Jeremiah 6:6
in Jeremiah 6For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Cut down the trees and raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished; there is nothing but oppression in her midst.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thus hath Jehovah of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
KJV
For thus hath the Lord of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
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This verse in Jeremiah 6
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHew ye down trees - To form machines. And cast a mount - That may overlook the city, on which to place our engines. This is the city to be visited - We are sure of success, for their God will deliver it into our hands, for it is full of oppression, and he has consigned it to destruction.
This site's exposition
raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem
on Jeremiah 6:6-8
The LORD himself orders the siege, “Cut down the trees and raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem”. The figure “As a well gushes its water, so she pours out her evil” makes wickedness Jerusalem's continual output. The last appeal, “Be forewarned, O Jerusalem”, comes before the desolation.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 6.) Because thus says the Lord of hosts: Cut down the wood (or its woods) and pour out (or carry) it around Jerusalem as a mound. Therefore, they say, we are confident of victory, because it is the command of the Lord who orders the Chaldeans: cut down the trees and carry them to build fortifications. By this it is shown that before the crown comes, the city is not immediately to be captured: but through a long siege, as we read later.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
It was the covetous Pharisees that derided Christ, Luke xvi. They had become impudent in sin and were past shame. After such a high charge of flagrant crimes proved upon them, it was very proper to ask (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
): Therefore this city is to be visited, it is time to make inquisition, for she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. All orders and degrees of men, from the prince on the throne to the meanest master of a shop, were oppressive to those that were under them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
For thus hath the Lord of hosts said,....
God has marked out Jerusalem for destruction. He has said, " This is the city to be visited, visited in wrath, visited by the divine justice, and this is the time of her visitation." The day is coming when those that are careless and secure in sinful ways will certainly be visited. [2.] How they shall animate themselves and one another to execute that commission.
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)
The "trees" were also used to make warlike engines. this--pointing the invaders to Jerusalem. visited--that is, punished. wholly oppression--or join "wholly" with "visited," that is, she is altogether (in her whole extent) to be punished [MAURER].
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Hew ye down trees - Rather, her trees: for the simple purpose of clearing the approaches. Cast a mount - literally, pour: the earth was emptied out of the baskets, in which it was carried to the required spot upon the backs of laborers. Wholly - Or, “She “is the city” that is visited: “Wholly oppression” is “in the midst of her!” She is visited, - i. e., punished; she is ripe for punishment.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כֹ֤ה | khoh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֙ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֔וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| כִּרְת֣וּ | kirtu | cut down | H3772 → | 288 times |
| עֵצָ֔ה | ʾetzah | wood | H6097 → | |
| וְשִׁפְכ֥וּ | veshifkhu | and pour out | H8210 → | 114 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| סֹלְלָ֑ה | solelah | a mound | H5550 → | 11 times |
| הִ֚יא | hi' | that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| הָעִ֣יר | hair | <the> city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הָפְקַ֔ד | hafekad | it will be visited | H6485 → | 303 times |
| כֻּלָּ֖הּ | kulah | all of it | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֹ֥שֶׁק | ʾoshek | [is] oppression | H6233 → | |
| בְּקִרְבָּֽהּ׃ | bekirbah | in midst its | H7130 → | 227 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כֹ֤הthus
khohH3541 →577 times
אָמַר֙he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֔וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
כִּרְת֣וּcut down
kirtuH3772 →288 times
עֵצָ֔הwood
ʾetzahH6097 →
וְשִׁפְכ֥וּand pour out
veshifkhuH8210 →114 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
סֹלְלָ֑הa mound
solelahH5550 →11 times
הִ֚יאthat
hi'H1931 →1879 times
הָעִ֣יר<the> city
hairH5892 →1090 times
הָפְקַ֔דit will be visited
hafekadH6485 →303 times
כֻּלָּ֖הּall of it
kulahH3605 →5413 times
עֹ֥שֶׁק[is] oppression
ʾoshekH6233 →
בְּקִרְבָּֽהּ׃in midst its
bekirbahH7130 →227 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
Jeremiah 32:24See how the siege ramps are mounted against the city to capture it. And by sword and famine and plague, the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 32:36
Now therefore, about this city of which you say, ‘It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword and famine and plague,’ this is what the LORD, the God…
- Deuteronomy 4:26
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it,…
- Joshua 23:15–16
But just as every good thing the LORD your God promised you has come to pass, likewise the LORD will bring upon you the calamity He has threatened, until He has destroyed you from…
- Jeremiah 33:4
For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah that have been torn down for defense against the…
- Zechariah 1:6
But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Hosts purposed to do to us according…
- Jeremiah 32:36
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.