Jeremiah 18:21
in Jeremiah 18Therefore, 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 down by the sword in battle.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, and their young men smitten of the sword in battle.
KJV
Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.
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This verse in Jeremiah 18
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Pour out ... sword - literally, “pour them out upon the hands of the sword, i. e., give them up to the sword.” Put to death - Rather, slain of death. The prophet’s phrase leaves it entirely indefinite in what way the men are to die.
This site's exposition
Attend to me, O LORD. Hear
on Jeremiah 18:19-23
Jeremiah’s harshest recorded prayer asks God to “hand their children over to famine” because “they have dug a pit for me.” He reminds God how he “stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them.”
This site's exposition
Therefore, hand their children over to famine
Adam Clarke reads these curses as a prophet's word of what God was about to pour out. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear the Spirit speak through a prophet who has ceased to plead for them. John Wesley says a Christian must pray for his worst enemies to be saved.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 19 and following) Attend, O Lord, to me: and hear the voice of my adversaries. Is evil repaid for good, because they have dug a pit for my soul? Remember that I stood in your presence, to speak good for them, and to turn away your wrath from them. Therefore, let their children become a byword, and let them be led into the hands of the sword.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Therefore - But is it lawful for God's servants to pray for evil against their enemies? It is not lawful for Christians. It is doubtless our duty, to pray for the conversion, forgiveness, and eternal salvation of our worst enemies.
5 Then the word of the L ORD came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the L ORD . Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:94%@v5-7
Therefore deliver up their children to the famine,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
In this prayer he does not indulge in personal revenge, as if it were his own cause that was at stake; but he speaks under the dictation of the Spirit, ceasing to intercede, and speaking prophetically, knowing they were doomed to destruction as reprobates; for those not so, he doubtless ceased not to intercede.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Therefore deliver up their children - The execrations in these verses should be considered as simply prophetic declarations of the judgments which God was about to pour out on them. If we consider them in their grammatical meaning, then they are not directions to us to whom our Lawgiver has said, “Love your enemies.”
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵן֩ | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| תֵּ֨ן | ten | give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנֵיהֶ֜ם | beneihem | children their | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| לָרָעָ֗ב | laraav | to <the> famine | H7458 → | 101 times |
| וְהַגִּרֵם֮ | vehagirem | and pour them | H5064 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יְדֵי־ | yedei- | [the] hands of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| חֶרֶב֒ | cherev | [the] sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| וְתִֽהְיֶ֨נָה | vetihyenah | so they may become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| נְשֵׁיהֶ֤ם | nesheihem | wives their | H802 → | 781 times |
| שַׁכֻּלוֹת֙ | shakulot | childless | H7909 → | |
| וְאַלְמָנ֔וֹת | vealmanot | and widows | H490 → | 56 times |
| וְאַ֨נְשֵׁיהֶ֔ם | veansheihem | and men their | H582 → | 566 times |
| יִֽהְי֖וּ | yihyu | may they be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הֲרֻ֣גֵי | harugei | [the] slain of | H2026 → | 167 times |
| מָ֑וֶת | mavet | death | H4194 → | 156 times |
| בַּח֣וּרֵיהֶ֔ם | bachureihem | young men their | H970 → | 44 times |
| מֻכֵּי־ | mukei- | [those] struck down of | H5221 → | 499 times |
| חֶ֖רֶב | cherev | [the] sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| בַּמִּלְחָמָֽה׃ | bamilchamah | in <the> battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
לָכֵן֩<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
תֵּ֨ןgive
tenH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּנֵיהֶ֜םchildren their
beneihemH1121 →4930 times
לָרָעָ֗בto <the> famine
laraavH7458 →101 times
וְהַגִּרֵם֮and pour them
vehagiremH5064 →
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יְדֵי־[the] hands of
yedei-H3027 →1618 times
חֶרֶב֒[the] sword
cherevH2719 →413 times
וְתִֽהְיֶ֨נָהso they may become
vetihyenahH1961 →3559 times
נְשֵׁיהֶ֤םwives their
nesheihemH802 →781 times
שַׁכֻּלוֹת֙childless
shakulotH7909 →
וְאַלְמָנ֔וֹתand widows
vealmanotH490 →56 times
וְאַ֨נְשֵׁיהֶ֔םand men their
veansheihemH582 →566 times
יִֽהְי֖וּmay they be
yihyuH1961 →3559 times
הֲרֻ֣גֵי[the] slain of
harugeiH2026 →167 times
מָ֑וֶתdeath
mavetH4194 →156 times
בַּח֣וּרֵיהֶ֔םyoung men their
bachureihemH970 →44 times
מֻכֵּי־[those] struck down of
mukei-H5221 →499 times
חֶ֖רֶב[the] sword
cherevH2719 →413 times
בַּמִּלְחָמָֽה׃in <the> battle
bamilchamahH4421 →320 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
Amos 4:10“I sent plagues among you like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:60
He will afflict you again with all the diseases you dreaded in Egypt, and they will cling to you.
- Leviticus 26:25
And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into…
- 2 Kings 13:7
Jehoahaz had no army left, except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
- Joel 2:20
The northern army I will drive away from you, banishing it to a barren and desolate land, its front ranks into the Eastern Sea, and its rear guard into the Western Sea. And its…
- Deuteronomy 28:60
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…
- 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…
- Ezekiel 9:5–6
And as I listened, He said to the others, “Follow him through the city and start killing; do not show pity or spare anyone!
- Jeremiah 6:11
Through
Lamentations 5:3We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers are widows.
it leads to
- Exodus 22:24
My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless.
- Exodus 22:24
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; 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.
