Jeremiah 15:13
in Jeremiah 15Your wealth and your treasures I will give up as plunder, without charge for all your sins within all your borders.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thy substance and thy treasures will I give for a spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
KJV
Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
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This verse in Jeremiah 15
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Jeremiah is personally addressed in the verse, because he stood before God as the intercessor, representing the people. (1) God would give Judah’s treasures away for nothing; implying that He did not value them. (2) the cause of this contempt is Judah’s sins. (3) this is justified by Judah having committed them throughout her whole land.
This site's exposition
Can anyone smash iron
on Jeremiah 15:12-14
The question “Can anyone smash iron” names the northern power, iron from the north. Verses 13 and 14 repeat what Judah has heard, treasures given up “as plunder, without charge” and slavery “in a land you do not know”. Gill notes the Hebrew of this passage is hard to read.
This site's exposition
Your wealth and your treasures I will give
The treasures go to the enemy for nothing in return. Barnes reads the phrase as God giving them away as things of no value to him, on account of Judah's sins. Matthew Henry notes that every border shared the guilt, so every part of the land shares the loss.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 13, 14) I will give your riches and treasures as plunder, freely (or without payment), for all your sins and in all your territories. And I will bring your enemies (or make your enemies serve you) from a land you do not know: for a fire is kindled in my anger, it shall burn upon you. I will deliver all your substance to your enemies without any payment, because of the sins you have committed in all your territories.
"And I will give your treasures for plunder, as an exchange for all your sins." What "treasures" of the sinners does God give "for plunder," and give them "as an exchange for all their sins"? Is it perchance those treasured up for themselves on earth? For each of men treasures up: if he is base, upon earth; but if he is refined, in heaven, as we were taught from the Gospel. Or does he say to that people, that I am about to give your treasures for plunder because of your sins? What treasures of that people were given for plunder? Behold, one of the treasures is Jeremiah, another treasure is Isaiah, a treasure was Moses too. These treasures God took from that people, and through Christ—who said, "The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you and shall be given to a nation producing its fruits"—he gave to us. "I will give," then, "because of your sins your treasures for plunder." And he gave the treasures of that people to us; ⟨for first those were entrusted with the oracles of God,⟩ then after them we were entrusted, the oracles of God having been taken from them and given to us. And we say that the "The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you and shall be given to a nation producing its fruits" was spoken by the Savior and has been fulfilled. Not that the Scripture was taken from them, but that now they no longer have the law and the prophets, in that they do not perceive the mind that is in them. For they have the books, but how has the kingdom of God been taken from them? The mind of the Scriptures has been taken from them. No longer is a legal or prophetic exposition preserved among them. But they are people reading and not understanding; for through the coming of Christ there has been fulfilled the "I said to that people: With hearing you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And it is their own iniquity that herein corrects them: It is for all thy sins, even in all thy borders. All parts of the country, even those which lay most remote, had contributed to the national guilt, and all shall now be brought to account. Let not one tribe lay the blame upon another, but each take shame to itself: It is for all thy sins in all thy borders.
Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price,....
He appeals to God concerning his sincerity in the discharge of his prophetic office and thinks it hard that he should not have more of the comfort of it,
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
So, on the contrary, Jehovah, when about to restore His people, says, He will give Egypt, &c., for their "ransom" (Isa 43:3). even in all thy borders--joined with "Thy substance . . . treasures, as also with "all thy sins," their sin and punishment being commensurate (Jer 17:3).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Thy substance - will I give to the spoil without price - Invaluable property shall be given up to thy adversaries. Or, without price - thou shalt have nothing for it in return.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Will iron break iron from the north I say that iron that comes from the north is harder than other iron, and this is its interpretation: They were compared to iron (above:28), “Going tale bearing like copper and iron.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חֵילְךָ֧ | cheilekha | wealth your | H2428 → | 246 times |
| וְאוֹצְרוֹתֶ֛יךָ | veotzroteikha | and treasures your | H214 → | 79 times |
| לָבַ֥ז | lavaz | to plunder | H957 → | 25 times |
| אֶתֵּ֖ן | ʾeten | I will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| בִמְחִ֑יר | vimchir | for price | H4242 → | |
| וּבְכָל־ | uvekhol- | and on all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חַטֹּאותֶ֖יךָ | chatoteikha | sins your | H2403 → | 295 times |
| וּבְכָל־ | uvekhol- | and in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| גְּבוּלֶֽיךָ׃ | gevuleikha | territories your | H1366 → | 240 times |
חֵילְךָ֧wealth your
cheilekhaH2428 →246 times
וְאוֹצְרוֹתֶ֛יךָand treasures your
veotzroteikhaH214 →79 times
לָבַ֥זto plunder
lavazH957 →25 times
אֶתֵּ֖ןI will give
ʾetenH5414 →2011 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
בִמְחִ֑ירfor price
vimchirH4242 →
וּבְכָל־and on all
uvekhol-H3605 →5413 times
חַטֹּאותֶ֖יךָsins your
chatoteikhaH2403 →295 times
וּבְכָל־and in all
uvekhol-H3605 →5413 times
גְּבוּלֶֽיךָ׃territories your
gevuleikhaH1366 →240 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
Isaiah 52:3For this is what the LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 45:13
I will raise up Cyrus in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild My city and set My exiles free, but not for payment or reward, says the LORD…
- 1 Peter 1:18
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
- Isaiah 50:1
This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 44:12
You sell Your people for nothing; no profit do You gain from their sale.
- Isaiah 45:13
Through
Psalms 44:12You sell Your people for nothing; no profit do You gain from their sale.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:30
How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
- Isaiah 52:3–4
For this is what the LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed.”
- Deuteronomy 32:30
Through
Jeremiah 17:3O My mountain in the countryside, I will give over your wealth and all your treasures as plunder, because of the sin of your high places, within all your borders.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 26:18
“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a…
- 2 Kings 24:13
As the LORD had declared, Nebuchadnezzar also carried off all the treasures from the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that Solomon king…
- Jeremiah 26:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 9 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); 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 14.