Jeremiah 1:14
in Jeremiah 1Then the LORD said to me, “Disaster from the north will be poured out on all who live in the land.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then Jehovah said unto me, Out of the north evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
KJV
Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
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This verse in Jeremiah 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verseShall break forth - תפתח tippathach, shall be opened. The door shall be thrown abroad, that these calamities may pass out freely.
This site's exposition
I see a boiling pot
on Jeremiah 1:13-16
The second sign is a boiling pot “tilting toward us from the north”. Northern kings will “set up their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem”, the invasion Babylon carries out. The cause follows: “they have forsaken Me to burn incense to other gods”.
This site's exposition
Disaster from the north will be poured out
The Hebrew verb behind poured out means to be opened, like a door thrown wide so disaster passes out freely. The kings of Judah had once looked north for help, when Hezekiah welcomed envoys from Babylon at 2 Kings 20:12 and 13. Disaster came from the same north.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 13, 14.) And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying: What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot, and its face is from the north. And the Lord said to me: From the north evil will be opened (or kindled) upon all the inhabitants of the land. To some degrees, the torments are given to the sinners, so that they may gradually come to salvation.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When there was friendship between Hezekiah and the king of Babylon they promised themselves many advantages out of the north; but it proved quite otherwise: out of the north their trouble arose. Thence sometimes the fiercest tempests come whence we expected fair weather. This is further explained
Then the Lord said unto me,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
break forth--"shall disclose itself." Out of the north-- (Jer 4:6; The Chaldeans did not cast off the yoke of Assyria till several years after, under Nabopolassar, 625 B.C.; but long previously they had so increased as to threaten Assyria, which was now grown weak, and other neighboring peoples.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Out of the north ... - The caldron represents the great military empires upon the Euphrates. In Hezekiah’s time, Nineveh was at their head; but stormed by the armies of Cyaxares and Nabopalassar it is itself now the victim whose limbs are seething in the caldron, and the seat of empire has been transferred to Babylon. But whoever may for the time prevail, the tide of passion and carnage is sure finally to pour itself upon Judaea. An evil shall break forth - “The evil shall be opened,” shall show itself, be disclosed from the north: that special evil, which from the days of Micah Mic 3:12 all the prophets had denounced upon the Jews if they lapsed into idolatry. At present the caldron is fiercely boiling upon the Euphrates. As soon as either of the parties struggling there gains the victory it will pour the whole seething mass over other countries in the shape of an invading army (see Jer 25:17-26).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
From the north the misfortune will break forth Babylon is on the north of Eretz Israel.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֵלָ֑י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מִצָּפוֹן֙ | mitzafon | from [the] north | H6828 → | 153 times |
| תִּפָּתַ֣ח | tipatach | it will be let loose | H6605 → | 144 times |
| הָרָעָ֔ה | haraah | <the> calamity | H7451 → | 662 times |
| עַ֥ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יֹשְׁבֵ֖י | yoshevei | [the] inhabitants of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֵלָ֑יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
מִצָּפוֹן֙from [the] north
mitzafonH6828 →153 times
תִּפָּתַ֣חit will be let loose
tipatachH6605 →144 times
הָרָעָ֔ה<the> calamity
haraahH7451 →662 times
עַ֥לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
יֹשְׁבֵ֖י[the] inhabitants of
yosheveiH3427 →1079 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 4:6Raise a signal flag toward Zion. Seek refuge! Do not delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, and terrible destruction.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 6:1
“Run for cover, O sons of Benjamin; flee from Jerusalem! Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa; send up a signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms from the north, even great destruction.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 6:22
This is what the LORD says: “Behold, an army is coming from the land of the north; a great nation is stirred up from the ends of the earth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 50:2
“Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced,…
- Jeremiah 1:13–15
Again the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “What do you see?” “I see a boiling pot,” I replied, “and it is tilting toward us from the north.”
- Jeremiah 6:1
Through
Isaiah 41:25I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who…
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:2
Who has aroused one from the east and called him to his feet in righteousness? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword,…
- 2 Samuel 22:43
I ground them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like mud in the streets.
- Isaiah 10:6
I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the…
- Micah 7:10
Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame—she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like…
- Isaiah 41:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies8
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.