Jeremiah 2:15
in Jeremiah 2The young lions have roared at him; they have growled with a loud voice. They have laid waste his land; his cities lie in ruins, without inhabitant.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The young lions have roared upon him, and yelled; and they have made his land waste: his cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
KJV
The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
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This verse in Jeremiah 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(v. 15) So why did he become prey? The lions roared against him and gave forth their voice. They made his land a desolation; his cities are burned and no one lives in them. The divine speech asks a question in order to answer it. But indeed, the lions can be understood as the princes of Babylon, who made their land a desolation and destroyed their cities with fire.
This site's exposition
Is Israel a slave
on Jeremiah 2:14-19
The LORD asks of Israel, “Was he born into slavery”, since a free heir should not be plundered like property. The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved his head. The sharpest question follows, “what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile”.
This site's exposition
The young lions have roared at him
The young lions are read as the Assyrian armies that had wasted the land, and some take them as the princes of Babylon to come. After the fall of Samaria, lions killed the settlers in the emptied land at 2 Kings 17:25. The figure had a precedent.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The young lions roared upon him, and yelled,....
They carry off the fruits of his land, and make that waste, and burn his cities, when first they have plundered them, so that they remain without inhabitant, either because there are no houses to dwell in or because those that should dwell in them are carried into captivity.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Upon him - Rather, against him. Israel has run away from his master’s house, but only to find himself exposed to the beasts of prey in the wilderness. They made his land waste - The prophet points to the actual results of Israel’s until the multiplication of wild beasts rendered human life unsafe 2Ki 17:25, but the Assyrian invasions had reduced Judaea to almost as sad a state. Burned - Others render, “leveled to the ground.”
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
lions--the Babylonian princes (Jer 4:7; compare Am 3:4). The disaster from the Babylonians in the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign, and again three years later when, relying on Egypt, he revolted from Nebuchadnezzar, is here referred to (Jer 46:2;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
The young lions roared upon him - The Assyrians, who have sacked and destroyed the kingdom of Israel, with a fierceness like that of pouncing upon their prey.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עָלָיו֙ | ʾalav | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יִשְׁאֲג֣וּ | yishagu | they have been roaring | H7580 → | 20 times |
| כְפִרִ֔ים | khefirim | young lions | H3715 → | 32 times |
| נָתְנ֖וּ | natenu | they have given | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| קוֹלָ֑ם | kolam | voice their | H6963 → | 506 times |
| וַיָּשִׁ֤יתוּ | vaiyashitu | and they have made | H7896 → | 83 times |
| אַרְצוֹ֙ | ʾartzo | land its | H776 → | 2504 times |
| לְשַׁמָּ֔ה | leshamah | into a waste | H8047 → | 39 times |
| עָרָ֥יו | ʾarav | cities its | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| נִצְּת֖וּ | nitzetah | they are burnt | H3341 → | 29 times |
| מִבְּלִ֥י | mibeli | because not | H1097 → | 58 times |
| יֹשֵֽׁב׃ | yoshev | inhabitant | H3427 → | 1079 times |
עָלָיו֙on it
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
יִשְׁאֲג֣וּthey have been roaring
yishaguH7580 →20 times
כְפִרִ֔יםyoung lions
khefirimH3715 →32 times
נָתְנ֖וּthey have given
natenuH5414 →2011 times
קוֹלָ֑םvoice their
kolamH6963 →506 times
וַיָּשִׁ֤יתוּand they have made
vaiyashituH7896 →83 times
אַרְצוֹ֙land its
ʾartzoH776 →2504 times
לְשַׁמָּ֔הinto a waste
leshamahH8047 →39 times
עָרָ֥יוcities its
ʾaravH5892 →1090 times
נִצְּת֖וּthey are burnt
nitzetahH3341 →29 times
מִבְּלִ֥יbecause not
mibeliH1097 →58 times
יֹשֵֽׁב׃inhabitant
yoshevH3427 →1079 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
Isaiah 1:7Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you—a desolation demolished by strangers.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:33
A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
- Deuteronomy 28:43
The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.
- Lamentations 5:2
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.
- Deuteronomy 28:33
Through
Jeremiah 4:7A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 26:7–10
For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with cavalry and a great company…
- Isaiah 6:11
Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
- Jeremiah 5:6
Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be…
- Isaiah 1:7
Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you—a desolation demolished by strangers.
- Ezekiel 26:7–10
Through
Jeremiah 9:11“And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 25:2
Indeed, You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin. The fortress of strangers is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
- Isaiah 25:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.