Jeremiah 12:14
in Jeremiah 12This is what the LORD says: “As for all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith Jehovah against all mine evil neighbors, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.
KJV
Thus saith the Lord against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
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This verse in Jeremiah 12
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThus saith the Lord against all mine evil neighbours,.... Or, "concerning" (h) them; the Egyptians, Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Tyre, and Sidon; whom the Lord calls his "neighbours", because they were near the land of Canaan, where his people dwelt, to whom he vouchsafed his presence, and where the temple was in which he took up his residence; and his "evil" neighbours, because they often distressed and afflicted his people.
This site's exposition
As for all My evil neighbors
on Jeremiah 12:14-17
Judgment turns to the neighbors who attack the inheritance, and the LORD will “uproot them from their land”. Verse 15 promises them compassion and a return “each one to his inheritance and to his land”. Verse 16 sets the condition, “if they will diligently learn the ways of My people”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 14, 15.) You shall be confounded by your fruits (or by your boasting (because of the anger of the fury of the Lord (or by the reproach in the sight of the Lord). Thus says the Lord against all my wicked neighbors, who touch the inheritance which I have distributed to my people Israel: Behold, I will uproot them from their land and uproot the house of Judah (or cast them out) from among them.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The Prophet's Appeal to God. 1 Righteous art thou, O L ORD , when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:84%@v1-3
Judgment began at the house of God, but it did not end there. Nebuchadnezzar, when he had wasted the land of Israel, turned his hand against their evil neighbours and was a scourge to them. What mercy God had in store for such of them as would join themselves to him and become his people,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Against all mine evil neighbors - All the neighboring nations who have united in desolating Judea shall be desolated in their turn: they also are wicked, and they shall be punished. If I make them executors of my justice, it is to them no proof of my approbation. God often uses one wicked nation to scourge another; and afterwards scourges the scourger by some other scourge.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Prophecy as to the surrounding nations, the Syrians, Ammonites, &c., who helped forward Judah's calamity: they shall share her fall; and, on their conversion, they shall share with her in the future restoration. This is a brief anticipation of the predictions in the forty-seventh, forty-eighth, and forty-ninth chapters. touch-- (Zec 2:8). pluck them out . . . pluck out . . .
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The prophet addresses the spoilers. Evil neighbors - The Syrians, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Philistines, who at all times took advantage of Judah’s weakness. The special mercy to Judah was the prelude to mercy to the whole Gentile world.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
My wicked neighbors Egypt, Ammon and Moab, Tyre and Sidon, who were neighbors of Eretz Israel and were inflicting harm upon them.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
They sowed wheat, but they reaped thorns They prayed, but their prayer was not accepted. Why? Because they did not plow for themselves a furrow of repentance and good deeds. Therefore, they sowed seeds resulting in thorns.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֣ה׀ | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| שְׁכֵנַי֙ | shekhenai | neighbors my | H7934 → | 20 times |
| הָֽרָעִ֔ים | haraim | <the> evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| הַנֹּֽגְעִים֙ | hanogeim | who touch | H5060 → | 150 times |
| בַּֽנַּחֲלָ֔ה | banachalah | <in> the inheritance | H5159 → | 222 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הִנְחַ֥לְתִּי | hinchalti | I gave as an inheritance | H5157 → | 59 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַמִּ֖י | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| הִנְנִ֤י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| נֹֽתְשָׁם֙ | notesham | [am] about to pluck up them | H5428 → | 21 times |
| מֵעַ֣ל | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַדְמָתָ֔ם | ʾadmatam | land their | H127 → | 225 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְהוּדָ֖ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| אֶתּ֥וֹשׁ | ʾetoosh | I will pluck up | H5428 → | 21 times |
| מִתּוֹכָֽם׃ | mitokham | from among them | H8432 → | 418 times |
כֹּ֣ה׀thus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
שְׁכֵנַי֙neighbors my
shekhenaiH7934 →20 times
הָֽרָעִ֔ים<the> evil
haraimH7451 →662 times
הַנֹּֽגְעִים֙who touch
hanogeimH5060 →150 times
בַּֽנַּחֲלָ֔ה<in> the inheritance
banachalahH5159 →222 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
הִנְחַ֥לְתִּיI gave as an inheritance
hinchaltiH5157 →59 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַמִּ֖יpeople my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
הִנְנִ֤יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
נֹֽתְשָׁם֙[am] about to pluck up them
noteshamH5428 →21 times
מֵעַ֣לfrom on
mealH5921 →5755 times
אַדְמָתָ֔םland their
ʾadmatamH127 →225 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בֵּ֥ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יְהוּדָ֖הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
אֶתּ֥וֹשׁI will pluck up
ʾetooshH5428 →21 times
מִתּוֹכָֽם׃from among them
mitokhamH8432 →418 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
Zechariah 2:8For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “After His Glory has sent Me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye—
it leads to
- Psalms 17:8
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings
- Deuteronomy 32:10
He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.
- John 15:21–23
But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me.
- John 14:26
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.
- Psalms 105:13–15
they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another.
- Psalms 17:8
Through
Jeremiah 3:18In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave to your fathers…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:8
Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They…
- Hosea 1:11
Then the people of Judah and of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and will go up out of the land. For great will be the day…
- Amos 9:15
I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God.
- Jeremiah 31:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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 Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.