Jeremiah 12:9
in Jeremiah 12Is not My inheritance to Me like a speckled bird of prey with other birds of prey circling against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; bring them to devour her.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Is my heritage unto me as a speckled bird of prey? are the birds of prey against her round about? go ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour.
KJV
Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.
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This verse in Jeremiah 12
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(Ver. 9.) Is my inheritance like a colorful bird to me? Is it like a bird dyed all over? Come, gather all the beasts of the earth; hurry to devour. LXX: Is the den of the hyena my inheritance? Is there a den all around it, above it? Go, gather all the animals of the field; let them come and eat it. According to the letter, he calls the colorful and fully dyed bird a peacock.
This site's exposition
I have forsaken My house
on Jeremiah 12:7-9
The LORD speaks his own grief, “I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My inheritance”, and calls Judah “the love of My life”. The inheritance turns on its owner, a lion that has roared against him. Judah is set upon because she is marked out from the rest.
This site's exposition
Is not My inheritance to Me
The Septuagint reads a hyena's den for the speckled bird, and Origen and Jerome preach on that text. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown keep the bird of prey and read its colors as Judah's worship of the LORD mixed with pagan rites. Her neighbors gather to devour her.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"Is my inheritance to me a hyena's den?" He prophesies concerning this inheritance: has my inheritance perhaps become a hyena's den, a hyena's den — of the most savage beast, the corpse-eater, the one about the tombs, the one that eats the dead bodies? "Is my inheritance to me a hyena's den? Or a cave round about it on every side? Go." Since they have become such, I command you, the angels, to go and gather the beasts and deliver them to the beasts. "Go and gather all the beasts of the field, and let them come to devour it." The beasts of the field have come; they devour that people. See their hearts being devoured by the opposing powers. If Jesus did not spare those, but said, "Go, gather the beasts," how much more will he not spare us? If we do not do the Law of God, the word of the Gospel, he will say again: Go, gather the beasts and deliver it up. But we have boldness to say in our prayers: "Do not deliver to the beasts a soul that confesses to you." Let us confess concerning our transgressions, repenting, and we shall not be delivered to the beasts, but to holy angels who will be nurses, bearing us upon their bosoms, transferring us from this age to the age to come in Christ Jesus, to whom is the power and the glory unto the ages. Amen.
The Edomites and the Moabites and the Ammonites and the foreigners were always of a hateful and malicious disposition toward the Jews. When they saw the misfortunes brought against the Jews, they exulted over the Jews. For this reason he teaches them in advance of …
The house of God has been made a den of thieves! This is the house of which Jeremiah says, "Has not my house become for me the den of a hyena?" Here we have "you have made it a den of thieves," in Jeremiah, "the den of a hyena." We have to know the nature of this animal. Then from that, we shall be able to learn why the prophet called God's house a hyena's den. The hyena is never seen in the daytime but always at night. Never is it seen in the light but always in the darkness.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird,.... Or, "is not mine heritage unto me as a speckled bird?" (b) as a bird of various colours, delightful to look at, as the peacock, so Jerom interprets it here; it was so formerly, but not so now; or as a bird of various colours, and unusual, which other birds get about, look on, hate, and peck at.
An intimation of mercy to God's people, in a denunciation of wrath against their neighbours that helped forward their affliction, that they should be plucked out; but with a promise that if they would at last join themselves with the people of God they should come in sharers with them in their privileges,
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Or as a speckled bird, dyed, or sprinkled, or bedewed with the blood of her prey. The shedding of innocent blood was Jerusalem's measure-filling sin, and hastened their ruin, not only as it provoked their neighbours likewise; for those that have their hand against every man shall have every man's hand against them ( Gen. xvi.
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The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Is unto me as a speckled bird - A bird of divers colors. This is a people who have corrupted the worship of the true God with heathenish rites and ceremonies; therefore, the different nations, (see Jer 12:10; whose gods and forms of worship they have adopted shall come and spoil them. As far as you have followed the surrounding nations in their worship, so far shall they prevail over your state.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
speckled bird--Many translate, "a ravenous beast, the hyena"; the corresponding Arabic word means hyena; so the Septuagint. But the Hebrew always elsewhere means "a bird of prey." The Hebrew for "speckled" is from a root "to color"; answering to the Jewish blending together with paganism the altogether diverse Mosaic ritual.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Many shepherds The commanders of the troops of Nebuchadnezzar’s army, as it is stated above (6:3): “Shepherds and their flocks shall come to her.”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַעַ֨יִט | haayit | ¿ a bird of prey | H5861 → | |
| צָב֤וּעַ | tzavua' | speckled | H6641 → | |
| נַחֲלָתִי֙ | nachalati | [is] inheritance my | H5159 → | 222 times |
| לִ֔י | li | to <the> me | ||
| הַעַ֖יִט | haayit | that [are] bird[s] of prey? | H5861 → | |
| סָבִ֣יב | saviv | all around | H5439 → | 336 times |
| עָלֶ֑יהָ | ʾaleiha | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| לְכ֗וּ | lekhu | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אִסְפ֛וּ | ʾisfu | gather | H622 → | 200 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חַיַּ֥ת | chaiyat | <the> animal of | H2416 → | 498 times |
| הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה | hasadeh | the field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| הֵתָ֥יוּ | hetayu | bring [them] | H857 → | |
| לְאָכְלָֽה׃ | leokhlah | for food | H402 → |
הַעַ֨יִט¿ a bird of prey
haayitH5861 →
צָב֤וּעַspeckled
tzavua'H6641 →
נַחֲלָתִי֙[is] inheritance my
nachalatiH5159 →222 times
לִ֔יto <the> me
li
הַעַ֖יִטthat [are] bird[s] of prey?
haayitH5861 →
סָבִ֣יבall around
savivH5439 →336 times
עָלֶ֑יהָon it
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
לְכ֗וּgo
lekhuH1980 →1546 times
אִסְפ֛וּgather
ʾisfuH622 →200 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
חַיַּ֥ת<the> animal of
chaiyatH2416 →498 times
הַשָּׂדֶ֖הthe field
hasadehH7704 →334 times
הֵתָ֥יוּbring [them]
hetayuH857 →
לְאָכְלָֽה׃for food
leokhlahH402 →
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 7:33The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:26
Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 19:17–18
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 28:26
Through
2 Kings 24:2And the LORD sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servants the prophets.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 35:11
So when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched into the land, we said: ‘Come, let us go into Jerusalem to escape the armies of the Chaldeans and the Arameans.’ So we have remained in Jerusalem.”
- 2 Kings 23:27
For the LORD had said, “I will remove Judah from My sight, just as I removed Israel. I will reject this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the temple of which I said, ‘My…
- Jeremiah 25:9
behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents,…
- Jeremiah 32:28
Therefore this is what the LORD says: Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it.
- 2 Kings 21:12–14
this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah that the news will reverberate in the ears of all who hear it.
- Jeremiah 35:11
Through
Isaiah 56:9Come, all you beasts of the field; eat greedily, all you beasts of the forest.
it leads to
- Isaiah 18:6
They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey, and to the beasts of the land. The birds will feed on them in summer, and all the wild animals in winter.
- Isaiah 18:6
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; Jerome, HOMILIES ON MARK 83:11.15-17; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 10 and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 3:12.