Jeremiah 22:13
in Jeremiah 22“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by injustice; that useth his neighbor’s service without wages, and giveth him not his hire;
KJV
Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
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This verse in Jeremiah 22
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 12 and following) Woe to him who builds his house with injustice, and his upper rooms without justice. He oppresses his neighbor in vain, and does not pay him his wages. He says, 'I will build for myself a spacious house with large upper rooms.' He opens windows for himself, and makes it with cedar and paints it with vermilion. Are you going to reign because you have luxury? Didn't your father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice when he was prospering?
This site's exposition
Woe to him who builds his
on Jeremiah 22:13-17
The woe falls on the one “who builds his palace by unrighteousness”. The LORD asks Jehoiakim, “Does it make you a king to excel in cedar?” and sets beside him his father, who “administered justice and righteousness, and so it went well with him.”
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
But such a house as this sensual persons, they who dwell in cieled houses and delight in chased silver, do not build. For as they despise pure silver, so also they despise simple dwellings. They enlarge the site of their houses, they add more and more, joining house to house and farm to farm, they dig up the ground; so that the very earth itself gives way to their habitations, and like sons of the earth they are laid up within her womb, and hidden in her bowels.
The apostle indicated the one who builds a house with righteousness when he said, "You are a field of God, a building of God." But he also says that no one can lay another foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if anyone builds, and so on. Therefore, through the one who taught him, the believer has Christ Jesus as a foundation. And if any person builds well, it is with gold, the teachings of truth; silver, the saving word; precious stones, a structure built from virtues. And if anyone builds in an evil way by building what is bad for Jesus—I mean wood, hay and stubble—how is he not impious? It is for him that the threat comes: Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness! The one who makes a structure up high, yet not according to reason and truth of God, does not make the upper chambers in judgment. And similarly one can also view those who teach either a true or a falsely called knowledge. Paul builds the house, the church, with righteousness, he builds the upper chambers; Timothy and Luke and those such as them, in judgment.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Woe unto him that buildeth his house by righteousness, and his chambers by wrong,....
Another message sent them in the reign of Jehoiachin (alias, Jeconiah) the son of Jehoiakim. He is charged with an obstinate refusal to hear, and is threatened with destruction, and it is foretold that in him Solomon's house should fail,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Far worse is the second example. Shallum was no heartless tyrant like Jehoiakim, who lived in splendor amid the misery of the nation, and perished so little cared for that his body was cast aside without burial. His chambers - Really, his upper chambers. From the absence of machinery the raising of materials for the upper stories was a difficult task, especially when massive stones were used. His work - Giveth him not his wages.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Wo unto him that buildeth his house - These evils, charged against Jehoiakim, are nowhere else circumstantially related. We learn from 2Ki 23:35-37, that he taxed his subjects heavily, to give to Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt: “He exacted the silver and gold of the people of the land, and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.” The mode of taxation is here intimated; he took the wages of the hirelings, and caused the people to work without wages in his own buildings, etc.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Woe to him who builds his house He is saying this about Jehoiakim, who was a wicked man, and the end of the section proves this: “Therefore, so said the Lord about Jehoiakim.”
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ה֣וֹי | ho | woe to! | H1945 → | 51 times |
| בֹּנֶ֤ה | boneh | [one who] builds | H1129 → | 376 times |
| בֵיתוֹ֙ | veito | house his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| בְּֽלֹא־ | belo'- | with not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| צֶ֔דֶק | tzedek | righteousness | H6664 → | 119 times |
| וַעֲלִיּוֹתָ֖יו | vaaliyotav | and upper rooms his | H5944 → | |
| בְּלֹ֣א | belo' | with not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מִשְׁפָּ֑ט | mishpat | justice | H4941 → | 422 times |
| בְּרֵעֵ֙הוּ֙ | bereehu | by fellow-citizen his | H7453 → | 188 times |
| יַעֲבֹ֣ד | yaavod | he works | H5647 → | 288 times |
| חִנָּ֔ם | chinam | without paying | H2600 → | |
| וּפֹעֲל֖וֹ | ufoalo | and wage[s] his | H6467 → | 37 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִתֶּן־ | yiten- | he gives | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לֽוֹ׃ | lo | to <the> him |
ה֣וֹיwoe to!
hoH1945 →51 times
בֹּנֶ֤ה[one who] builds
bonehH1129 →376 times
בֵיתוֹ֙house his
veitoH1004 →2046 times
בְּֽלֹא־with not
belo'-H3808 →5168 times
צֶ֔דֶקrighteousness
tzedekH6664 →119 times
וַעֲלִיּוֹתָ֖יוand upper rooms his
vaaliyotavH5944 →
בְּלֹ֣אwith not
belo'H3808 →5168 times
מִשְׁפָּ֑טjustice
mishpatH4941 →422 times
בְּרֵעֵ֙הוּ֙by fellow-citizen his
bereehuH7453 →188 times
יַעֲבֹ֣דhe works
yaavodH5647 →288 times
חִנָּ֔םwithout paying
chinamH2600 →
וּפֹעֲל֖וֹand wage[s] his
ufoaloH6467 →37 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִתֶּן־he gives
yiten-H5414 →2011 times
לֽוֹ׃to <the> him
lo
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
Malachi 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud…
it leads to
- James 5:8–9
You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
- Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Deuteronomy 5:11
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.
- Deuteronomy 27:19
‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- James 5:8–9
Through
James 5:4Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 24:14–15
Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 19:13
You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.
- Deuteronomy 24:14–15
Through
Leviticus 19:13You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.
it leads to
- James 5:4
Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Malachi 3:5
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- James 5:4
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); Ambrose of Milan, Letter 30.4; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS ON JEREMIAH 12.