Jeremiah 13:21
in Jeremiah 13What will you say when He sets over you close allies whom you yourself trained? Will not pangs of anguish grip you, as they do a woman in labor?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
What wilt thou say, when he shall set over thee as head those whom thou hast thyself taught to be friends to thee? shall not sorrows take hold of thee, as of a woman in travail?
KJV
What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
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This verse in Jeremiah 13
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Translate, “What wilt thou say, O Jerusalem, when He, Yahweh, shall set over thee for head those whom thou hast taught to be thy bosom friends?” The foreign powers, whose friendship she has been courting, will become her tyrants.
This site's exposition
see those coming from the north
on Jeremiah 13:20-22
Verse 21 sets over Jerusalem the nations she courted for protection, “close allies whom you yourself trained”. The pain that follows is likened to “a woman in labor”. Verse 22 names the cause plainly, “the magnitude of your iniquity”, as the reason her skirts are stripped off.
This site's exposition
What will you say when He sets
Adam Clarke traces it to Ahaz, who bowed to Assyria, after which the kings of Judah never ruled free again. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add Josiah's league with Babylon. The allies Judah trained became her masters, and anguish came like a woman in labor.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 20, 21.) Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north: where is the flock that was given to you, your splendid flock? What will you say when they visit you? You have taught them and trained them against you, and it will come upon your own head. The inhabitants of Jerusalem are commanded to lift up their eyes and see the Chaldeans coming from the north: the city itself is questioned and asked: Where is the flock that was given to you, your splendid flock? Where is your people, whom you received from God?
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Thou canst say nothing, but that God is just in all that is brought upon thee. " Those that flatter themselves with hopes of impunity, what will they say?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
God will make a full end with them: It shall be wholly carried away. So it was in the last captivity under Zedekiah, because they repented not. (3.) The enemy was now at hand that should do this (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
What wilt thou say - Thou wilt have nothing to say, but be wholly confounded when God shall visit thee with this sore judgment, for by thy so often calling them to thy assistance, thou hast taught them to be captains over thee.
What will thou say when he shall punish thee?....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He is to convince them that it is for their obstinacy and incorrigibleness that the judgments of God are so prolonged and brought to extremity,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Thou canst not say God does thee wrong, seeing it was thou that gave occasion to His dealing so with thee, by so eagerly courting their intimacy." Compare Jer 2:18, 36; 2Ki 23:29, as to the league of Judah with Babylon, which led Josiah to march against Pharaoh-necho, when the latter was about to attack Babylon [MAURER]. sorrows--pains, throes.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee - This is said of their enemies, whether Assyrians or Chaldeans: for ever since Ahaz submitted himself to the king of Assyria, the kings of Judah never regained their independence. Their enemies were thus taught to be their lords and masters.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תֹּֽאמְרִי֙ | tomeri | will you say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִפְקֹ֣ד | yifkod | he will appoint | H6485 → | 303 times |
| עָלַ֔יִךְ | ʾalayikh | over you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְ֠אַתְּ | veat | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| לִמַּ֨דְתְּ | limadt | you taught | H3925 → | 85 times |
| אֹתָ֥ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עָלַ֛יִךְ | ʾalayikh | over you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַלֻּפִ֖ים | ʾalufim | close friends | H441 → | 69 times |
| לְרֹ֑אשׁ | lerosh | to chief | H7218 → | 599 times |
| הֲל֤וֹא | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| חֲבָלִים֙ | chavalim | labor-pains | H2256 → | 62 times |
| יֹאחֱז֔וּךְ | yochezukh | will they seize you | H270 → | |
| כְּמ֖וֹ | kemo | like | H3644 → | 143 times |
| אֵ֥שֶׁת | ʾeshet | a woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| לֵדָֽה׃ | ledah | <of> giving birth | H3205 → | 496 times |
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
תֹּֽאמְרִי֙will you say
tomeriH559 →5305 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יִפְקֹ֣דhe will appoint
yifkodH6485 →303 times
עָלַ֔יִךְover you
ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 times
וְ֠אַתְּand you
veatH859 →1094 times
לִמַּ֨דְתְּyou taught
limadtH3925 →85 times
אֹתָ֥ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
עָלַ֛יִךְover you
ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 times
אַלֻּפִ֖יםclose friends
ʾalufimH441 →69 times
לְרֹ֑אשׁto chief
leroshH7218 →599 times
הֲל֤וֹא¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
חֲבָלִים֙labor-pains
chavalimH2256 →62 times
יֹאחֱז֔וּךְwill they seize you
yochezukhH270 →
כְּמ֖וֹlike
kemoH3644 →143 times
אֵ֥שֶׁתa woman
ʾeshetH802 →781 times
לֵדָֽה׃<of> giving birth
ledahH3205 →496 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 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
it leads to
- Ezekiel 13:6
They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
- Jeremiah 14:14
“The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination,…
- Micah 2:11
If a man of wind were to come and say falsely, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be just the preacher for this people!
- 2 Timothy 4:3–4
For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9–11
The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
- Ezekiel 13:6
Through
Jeremiah 4:31For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child—the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to…
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:15
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Lamentations 1:17
Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The LORD has decreed against Jacob that his neighbors become his foes. Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
- Isaiah 1:15
Through
Isaiah 13:8Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.
it leads to
- Isaiah 26:17
As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.
- Isaiah 26:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.