Jeremiah 1:15
in Jeremiah 1For I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD. “Their kings will come and set up their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all her surrounding walls and all the other cities of Judah.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith Jehovah; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
KJV
For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
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This verse in Jeremiah 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I will call - I am calling. The judgment has begun. God is summoning His hosts to the war. Families - The various races by which the provinces of the Babylonian empire were populated. They shall set every one his throne - The chiefs of these various races come as God’s ministers to hold solemn court, and give sentence in His name (see Jer 25:9). They therefore set each one his throne in the usual place for administering justice, namely, the entering in of the gates, where a large open space was always left in cities for the purpose.
This site's exposition
I see a seething pot
on Jeremiah 1:13-16
The second sign is a boiling pot tipped toward the observer, its face toward the north, and the Lord's own reading follows at once, out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. The threat is named with precision, the families of the kingdoms of the north setting their thrones at the gates of Jerusalem, the invasion Babylon will carry out described before Babylon is named in the book. The ground of the judgment is stated in the same breath, they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, so the pot answers the idolatry the book will spend fifty chapters exposing.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 15, 16.) For behold, I will gather all the families of the kingdoms of the North, says the Lord, and they shall come and each one shall set their throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and over all its surrounding walls, and over all the cities of Judah. And I will speak my judgments with them concerning all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and worshiped foreign gods and bowed down to the work of their own hands.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The families - Those nations that were under one Lord. Kingdoms - The Babylonians, and their assistants; the Medes also being in confederacy with them, whose king's daughter Nebuchadnezzar married.
They shall encamp some at the entering of the gates, others against the walls round about, to cut off both the going out of the mouths and the coming in of the meat, and so to starve them. He tells him plainly what was the procuring cause of all these judgments; it was the sin of Jerusalem and of the cities of Judah (
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For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
families--the tribes or clans composing the various kingdoms of Babylon; the specification of these aggravates the picture of calamity (Jer 25:9). throne at . . . gates--the usual place of administering justice. The conquering princes will set up their tribunal there (Jer 39:3, 5; Or the reference is to the military pavilion (Jer 43:10) [MAURER].
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1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates - As the gates of the cities were the ordinary places where justice was administered, so the enemies of Jerusalem are here represented as conquering the whole land, assuming the reins of government, and laying the whole country under their own laws; so that the Jews should no longer possess any political power: they should be wholly subjugated by their enemies.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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
24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י׀ | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הִנְנִ֣י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| קֹרֵ֗א | kore' | [am] summoning | H7121 → | 733 times |
| לְכָֽל־ | lekhol | <to> all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מִשְׁפְּח֛וֹת | mishpechot | [the] clans of | H4940 → | 303 times |
| מַמְלְכ֥וֹת | mamlekhot | [the] kingdoms of | H4467 → | 117 times |
| צָפ֖וֹנָה | tzafonah | north -ward | H6828 → | 153 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וּבָ֡אוּ | uvau | and they will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וְֽנָתְנוּ֩ | venatenu | and they will set | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אִ֨ישׁ | ʾish | each one | H376 → | 1663 times |
| כִּסְא֜וֹ | kiso | throne his | H3678 → | 135 times |
| פֶּ֣תַח׀ | petach | [the] entrance of | H6607 → | 164 times |
| שַׁעֲרֵ֣י | shaarei | [the] gates of | H8179 → | 374 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִַ֗ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| וְעַ֤ל | veal | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חוֹמֹתֶ֙יהָ֙ | chomoteiha | walls its | H2346 → | 133 times |
| סָבִ֔יב | saviv | all around | H5439 → | 336 times |
| וְעַ֖ל | veal | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עָרֵ֥י | ʾarei | [the] cities of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| יְהוּדָֽה׃ | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
כִּ֣י׀for
kiH3588 →4482 times
הִנְנִ֣יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
קֹרֵ֗א[am] summoning
kore'H7121 →733 times
לְכָֽל־<to> all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
מִשְׁפְּח֛וֹת[the] clans of
mishpechotH4940 →303 times
מַמְלְכ֥וֹת[the] kingdoms of
mamlekhotH4467 →117 times
צָפ֖וֹנָהnorth -ward
tzafonahH6828 →153 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וּבָ֡אוּand they will come
uvauH935 →2568 times
וְֽנָתְנוּ֩and they will set
venatenuH5414 →2011 times
אִ֨ישׁeach one
ʾishH376 →1663 times
כִּסְא֜וֹthrone his
kisoH3678 →135 times
פֶּ֣תַח׀[the] entrance of
petachH6607 →164 times
שַׁעֲרֵ֣י[the] gates of
shaareiH8179 →374 times
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֗םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
וְעַ֤לand on
vealH5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
חוֹמֹתֶ֙יהָ֙walls its
chomoteihaH2346 →133 times
סָבִ֔יבall around
savivH5439 →336 times
וְעַ֖לand on
vealH5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עָרֵ֥י[the] cities of
ʾareiH5892 →1090 times
יְהוּדָֽה׃Judah
yehudahH3063 →819 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 25:9behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents,…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 29:18–20
“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 13:3
I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.
- Jeremiah 18:16
They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
- Habakkuk 1:6–10
For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
- Ezekiel 29:18–20
Through
Jeremiah 10:25Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, and on the families that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have consumed him and finished…
it leads to
- Psalms 79:6–7
Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, on the kingdoms that refuse to call on Your name,
- Jeremiah 8:16
The snorting of enemy horses is heard from Dan. At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds, the whole land quakes. They come to devour the land and everything in it, the city…
- Psalms 79:6–7
Through
Jeremiah 43:10Then tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these…
it leads to
- Isaiah 44:28
who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,’ who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundation be laid.’”
- Isaiah 44:28
Through
Jeremiah 9:11“And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 25:2
Indeed, You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin. The fortress of strangers is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
- Isaiah 25:2
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.