Jeremiah 22:14
in Jeremiah 22who says, ‘I will build myself a great palace, with spacious upper rooms.’ So he cuts windows in it, panels it with cedar, and paints it with vermilion.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that saith, I will build me a wide house and spacious chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
KJV
That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
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This verse in Jeremiah 22
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Large chambers - spacious upper chambers. It is cieled - Or, roofing it. Vermilion - The pigment which gives the deep red color still bright and untarnished on many ancient buildings.
This site's exposition
Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness
on Jeremiah 22:13-17
Jehoiakim's palace project is described in the terms of forced labor, a neighbor's service taken without wages, wide rooms and cedar ceilings paid for by unpaid work, and the woe is pronounced on the builder rather than on the building. Verse 15 asks the question plainly, shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself in cedar, and sets Josiah beside his son: did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him, judging the cause of the poor and needy read as the true content of knowing God. The commentators take verse 16's was not this to know me as the chapter's own definition of the knowledge of God, tested by how a king treats those with no power to reward him.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
No doubt it is lawful for princes and great men to build, and beautify, and furnish their houses so as is agreeable to their dignity; but he that knows what is in man knew that Jehoiakim did this in the pride of his heart, which makes that to be sinful, exceedingly sinful, which is in itself lawful.
That saith, I will build me a wide house,.... Or, "a house of measures", or, "dimensions" (i); a very large house, whose length and breadth measure much consisting of many spacious rooms, upper as well as lower; as follows: and large chambers; or, "widened ones"; very spacious and roomy; or "aired", or "airy (k) ones"; through which the wind blows, or into which much air comes; so that they were good summer chambers, for which they might be built: and cutteth him out windows; to let in light and air, as well as for ornament.
Another message sent them in the reign of Jehoiachin (alias, Jeconiah) the son of Jehoiakim. He is charged with an obstinate refusal to hear, and is threatened with destruction, and it is foretold that in him Solomon's house should fail,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Retaining English Version, there must be understood something remarkable about the windows, since they are deemed worthy of notice. GESENIUS thinks the word dual, "double windows," the blinds being two-leaved. vermilion--Hebrew, shashar, called so from a people of India beyond the Ganges, by whom it is exported [PLINY, 6.19].
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Woe to him who builds his house He is saying this about Jehoiakim, who was a wicked man, and the end of the section proves this: “Therefore, so said the Lord about Jehoiakim.”
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Shall you reign Will you live long that you contend to make your rule oppressive to let all know that you are a king?
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
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הָאֹמֵ֗ר | haomer | the [one who] says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶבְנֶה־ | ʾevneh- | I will build | H1129 → | 376 times |
| לִּי֙ | li | for <the> myself | ||
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | a house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| מִדּ֔וֹת | midot | size<s> | H4060 → | |
| וַעֲלִיּ֖וֹת | vaaliyot | and upper rooms | H5944 → | |
| מְרֻוָּחִ֑ים | meruvachim | spacious | H7304 → | |
| וְקָ֤רַֽע | vekara' | and he will tear | H7167 → | 63 times |
| לוֹ֙ | lo | for <the> himself | ||
| חַלּוֹנָ֔י | chalonai | windows my | H2474 → | |
| וְסָפ֣וּן | vesafun | and paneled | H5603 → | |
| בָּאָ֔רֶז | baarez | with <the> cedar | H730 → | 73 times |
| וּמָשׁ֖וֹחַ | umashoach | and he will smear [it] | H4886 → | |
| בַּשָּׁשַֽׁר׃ | bashashar | with <the> vermilion | H8350 → |
הָאֹמֵ֗רthe [one who] says
haomerH559 →5305 times
אֶבְנֶה־I will build
ʾevneh-H1129 →376 times
לִּי֙for <the> myself
li
בֵּ֣יתa house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
מִדּ֔וֹתsize<s>
midotH4060 →
וַעֲלִיּ֖וֹתand upper rooms
vaaliyotH5944 →
מְרֻוָּחִ֑יםspacious
meruvachimH7304 →
וְקָ֤רַֽעand he will tear
vekara'H7167 →63 times
לוֹ֙for <the> himself
lo
חַלּוֹנָ֔יwindows my
chalonaiH2474 →
וְסָפ֣וּןand paneled
vesafunH5603 →
בָּאָ֔רֶזwith <the> cedar
baarezH730 →73 times
וּמָשׁ֖וֹחַand he will smear [it]
umashoachH4886 →
בַּשָּׁשַֽׁר׃with <the> vermilion
bashasharH8350 →
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
Proverbs 24:27Complete your outdoor work and prepare your field; after that, you may build your house.
it leads to
- Luke 14:28–30
Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?
- 1 Kings 5:17–18
And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.
- 1 Kings 6:7
The temple was constructed using finished stones cut at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any other iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.
- Luke 14:28–30
Through
Haggai 1:4“Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 7:2
he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
- Psalms 132:3–5
“I will not enter my house or get into my bed,
- Philippians 2:21
For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
- Haggai 1:9
You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you…
- 2 Samuel 7:2
Through
Daniel 4:30the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
- Proverbs 16:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 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; 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.