‘Yahweh, the God of Israel says, “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will gather them into the middle of this city. I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation. I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal. They will die of a great pestilence. Afterward,” says Yahweh, “I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people, even those who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. He will strike them with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them, have pity, or have mercy.” ’
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Jeremiah 21:4-7 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Then Jeremiah said to them, “Tell Zedekiah: ‘Yahweh, the God of Israel says, “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will gather them into the middle of this city. I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation. I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal. They will die of a great pestilence. Afterward,” says Yahweh, “I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people, even those who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. He will strike them with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them, have pity, or have mercy.” ’
Parallel Translations
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‘Yahweh, the God of Israel says, “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will gather them into the middle of this city.
I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation.
I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal. They will die of a great pestilence.
Afterward,” says Yahweh, “I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people, even those who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. He will strike them with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them, have pity, or have mercy.” ’
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Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
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Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, that besiege you without the walls, and I will gather them into the midst of this city.
And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence.
And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life; and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have compassion.
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Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (79)
- Jeremiah 37:17 (v7) then Zedekiah the king sent, and had him brought out. The king asked him secretly in his house, “Is there any word from Yahweh?” Jeremiah…
- Isaiah 63:10 (v5) But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them.
- Exodus 6:6 (v5) Therefore tell the children of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you…
- Isaiah 5:25 (v5) Therefore Yahweh’s anger burns against his people, and he has stretched out his hand against them and has struck them. The mountains…
- Jeremiah 32:17 (v5) “Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. There is nothing too…
Show all 78 cross-references
- 2 Kings 25:5-7 (v7) But the Chaldean army pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. Then they…
- Isaiah 5:5 (v4) Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall, and it…
- Isaiah 13:4 (v4) The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, as of a great people; the noise of an uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered…
- Jeremiah 32:5 (v4) and he will bring Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” says Yahweh: “though you fight with the Chaldeans, you will…
- Jeremiah 33:5 (v4) while men come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath,…
- Jeremiah 37:8-10 (v4) The Chaldeans will come again, and fight against this city. They will take it and burn it with fire.” ’ “Yahweh says, ‘Don’t deceive…
- Habakkuk 1:6-10 (v7) For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the width of the earth, to possess dwelling places…
- Exodus 9:15 (v5) For now I would have stretched out my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth;
- Deuteronomy 4:34 (v5) Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand,…
- Isaiah 9:17 (v5) Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is…
- Isaiah 9:21 (v5) Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand…
- Jeremiah 6:12 (v5) Their houses will be turned to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out my hand on the inhabitants of the…
- Jeremiah 38:17-18 (v4) Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you will go out to the king of Babylon’s princes,…
- Ezekiel 7:9 (v7) My eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways. Your abominations will be among you. Then you will…
- Ezekiel 17:20-21 (v7) I will spread my net on him, and he will be taken in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for…
- Zechariah 14:2 (v4) For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of…
- Isaiah 10:4 (vv4–5) They will only bow down under the prisoners, and will fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is…
- Deuteronomy 4:23 (v5) Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves a carved image in the form of…
- Deuteronomy 28:50 (v7) a nation of fierce facial expressions, that doesn’t respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young.
- 2 Kings 25:18-21 (v7) The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold; and out of the…
- Isaiah 6:11 (v6) Then I said, “Lord, how long?” He answered, “Until cities are waste without inhabitant, houses without man, the land becomes utterly waste,
- Isaiah 9:12 (v5) The Syrians in front, and the Philistines behind; and they will devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger is not turned away,…
- Jeremiah 12:3-4 (v6) But you, Yahweh, know me. You see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the…
- Jeremiah 13:14 (v7) I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together,” says Yahweh: “I will not pity, spare, or have compassion,…
- Jeremiah 32:24 (v6) “Behold, siege ramps have come to the city to take it. The city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of…
- Jeremiah 32:37 (v5) “Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries where I have driven them in my anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I…
- Jeremiah 33:12 (v6) Yahweh of Armies says: “Yet again there will be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all its cities, a…
- Jeremiah 38:2-3 (v4) “Yahweh says, ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out to the…
- Jeremiah 39:3 (v4) All the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, Nergal Sharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal…
- Jeremiah 52:8-11 (v7) but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.…
- Lamentations 2:4-5 (v5) He has bent his bow like an enemy. He has stood with his right hand as an adversary. Has killed all that were pleasant to the eye. In the…
- Lamentations 2:5 (v4) The Lord has become as an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces. He has destroyed his strongholds. He has…
- Lamentations 2:7 (v4) The Lord has cast off his altar. He has abhorred his sanctuary. He has given the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have…
- Ezekiel 14:13 (v6) “Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand on it, and break the staff of its bread, and…
- Ezekiel 14:17 (v6) “Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off from it man and animal;’
- Ezekiel 14:19 (v6) “Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal;
- Ezekiel 14:21 (v6) For the Lord Yahweh says: “How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, the famine, the evil animals, and…
- Ezekiel 20:33-34 (v5) As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be king over you. I…
- Hosea 4:3 (v6) Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells in it will waste away, with all living things in her, even the animals of the field…
- Nahum 1:5-6 (v5) The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it. Who…
- Zephaniah 1:3 (v6) I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I…
- Genesis 6:7 (v6) Yahweh said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground—man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of…
- 2 Chronicles 36:17-20 (v7) Therefore he brought on them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had…
- Isaiah 13:17-18 (v7) Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it. Their bows will…
- Isaiah 24:1-6 (v6) Behold, Yahweh makes the earth empty, makes it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants. It will be as with the people, so…
- Isaiah 27:11 (v7) When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off. The women will come and set them on fire, for they are a people of no understanding.…
- Isaiah 47:6 (v7) I was angry with my people. I profaned my inheritance and gave them into your hand. You showed them no mercy. You laid a very heavy yoke on…
- Jeremiah 7:20 (v6) Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man, on animal, on the trees of the…
- Jeremiah 14:12 (v6) When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and meal offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume…
- Jeremiah 24:8-10 (v7) “ ‘As the bad figs, which can’t be eaten, they are so bad,’ surely Yahweh says, ‘So I will give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his…
- Jeremiah 34:17 (v6) Therefore Yahweh says: “You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor. Behold,…
- Jeremiah 34:19-22 (v7) the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of…
- Jeremiah 36:29 (v6) Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Yahweh says: “You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written therein,…
- Jeremiah 38:21-23 (v7) But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that Yahweh has shown me: ‘Behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house…
- Jeremiah 39:4-7 (v7) When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went out of the city by night, by the way of the…
- Jeremiah 42:22 (v6) Now therefore know certainly that you will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence in the place where you desire to go to…
- Jeremiah 52:18 (v4) They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered.
- Jeremiah 52:24-27 (v7) The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold: and out of…
- Ezekiel 5:12-13 (v6) A third part of you will die with the pestilence, and they will be consumed with famine within you. A third part will fall by the sword…
- Ezekiel 7:15 (v6) “ ‘The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within. He who is in the field will die by the sword. He who is in the city will…
- Ezekiel 8:18 (v7) Therefore I will also deal in wrath. My eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity. Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will…
- Ezekiel 9:5-6 (v7) To the others he said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him, and strike. Don’t let your eye spare, neither have pity. Kill utterly…
- Ezekiel 9:10 (v7) As for me also, my eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head.”
- Ezekiel 12:12-16 (v7) “ ‘The prince who is among them will bear on his shoulder in the dark, and will go out. They will dig through the wall to carry things out…
- Ezekiel 12:16 (v6) But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations…
- Ezekiel 16:37-41 (v4) therefore see, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those who you have loved, with all those who you…
- Ezekiel 21:25-26 (v7) “ ‘You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end, the Lord Yahweh says:…
- Ezekiel 33:27 (v6) “You shall tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword. I will give he…
- Ezekiel 33:29 (v6) Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which…
- Hosea 9:12 (v4) Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left. Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from…
- Micah 3:12 (v6) Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like…
- Matthew 22:7 (v4) When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
- Luke 21:24 (v6) They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles,…
78 distinct cross-references across this passage (79 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv4–7 He says, Behold I, etc.; it was said before,…
He says, Behold I, etc.; it was said before, Nebuchadnezzar is come to make war with us: now he says, “I am God;” as though he had said, “Nebuchadnezzar may be conquered, he may change his counsel, he may leave you through weariness; but know ye that Nebuchadnezzar fights under my authority.” Behold, he says, I prohibit (for so ought מסכ to be rendered) all the warlike instruments which are in your hands, and with which ye fight against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans; as though he had said, “However furnished ye may be with weapons and forces, and whatever may be necessary to defend the city, I forbid the use of these weapons, that is, I will cause that they will avail you nothing.” Some, as I have said, render the word, “I will turn them against you.” But the meaning seems more suitable to the etymology of the word, when we say, that the weapons which the Jews had would avail them nothing, because God would prevent them from producing any effect.
He afterwards adds, the Chaldeans, who fight without the wall against you He described their state at that time, for the city was besieged by the Chaldeans; there was a wall between them, and the Jews thought that they could repel the attacks of their enemies. But God says, “the Chaldeans are this day shut out by the wall, but I will gather them, he says, into the middle of this city; that is, I will make a breach, so that the wall may not be a hinderance to prevent, the Chaldeans from occupying the very bosom of the city.” 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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v4 To wit, from your enemies to destroy yourselves.
To wit, from your enemies to destroy yourselves.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv4–7 Jer 21:4 Thus saith the LORD God of Israel;…
Jer 21:4 Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that [are] in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and [against] the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
Ver. 4. Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war,] i.e., I will render them vain and useless; as it is God who in battle ordereth the ammunition, {Jer 50:25} and maketh the weapons vain or prosperous. {Isa 54:17 Jer 50:9} This was plainly seen at Edgehill fight.
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 vv4–7 The honour that the king of Judah had put…
The honour that the king of Judah had put upon the prophet, in sending these special messengers to him, is no temptation to this good prophet to prophesy smooth and pleasing things, for which he had no warrant from God. The prophet styleth God
the God of Israel, because the whole posterity of Jacob were in covenant with God; notwithstanding which, ten parts of twelve were at this time carried into a captivity from which they never returned; yet God was the God of Israel, for all were not Israel that were descended from Israel, but those only who were Israelites indeed, without guile; so that the prophet by this name given to God doth both assert God’s faithfulness to his covenant, and also show the consistency of that faithfulness with those judgments which he was now bringing upon that remnant of Israel which yet were in their own land. Tile message which God by the prophet sendeth to Zedekiah is exceeding terrible. The sum of it is, that as they had not dealt with God according to the works of Israel, and the former generation that descended from him, or those at least who were the true Israel of God; so they must not expect that God should deal with them according to his former wondrous works, but that as he with the pure had showed himself upright, so with the froward he should show himself froward. For God had determined to turn into their own bowels, and against themselves, the weapons they had in their hands taken up
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against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans that were now besieging them (by which we may learn that this message was sent during the time of the siege, probably about the beginning of it, for it lasted eighteen months).
I will assemble them into the midst of this city; God threateneth to bring the Chaldeans into the midst of the holy city, that their city should be broken up, their arms taken from them, and they killed with their own swords. There is a great emphasis in the pronoun
I. It is not an enemy that is to be feared, but God’s being our enemy.
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 vv4–7 Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,.... Who had…
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,.... Who had been, still was, and would be, Israel's God, even the God of such who are Israelites indeed; though he should, as he would, give up the present generation to ruin and destruction; they having by their sins forfeited his care and protection of them; and therefore it was in vain to hope for it from this character which they bore:
behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands; so that they should do no hurt to the enemy, but recoil upon themselves. The meaning is, that they should be useless and unserviceable; that they should neither be defensive to them, nor offensive to their enemies; but rather hurtful to themselves. It seems to suggest, as if they should fall out with one another; and, like the Midianites, turn their swords upon one another, and destroy each other:
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wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans which besiege you without the walls; by shooting arrows at them from within the city; or by sallying out unto them with sword in hand: this, shows that the Chaldean army, under the command of the king of Babylon, was now without the walls of Jerusalem besieging it:
and I will assemble them into the midst of this city; either the weapons of war, as Jarchi and others; which the Chaldeans, breaking into the city, should cause to be brought in to them in the middle of the city, and there slay them with them: or rather the Chaldeans, as Kimchi; who, though now without the walls, and which the Jews thought a sufficient security for them; yet should not be long there, but the walls would be broken down, and they should enter the city, and rendezvous their whole army in the midst of it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4, 6, 7 Verse 4. I will turn back the weapons] Every…
Verse 4. I will turn back the weapons] Every attempt you make to repel the Chaldeans shall be unsuccessful.
I will assemble them into the midst of this city.] I will deliver the city into their hands.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v4 Jer 21:4-7. Behold, I will turn back the weapons,…
Jer 21:4-7. Behold, I will turn back the weapons, &c. — Instead of doing execution upon your enemies, they shall hurt yourselves, and be the occasion of your own destruction. God will as visibly appear against you as if a miraculous wind were to drive back your own darts and arrows, and turn them upon yourselves. And I myself will fight against you — By the executioners of my wrath, the sword, the famine, and the pestilence. I will plainly appear on your enemies’ side, by the success I will give to their arms. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city — I the Lord will do it, and it shall evidently appear to be my work; both man and beast — Even the beasts shall perish, both those that are for food, and those that are for service in war. They shall die of a great pestilence — Which shall rage within the walls, while their enemies are encamped about them. Though the walls and gates of Jerusalem may for a time keep out the Chaldeans, they cannot keep out God’s judgments. His arrows of pestilence can reach those that think themselves safe from other arrows. And I will deliver Zedekiah, &c. — The king himself, and all the people that escape the sword, famine, and pestilence, shall fall into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans. And he shall smite them with the edge of the sword — Zedekiah himself was not put to death, but carried to Babylon, where he died: see Jer 24:5. But his sons and his great men were slain by the command of Nebuchadnezzar, 2Ki 25:7-8. “It is common in all writers to express that indefinitely which is true of the greater part of the persons concerned.” — Lowth. He shall not spare, neither have pity nor mercy — These three synonymous terms are used by way of emphasis, to express the severe revenge the Babylonians would take of them. The inhabitants of Jerusalem must indeed have been sensible at last, that they could expect little or no mercy, since they had rebelled three times against the king of Babylon.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv4, 6 Without the walls - These words are to be…
Without the walls - These words are to be joined to wherewith ye fight.
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 vv4, 6, 7 City. The people shall turn their arms against each…
City. The people shall turn their arms against each other; or rather the Chaldeans shall use their weapons to destroy them. (Calmet)
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 vv4, 5, 7 God of Israel--Those "wondrous works" (Jer 21:2) do not…
God of Israel--Those "wondrous works" (Jer 21:2) do not belong to you; God is faithful; it is you who forfeit the privileges of the covenant by unfaithfulness. "God will always remain the God of Israel, though He destroy thee and thy people" [CALVIN].
turn back the weapons--I will turn them to a very different use from what you intend them. With them you now fight against the Chaldees "without the walls" (the Jewish defenders being as yet able to sally forth more freely, and defend the fountains outside the walls in the valley under Mount Zion; see Jer 21:13; Jer 19:6-7); but soon ye shall be driven back within the city [MAURER], and "in the midst" of it, I will cause all your arms to be gathered in one place ("I will assemble them," namely, your arms) by the Chaldean conquerors [GROTIUS], who shall slay you with those very arms [MENOCHIUS].
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 vv4, 5, 7 THE PROPHET’S ANSWER, Jer_21:3-14.
THE PROPHET’S ANSWER, Jer_21:3-14.
4. I will turn back, etc. — No help for the king in God. Without the walls, should be joined to ye fight, and not as in the Authorized Version.
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 vv4, 5, 7 4. There is here a suspicious harshness of expression,…
4. There is here a suspicious harshness of expression, and Co. on that account omits the v. The harshness is diminished, though not quite removed, if we omit (with LXX) “and I will gather them.” The Jews shall no longer be able, as at present, to make sallies on the besiegers.
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 vv4, 6, 7 (4) Behold, I will turn back . . .—Jeremiah’s…
(4) Behold, I will turn back . . .—Jeremiah’s answer is far other than they looked for, and had even ventured to suggest. The judgment could no longer be averted. The hand of Jehovah was against them, and would bring the Chaldæans that were now outside the walls nearer and nearer, till they came within them. In the structure of the sentence, however, “without the walls “belongs to “wherewith ye fight.” The defenders of the city were to be driven back within its gates from the outer line of fortifications.
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 vv4, 7 I will assemble them into the midst of this…
I will assemble them into the midst of this city; i.e. I will compel the warriors to give up resistance, and shut themselves up within the walls.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv6–7 They shall die of a great pestilence.
Jer_21:6
They shall die of a great pestilence.
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Pestilence
In a romance, The End of an Epoch, by A. Lincoln Green, the hero, Adam Godwin, makes the acquaintance of a German professor, bearing the ominous name of Azrael Falk, who comes to London, bringing with him a large quantity of an active and deadly germ poison, which would depopulate any country where it might be turned loose. His idea is to make an enormous fortune by selling it to either Russia or Germany, between whom at the time discords had arisen. The catastrophe is brought on in a simple way. The professor, with his jars in his possession (he is too jealous and suspicious ever to part from them), carries out a long-cherished fancy to see the Derby, and on Epsom Downs is taken for a welsher, and set upon by the mob. His precious jars are broken, and he himself is removed insane and dying to a neighbouring asylum. The death dealing contents of the jars rise in a brown mist and float in the air. Adam Godwin knows that London is in mortal peril, but he has not been told the secret of the anti-toxin, and Falk dies without recovering his reason. The most exciting pages are those in which we watch the slow creeping of the plague over London. It attacks all except aged persons, and there is no remedy. The calamity which in this book is merely fictitious was, in dire fact, to befall Jerusalem Disobedience, stubbornness, and impenitence were the deadly germ poison by which the inhabitants of the city were to be swept away.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 inhabitants of this city
inhabitants of this city
"those who live in Jerusalem"
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this is Yahweh's declaration
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 1:8. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
the sword
Here this refers to the battle in which swords are used. AT: "the war" (See: Metonymy)
into the hand
Here "hand" refers to the power of their enemies over them. AT: "into the power" (See: Metonymy)
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ... their enemies ... those seeking their life
All of these phrases refer to Nebuchadnezzar and his army. (See: Parallelism)
seeking their life
"wanting to kill them"
with the edge of the sword
Possible meanings are 1) this is a metonym for death in battle. AT: "in battle" or 2) they will be killed by literal swords. (See: Metonymy)
He will not pity them, spare them, or have compassion
These three phrases have the same meaning and emphasize that Nebuchadnezzar will deal severely with them. AT: "He will not show them any mercy or compassion at all" (See: Doublet)
translationWords
beast
die
plague
kingdom of Judah
servant
people group
sword
famine
hand
adversary
life
compassion
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.