superstitions, for they wish to subject God as it were to their own will. He then says, by way of concession, that the counsels of the whole people, especially of the city Jerusalem, would be made void, which was above others the teacher of errors, while yet the doctrine of the law ought especially to have prevailed there. And it may be also that there is an allusion to that word בקבק bekbek, which we have before seen, and which the Prophet will repeat again, for it means to make void or empty, though some think it to be a factitious word, because the sound, bekbek, is produced while the bottle is emptied. However this may be, the allusion is still sufficiently striking.
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He afterwards adds, And I will lay them prostrate by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. In this second part, the Prophet intimates that the hatred entertained by their enemies towards the Jews would not be common. Wars are carried on sometimes in such a way, that the conquerors are satisfied with the spoils; but the Prophet intimates, that the cruelty of their enemies would be such, that they would seek the life of the whole people, and delight in slaughter; as though he had said, that they would be deadly enemies and altogether implacable. He will again repeat these words, and in the same sense.
He then adds, I will give your carcase to be meat to the birds of heaven, and to the beasts of the field We have said elsewhere that it is deemed a punishment inflicted by heaven when the carcases of the dead remain unburied; for it is the last office of humanity to bury the dead. And this is a distinction which God would have to be between men and brute animals, for animals have not the honor of a burial. It has also been ever granted as a singular privilege to men to be buried, in order to set forth the hope of resurrection. When, therefore, a burial is denied, it is a proof of extreme dishonor. It has indeed often happened that the saints have been without a burial; but temporal punishment is ever turned to salvation to God’s children. As to the reprobate it must be deemed a judgment from God, when he casts away their carcases, as then there is no difference between them and animals. But I have treated this subject more fully elsewhere, and I shall not proceed with it now. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv7–9 Jer 19:7 And I will make void the counsel…
Jer 19:7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
Ver. 7. And I will make void the counsel of Judah.] As vain and empty as this earthen bottle now is. See on Jer 19:1, and take notice of an elegant alliteration in the original.
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And their carcases will I give.] See Jer 7:33; Jer 16:4.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv7–9 In this place, amongst others, I will make void…
In this place, amongst others, I will make void all the counsels that the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have taken to escape my righteous judgments; I will frustrate all their little arts and designs to avoid the dint of my judgments; I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, so as there shall be no way of escape for them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv7–9 And I will make void the counsel of Judah…
And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place,.... The counsel which they took in this place and agreed to, in offering their sons and daughters to idols; and which they took with these idols and their priests, from whom they expected assistance and relief; and all their schemes and projects for their deliverance; these were all made to spear to be mere empty things, as empty as the earthen bottle he had in his hand, to which there is an allusion; there being an elegant paronomasia between the word (p) here used and that:
and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies: such as sallied out from the city, or attempted to make their escape:
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and by the hands of them that seek their lives; and so would not spare them, when they fell into them:
and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth: signifying that they should have no burial, but their slain bodies should lie upon the earth, and be fed upon by fowls and beasts.
(p) &
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v7 In this place - In this place, among others,…
In this place - In this place, among others, I will make void all the counsels that the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, have taken to escape my righteous judgments.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 Verse 7. I will make void the counsel of…
Verse 7. I will make void the counsel of Judah] Probably this refers to some determination made to proclaim themselves independent, and pay no more tribute to the Chaldeans.
To be meat for the fowls] See Clarke on Jer 7:33.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v7 Make void - The verb used here is that…
Make void - The verb used here is that from which “bottle” Jer 19:1 is derived, and as it represents the sound made by the water running out, it would be better translated, “pour out.” Jeremiah perhaps carried the bottle to Tophet full of water, the symbol in the East of life Isa 35:6; Isa 41:18, and at these words emptied it before the assembled elders.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v9 Sons, to punish them for their cruel sacrifices. (St.…
Sons, to punish them for their cruel sacrifices. (St. Jerome) --- This was verified under Sedecias, Lamentations ii. 10., and iv. 10., and Ezechiel v. 10.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv7–9 make void the counsel--defeat their plans for repelling the…
make void the counsel--defeat their plans for repelling the enemy (Ch2 32:1-4; Isa 19:3; Isa 22:9, Isa 22:11). Or their schemes of getting help by having recourse to idols [CALVIN].
in this place--The valley of Hinnom was to be the place of the Chaldean encampment; the very place where they looked for help from idols was to be the scene of their own slaughter.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 7. Make void — The root of this word…
7. Make void — The root of this word is the same with that of the word for “bottle.” It would be better to translate, I will pour out; that is, bring to nothing.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 7. make void] lit. as mg. empty out. The…
7. make void] lit. as mg. empty out. The Hebrew verb is that from which is derived the word for “bottle” in Jer_19:1. It has been thought that Jeremiah here suited the action to the word, and poured out the contents on the ground, as he spoke. The latter part of the v. is taken from Jer_7:33.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv7–9 (7) I will make void.—The Hebrew verb (bakak) is…
(7) I will make void.—The Hebrew verb (bakak) is onomatopoetic, as representing the gurgling sound of water flowing from the mouth of a jar, and contains, as stated in the note on Jer_19:1, the root of the word rendered “bottle,” and was obviously chosen with an allusive reference to it. Such a play upon the sound and sense of words is quite in accordance with the genius of Hebrew prophecy, but it is obviously in most cases impossible to reproduce it in another language. The primary meaning is “to pour out, to spill,” and so “to waste, or bring to nought.” (Comp. Isa_19:3.) Some interpreters have supposed that the words were accompanied by corresponding acts, and that the earthen bottle, which the prophet had brought filled with water, was now emptied in the sight of the people, with a symbolism like that of 1Sa_7:6; 2Sa_14:14.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7–9 I will make void; literally, I will pour out,…
I will make void; literally, I will pour out, alluding to the etymology of the word rendered "bottle" in ver. 1.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v9 19:9 The siege of Jerusalem lasted for two and…
19:9 The siege of Jerusalem lasted for two and a half years, resulting in severe famine and despair (see 2 Kgs 25:1-4). • their own sons and daughters: Cp. Deut 28:53-57.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.