Jeremiah 13:20
in Jeremiah 13Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
KJV
Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
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This verse in Jeremiah 13
Commentary
9 notes on this verseLift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north,.... There are a Keri and a Cetib of the words "lift up" and "behold"; they are written in the singular number, and may be considered as directed to the king, as the words following are; and they are read in the plural number, the state and whole body of the people being called upon to observe the Chaldean army, which came from the north; and is represented as on the march, just at hand to invade, besiege, take, and carry them captive.
This site's exposition
see those coming from the north
on Jeremiah 13:20-22
Verse 21 sets over Jerusalem the nations she courted for protection, “close allies whom you yourself trained”. The pain that follows is likened to “a woman in labor”. Verse 22 names the cause plainly, “the magnitude of your iniquity”, as the reason her skirts are stripped off.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 20, 21.) Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north: where is the flock that was given to you, your splendid flock? What will you say when they visit you? You have taught them and trained them against you, and it will come upon your own head. The inhabitants of Jerusalem are commanded to lift up their eyes and see the Chaldeans coming from the north: the city itself is questioned and asked: Where is the flock that was given to you, your splendid flock? Where is your people, whom you received from God?
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
God will make a full end with them: It shall be wholly carried away. So it was in the last captivity under Zedekiah, because they repented not. (3.) The enemy was now at hand that should do this (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Masters of families, who neglect their children and suffer them to perish for want of a good education, and ministers who neglect their people, should think they hear God putting this question to them: Where is the flock that was given thee to feed, that beauteous flock? It is starved; it is left exposed to the beasts of prey.
He is to convince them that it is for their obstinacy and incorrigibleness that the judgments of God are so prolonged and brought to extremity,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
6:22). flock . . . given thee--Jeremiah, amazed at the depopulation caused by Nebuchadnezzar's forces, addresses Jerusalem (a noun of multitude, which accounts for the blending of plural and singular, Your eyes . . . thee . . . thy flock), and asks where is the population (Jer 13:17, "flock") which God had given her?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Where is the flock - thy beautiful flock? - Jerusalem is addressed. Where are the prosperous multitudes of men, women, and children? Alas! are they not driven before the Babylonians, who have taken them captive?
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Jerusalem is asked where the cities, which once lay grouped round her, like a goodly flock of sheep, are gone? The question implies blame.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׂא֤וּ | sei | lift up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| עֵֽינֵיכֶם֙ | ʾeineikhem | eyes your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וּרְא֔וּ | urei | and see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| הַבָּאִ֖ים | habaim | those [who] are coming | H935 → | 2568 times |
| מִצָּפ֑וֹן | mitzafon | from [the] north | H6828 → | 153 times |
| אַיֵּ֗ה | ʾaiyeh | where? | H346 → | 45 times |
| הָעֵ֙דֶר֙ | haeder | [is] the flock | H5739 → | 38 times |
| נִתַּן־ | nitan- | [which] it was given | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָ֔ךְ | lakh | to <the> you | ||
| צֹ֖אן | tzon | [the] sheep of | H6629 → | 274 times |
| תִּפְאַרְתֵּֽךְ׃ | tifartekh | beauty your | H8597 → | 51 times |
שְׂא֤וּlift up
seiH5375 →656 times
עֵֽינֵיכֶם֙eyes your
ʾeineikhemH5869 →887 times
וּרְא֔וּand see
ureiH7200 →1300 times
הַבָּאִ֖יםthose [who] are coming
habaimH935 →2568 times
מִצָּפ֑וֹןfrom [the] north
mitzafonH6828 →153 times
אַיֵּ֗הwhere?
ʾaiyehH346 →45 times
הָעֵ֙דֶר֙[is] the flock
haederH5739 →38 times
נִתַּן־[which] it was given
nitan-H5414 →2011 times
לָ֔ךְto <the> you
lakh
צֹ֖אן[the] sheep of
tzonH6629 →274 times
תִּפְאַרְתֵּֽךְ׃beauty your
tifartekhH8597 →51 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
Habakkuk 1:6For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:15
Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 24:2
And 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.
- 2 Chronicles 36:6
Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jehoiakim and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.
- 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…
- Jeremiah 5:15
Through
Jeremiah 6:22This is what the LORD says: “Behold, an army is coming from the land of the north; a great nation is stirred up from the ends of the earth.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:22
Listen! The sound of a report is coming— a great commotion from the land to the north. The cities of Judah will be made a desolation, a haunt for jackals.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 10:22
Through
Jeremiah 13:17But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
it leads to
- Malachi 2:2
If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse…
- Jeremiah 9:1
Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
- Jeremiah 14:17
You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow,…
- Malachi 2:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.