Jeremiah 11:22
in Jeremiah 11So this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine;
KJV
Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine:
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This verse in Jeremiah 11
Commentary
9 notes on this verseTwo of God's four sore judgments shall serve to ruin their town:-- The sword shall devour their young men, though they were young priests, not men of war (their character shall not be their protection), and famine shall destroy the children, sons and daughters, that tarry at home, which is a more grievous death than that by the sword, Lam. iv.
This site's exposition
the people of Anathoth who are seeking your life
on Jeremiah 11:21-23
The plotters are the people of Anathoth, Jeremiah's priestly hometown from 1:1, his own kinsmen demanding silence. The sentence answering them, “Their young men will die by the sword”, is the first judgment the book records Jeremiah asking for and receiving.
This site's exposition
Their young men will die by the sword
Sword and famine are two of the four sore judgments, as Matthew Henry names them. Albert Barnes reads the young men as those of age for war, though Henry notes that at Anathoth many were young priests. Their office gave them no shelter.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"Therefore thus says the Lord against the men of Anathoth who seek my life, who say: You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord, and if you do, you shall die in our hands. Behold, I will visit upon them: their young men shall die by the sword, and their sons and their daughters shall perish by famine. And there shall be no remnant of them, for I will bring evils upon the inhabitants of Anathoth in the year of their visitation." For the sake of a figure the name of Anathoth is here taken up. And the whole Jewish mystery is spoken in it figuratively; for Anathoth is interpreted "Hearkening." Since, then, a hearkening of God was in that people, as also the kingdom of God, and it came to pass concerning the kingdom that "the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits," according to this it also came to pass that "the men of Anathoth," those who are in the Hearkening, "seek the life" — not of Jeremiah (for neither does the history say that men of Anathoth sought the life of Jeremiah. We have the books of Kingdoms; Scripture makes mention there of Jeremiah, yet nothing of the sort is said in them, nor in the books of Chronicles; for we have the very book of the prophet, and the men of Anathoth have said nothing) — but these things are said concerning Christ. "Those who seek my life, those who say: You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord." The Jews hindered Jesus from teaching. "And if you do, you shall die in our hands. Behold, I will visit upon them: their young men shall die by the sword, and their sons and their daughters shall perish by famine." They did not then perish by the sword, but after the coming a famine has now come upon them — "not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord"; for no longer is "thus says the Lord Almighty" spoken among them. […]
(v. 21 onward) Therefore, thus says the Lord to the men of Anathoth who seek your life and say: Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will visit them. The young men shall die by the sword; their sons and daughters shall die by famine, and there shall be no remnant of them. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth in the year of their visitation.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
9 And the L ORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v9-10
Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, I will punish them,.....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Behold, I will punish them - And the punishment is, Their young men shall die by the sword of the Chaldeans; and their sons and daughters shall die by the famine that shall come on the land through the desolations occasioned by the Chaldean army.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The young men - i. e., those of the legal age for military service.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֗ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| כֹּ֤ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֙ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֔וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| הִנְנִ֥י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| פֹקֵ֖ד | foked | [am] about to visit [judgment] | H6485 → | 303 times |
| עֲלֵיהֶ֑ם | ʾaleihem | on them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַבַּֽחוּרִים֙ | habachurim | the young men | H970 → | 44 times |
| יָמֻ֣תוּ | yamutu | they will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| בַחֶ֔רֶב | vacherev | by the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| בְּנֵיהֶם֙ | beneihem | sons their | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וּבְנ֣וֹתֵיהֶ֔ם | uvenoteihem | and daughters their | H1323 → | 588 times |
| יָמֻ֖תוּ | yamutu | they will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| בָּרָעָֽב׃ | baraav | by <the> famine | H7458 → | 101 times |
לָכֵ֗ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
כֹּ֤הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַר֙he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֔וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
הִנְנִ֥יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
פֹקֵ֖ד[am] about to visit [judgment]
fokedH6485 →303 times
עֲלֵיהֶ֑םon them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
הַבַּֽחוּרִים֙the young men
habachurimH970 →44 times
יָמֻ֣תוּthey will die
yamutuH4191 →839 times
בַחֶ֔רֶבby the sword
vacherevH2719 →413 times
בְּנֵיהֶם֙sons their
beneihemH1121 →4930 times
וּבְנ֣וֹתֵיהֶ֔םand daughters their
uvenoteihemH1323 →588 times
יָמֻ֖תוּthey will die
yamutuH4191 →839 times
בָּרָעָֽב׃by <the> famine
baraavH7458 →101 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
Lamentations 2:21Both young and old lie together in the dust of the streets. My young men and maidens have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger; You have…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 36:17
So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Zechariah 11:6
For I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land, declares the LORD, but behold, I will cause each man to fall into the hands of his neighbor and his king,…
- Lamentations 3:43
You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us; You have killed without pity.
- Jeremiah 13:14
I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’”
- 2 Chronicles 36:17
Through
Jeremiah 9:21For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 6:11
But I am full of the LORD’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband…
- Jeremiah 6:11
Through
2 Chronicles 36:17So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God…
it leads to
- Ezra 9:7
From the days of our fathers to this day, our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities, we and our kings and priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of…
- Psalms 74:20
Consider Your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
- Ezra 9:7
Through
Jeremiah 18:21Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck…
it leads to
- Psalms 109:9–20
May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
- Psalms 109:9–20
Where this verse is studied
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); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 10.