Jeremiah 10:18
in Jeremiah 10For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, at this time I will sling out the inhabitants of the land and bring distress upon them so that they may be captured.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it.
KJV
For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 10
Commentary
10 notes on this verseI will sling out the inhabitants of the land - I will project you with violence from your country. I will send you all into captivity. This discourse, from Jer 10:17, is supposed to have been delivered in the eleventh year of Jehoiakim.
This site's exposition
Gather up your belongings from this land
on Jeremiah 10:17-18
The tone breaks from doxology to siege warning without a transition, “Gather up your belongings from this land, you who live under siege”. Verse 18 gives the reason as the LORD's own act, “I will sling out the inhabitants of the land and bring distress upon them”.
This site's exposition
sling out the inhabitants of the land
The LORD will throw the inhabitants of the land out like stones from a sling. Wesley reads the figure as the speed and ease with which the land would be emptied at this time. Clarke dates the words to the eleventh year of Jehoiakim.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 17, 18.) Gather from the land your confusion, you who dwell in siege; for thus says the Lord: Behold, I will cast far away the inhabitants of the earth this time, and I will afflict them that they may be found. LXX: It has gathered from outside its substance, which dwells in the fortified place. For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will overthrow the inhabitants of this land, and I will afflict them, that they may be found.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
The fortress - The inhabitants of Jerusalem, the chief place of security in Judea. Sing out - It denotes with how much violence and ease the Chaldeans shall hurry away the people into Babylon. And therefore it is said at this once, I will make one thorough quick work of it.
Arise, depart, this is not your rest, " Mic. ii. Let not what you have lie scattered, for the Chaldeans will be upon you again, to be the executioners of the sentence God has passed upon you (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
For thus saith the Lord,.... This is a reason enforcing the exhortation in the preceding verse, and shows that the same people that are spoken of here are addressed there. Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once; meaning the inhabitants of the land of Judea; or otherwise the prophet would never have expressed such a concern for them as he does in the following verse.
They were often told of the weight of God's wrath and their utter inability to make head against it, or bear up under it. They were told that their sin would be their ruin, and they would not regard nor credit what was told them; but now they shall find it so; and therefore God will pursue them with his judgments, that they may find it so, and be forced to acknowledge 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
Isa 22:17, 18. at this once--at this time, now. find it so--find it by experience, that is, feel it (Eze 6:10). MICHAELIS translates, "I will bind them together (as in a sling) that they may reach the goal" (Babylon). English Version is best: "that they may find it so as I have said" (Nu 23:19;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Sling out - A similar metaphor for violent ejection occurs in Isa 22:18 (see the note). At this once - Or, “at this time.” Previous invasions had ended either in deliverance, or at most in temporary misfortune. God’s long-suffering is exhausted, and this time Judaea must cease to be an independent nation. That they may find it so - Omit “so,” and explain either (1) “I will distress them” with the rigors of a siege “that they may feel it, i. e., the distress; or, (2) “that they may find” Me, God, that which alone is worth finding.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כֹה֙ | khoh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הִנְנִ֥י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| קוֹלֵ֛עַ | kolea' | [am] about to hurl forth | H7049 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יוֹשְׁבֵ֥י | yoshevei | [the] inhabitants of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| הָאָ֖רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בַּפַּ֣עַם | bapaam | at the time | H6471 → | |
| הַזֹּ֑את | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| וַהֲצֵר֥וֹתִי | vahatzeroti | and I will cause distress | H6887 → | 54 times |
| לָהֶ֖ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| לְמַ֥עַן | lemaan | so that | H4616 → | 272 times |
| יִמְצָֽאוּ׃ ס | yimtzau | they may find | H4672 → | 455 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כֹה֙thus
khohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הִנְנִ֥יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
קוֹלֵ֛עַ[am] about to hurl forth
kolea'H7049 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יוֹשְׁבֵ֥י[the] inhabitants of
yosheveiH3427 →1079 times
הָאָ֖רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
בַּפַּ֣עַםat the time
bapaamH6471 →
הַזֹּ֑את<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
וַהֲצֵר֥וֹתִיand I will cause distress
vahatzerotiH6887 →54 times
לָהֶ֖םto <the> them
lahem
לְמַ֥עַןso that
lemaanH4616 →272 times
יִמְצָֽאוּ׃ סthey may find
yimtzauH4672 →455 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 16:13So I will cast you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:36
The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.
- Deuteronomy 4:26–28
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,…
- Jeremiah 15:14
Then I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for My anger will kindle a fire that will burn against you.”
- Deuteronomy 28:36
Through
Zechariah 1:6But 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…
it leads to
- Lamentations 2:17
The LORD has done what He planned; He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old; He has overthrown you without pity. He has let the enemy gloat over you and…
- Ezekiel 12:25–28
because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass,…
- Lamentations 2:17
Through
1 Samuel 25:29And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling…
it leads to
- John 17:21
that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
- Matthew 10:29–30
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
- Malachi 3:17
“They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
- John 17:21
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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.