Jeremiah 13:12
in Jeremiah 13Therefore you are to tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Every wineskin shall be filled with wine.’ And when they reply, ‘Don’t we surely know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word: Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
KJV
Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
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This verse in Jeremiah 13
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Do we not . . . know . . . wine--The "bottles" are those used in the East, made of skins; our word "hogshead," originally "oxhide," alludes to the same custom. As they were used to hold water, milk, and other liquids, what the prophet said (namely, that they should be all filled with wine) was not, as the Jews' taunting reply implied, a truism even literally.
This site's exposition
Every wineskin shall be filled with wine
on Jeremiah 13:12-14
The proverb “Every wineskin shall be filled with wine” is a truism the people accept, and Jeremiah turns it into a sentence of judgment. The LORD will fill with drunkenness all who live in this land. The wine picture runs to its violent end, the vessels smashed against one another.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
What the prophet is commanded by God to say ought to be worthy of God, [yet] it appears that it is not worthy of God so long as we remain at the level of the letter, so that someone else, on hearing the letter, might say: "These letters are folly." But it is the unspiritual man (psychikos) who will say this; for "the unspiritual man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him." Look, then, at what the wording says: "And you shall say to this people: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel" — what "the Lord, the God of Israel" says, let it be worthy of the Lord, the God of Israel — "Every wineskin shall be filled with wine. And it shall be, if they say to you: Do we not surely know that every wineskin shall be filled with wine?" And those who answer, if they take their stand on the literal statement and say these things, claiming to have known that "every wineskin shall be filled with wine," are lying. For it is not the case that "every wineskin shall be filled with wine." There are, at any rate, wineskins filled with oil or with some other liquid substance, and some even remain empty. They lie, then; for not every wineskin shall be filled with wine. And the people answer, saying: "Do we not surely know that every wineskin shall be filled with wine?" These words will receive from us, as far as we are able, an interpretation of the following sort. If we know the differences among wines and the things said about them, then in consequence we shall see, concerning the wineskins, that it is true that "every wineskin shall be filled with wine." For whether someone is a good wineskin, so to name it, among wineskins, it shall be filled with wine according to its own goodness; or whether, in comparison with wineskins and in the judgment concerning them, it is a wretched one, it too according to its wretchedness shall be filled with wretched wine. […]
And showing the unchangeable nature of his wrath, God introduced these words: "I will not yearn after them, and I will not spare them, and I will not have pity on them because of their destruction," rather than "[I will not have pity on] their …
And these things He said, setting laws and rules for His own disciples, that when they should have to receive as disciples those of all sorts that should come from the whole world, they might deal with them very gently. "Neither do men put new wine into old bottles." Seest thou His illustrations, how like the Old Testament? the garment? the wine skins? For Jeremiah too calls the people "a girdle," and makes mention again of "bottles" and of "wine." Thus, the discourse being about gluttony and a table, He takes His illustrations from the same.
(Verse 12 onwards) You shall say therefore to them (or to the people) this message. Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Every pitcher (or vessel) shall be filled with wine. And they shall say to you: Do we not know that every pitcher (or vessel) shall be filled with wine? And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings who sit on David's throne, and the priests and the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
): Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, every bottle shall be filled with wine; that is, those that by their sins have made themselves vessels of wrath fitted to destruction shall be filled with the wrath of God as a bottle is with wine; and, as every vessel of mercy prepared for glory shall be filled with mercy and glory, so they shall be full of the fury of the Lord ( Isa. li.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Every bottle shall be filled with wine? - The bottles were made for the purpose of being filled with wine; and it is likely, from the promising appearance of the season and the grapes, that there was a great likelihood of a copious vintage; and this made them say, “Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? Have we not every prospect that it will be so? Do we need a revelation to inform us of this?”
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Bottle - jar, the “potter’s vessel” of Isa 30:14: a new symbol, but with the same meaning, the approaching destruction of Jerusalem Jer 13:14.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
bottle Heb. נבל. This is an earthenware vessel, and it is used to hold wine.
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. 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֨ | veamarta | and you will speak | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֜ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַדָּבָ֣ר | hadavar | the word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הַזֶּ֗ה ס | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| כֹּֽה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֤ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֣י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| נֵ֖בֶל | nevel | wineskin | H5035 → | 38 times |
| יִמָּ֣לֵא | yimale' | it will be filled | H4390 → | 249 times |
| יָ֑יִן | yayin | wine | H3196 → | 141 times |
| וְאָמְר֣וּ | veameru | and they will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלֶ֔יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הֲיָדֹ֙עַ֙ | hayadoa' | ¿ really <to know> | H3045 → | 945 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נֵדַ֔ע | neda' | do we know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| נֵ֖בֶל | nevel | wineskin | H5035 → | 38 times |
| יִמָּ֥לֵא | yimale' | it will be filled | H4390 → | 249 times |
| יָֽיִן׃ | yayin | wine | H3196 → | 141 times |
וְאָמַרְתָּ֨and you will speak
veamartaH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֜םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַדָּבָ֣רthe word
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
הַזֶּ֗ה ס<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
כֹּֽה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַ֤רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
נֵ֖בֶלwineskin
nevelH5035 →38 times
יִמָּ֣לֵאit will be filled
yimale'H4390 →249 times
יָ֑יִןwine
yayinH3196 →141 times
וְאָמְר֣וּand they will say
veameruH559 →5305 times
אֵלֶ֔יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
הֲיָדֹ֙עַ֙¿ really <to know>
hayadoa'H3045 →945 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
נֵדַ֔עdo we know
neda'H3045 →945 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
כָל־every
khol-H3605 →5413 times
נֵ֖בֶלwineskin
nevelH5035 →38 times
יִמָּ֥לֵאit will be filled
yimale'H4390 →249 times
יָֽיִן׃wine
yayinH3196 →141 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Ezekiel 24:19Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things you are doing mean to us?”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 12:9
“Son of man, hasn’t the rebellious house of Israel asked you, ‘What are you doing?’
- Ezekiel 37:18
When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these?’
- Malachi 3:13
“Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’
- Malachi 3:7–8
Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But…
- Ezekiel 20:49
Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, they are saying of me, ‘Is he not just telling parables?’”
- Ezekiel 12:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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 Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 30:5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 12 and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 3:13.