Jeremiah 18:13
in Jeremiah 18Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ask ye now among the nations, who hath heard such things; the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.
KJV
Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.
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This verse in Jeremiah 18
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(Verse 13) Therefore, thus says the Lord: Inquire of the nations, who has heard such dreadful things, which the virgin of Israel has done exceedingly? Therefore he brings this forward, saying: Inquire of the nations, and all the nations around, who has done this, who has heard of serving idols, what great things the virgin Israel has done? And he calls her a virgin because she has served only one God, as the Prophet says: God is known in Judah, his name is great in Israel (Psalm 75:2).
This site's exposition
Now therefore, tell the men of
on Jeremiah 18:11-13
The LORD’s warning comes with an offer: “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways.” The people answer, “It is hopeless,” and add, “We will follow our own plans.” The LORD bids them “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard things like these?”
This site's exposition
Inquire among the nations
Albert Barnes sets the pure name Virgin Israel against her eager chase after idols. Adam Clarke notes that three Hebrew copies and one Greek copy read Jerusalem in place of Israel. The LORD calls the nations to witness a most terrible thing.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"Let each one turn back, then, from his evil way, and make your practices better." Sometimes the more simple-minded say: blessed were the men of old, because they heard the Lord through the prophet saying, "and the Lord spoke to them." And to us now the Lord speaks through the things that are written: "Let each one turn back from his evil way"; the Lord himself converses with you, declaring, "and make your practices better." But those to whom the hortatory words concerning repentance were spoken made an answer, and let us see what they answered, so that we too may not answer in such a way. What, then, do they say in reply? "We will play the man, for we will go after our own backslidings, and each of us will do the pleasing things of his evil heart." And even if you do not say it in words, but your life is such that you sin, you too in effect say, through your evil deeds after the hortatory words, "We will play the man, for we will go after our own backslidings, and each of us will do the pleasing things of his evil heart." And what is "we will go after our own backslidings"? Those who have begun to put "their hand to the plow" and "who stretch forward to the things that are before" in their plowing, while "forgetting the things behind," have turned away from base things. Whenever, then, someone who has put "his hand to the plow" turns to the things behind, he will go "after his own backslidings"; for he will go after those things from which he turned away, and he runs back again to those sins which he had left behind. […]
Who would not grieve over such things and say, "How is the faithful city become a harlot?" How would not the Lord say to some of those who are now walking in the spirit of Jeremiah, "Have you seen what the virgin of Israel has done to me?" I betrothed her to me in trust, in purity, in righteousness, in judgment, in pity, and in mercy; as I promised her through Hosea the prophet. But she loved strangers, and while I, her husband, was yet alive, she is called adulteress and is not afraid to belong to another husband.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, It is a horrible thing, enough to make one tremble to think of it, that those who have made their condition sad by sinning should make it desperate by refusing to reform. Wilful impenitence is the grossest self-murder; and that is a horrible thing, which we should abhor the thought of.
Therefore thus saith the Lord,....
The prophet's complaint to God of the base ingratitude and unreasonable malice of his enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and his prayers against them,
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Even among the heathen it was a thing unheard of, that a nation should lay aside its gods for foreign gods, though their gods are false gods. But Israel forsook the true God for foreign false gods. virgin of Israel-- (2Ki 19:21). It enhances their guilt, that Israel was the virgin whom God had specially betrothed to Him. horrible thing-- (Jer 5:30).
The virgin of Israel - Instead of ישראל Yisrael, three of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS., with the Alexandrian copy of the Septuagint, have ירושלם Yerushalem, Jerusalem.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The contrast between the chaste retirement of a virgin and Judah’s eagerness after idolatry, serves to heighten the horror at her conduct.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
But they shall say, We despair I know that they will say to you regarding your words that they do not heed them.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Shall one abandon from rocks of the field the snow of Lebanon Shall a man who needs to drink abandon water that flows from the rock in the fields that comes from the snow of the Lebanon, which is clean?
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. 5 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
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 |
| כֹּ֚ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| שַֽׁאֲלוּ־ | shaalu- | ask | H7592 → | 171 times |
| נָא֙ | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| בַּגּוֹיִ֔ם | bagoyim | among the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| מִ֥י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| שָׁמַ֖ע | shama' | has he heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| כָּאֵ֑לֶּה | kaeleh | like these [things] | H428 → | 746 times |
| שַֽׁעֲרֻרִת֙ | shaarurit | a horrible [thing] | H8186 → | 4 times |
| עָשְׂתָ֣ה | ʾasetah | she has done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| מְאֹ֔ד | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
| בְּתוּלַ֖ת | betulat | [the] virgin of | H1330 → | 50 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
לָכֵ֗ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
כֹּ֚הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
שַֽׁאֲלוּ־ask
shaalu-H7592 →171 times
נָא֙please
na'H4994 →404 times
בַּגּוֹיִ֔םamong the nations
bagoyimH1471 →561 times
מִ֥יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
שָׁמַ֖עhas he heard
shama'H8085 →1159 times
כָּאֵ֑לֶּהlike these [things]
kaelehH428 →746 times
שַֽׁעֲרֻרִת֙a horrible [thing]
shaaruritH8186 →4 times
עָשְׂתָ֣הshe has done
ʾasetahH6213 →2628 times
מְאֹ֔דexceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
בְּתוּלַ֖ת[the] virgin of
betulatH1330 →50 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 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 5:30A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 23:14
And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness.…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 6:10
In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: Ephraim practices prostitution there, and Israel is defiled.
- Jeremiah 23:14
Through
Isaiah 66:8Who has heard of such as this? Who has seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be delivered in an instant? Yet as soon as Zion was…
it leads to
- Isaiah 64:4
From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.
- Isaiah 64:4
Through
Jeremiah 23:14And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness.…
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:9–10
Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
- Jeremiah 29:23
For they have committed an outrage in Israel by committing adultery with the wives of their neighbors and speaking lies in My name, which I did not command them to do. I am He…
- Ezekiel 22:25
The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.
- Ezekiel 13:22–23
Because you have disheartened the righteous with your lies, even though I have caused them no grief, and because you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways to save their…
- Isaiah 1:9–10
Through
Hosea 6:10In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: Ephraim practices prostitution there, and Israel is defiled.
it leads to
- Hosea 5:3
I know all about Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me. For now, O Ephraim, you have turned to prostitution; Israel is defiled.
- Hosea 5:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
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); Basil of Caesarea, LETTER 46:3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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 18.