Jeremiah 22:16
in Jeremiah 22He took up the cause of the poor and needy, and so it went well with him. Is this not what it means to know Me?” declares the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Was not this to know me? saith Jehovah.
KJV
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord.
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This verse in Jeremiah 22
Commentary
7 notes on this verseFirst, God accepted him: " Was not this to know me, saith the Lord? Did he not hereby make it to appear that he rightly knew his God, and worshipped him, and consequently was known and owned of him?" Note, The right knowledge of God consists in doing our duty, particularly that which is the duty of our place and station in the world.
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.”
This site's exposition
He took up the cause
Josiah defended the poor and needy, and the LORD calls this knowing Him. Henry reads knowing God here as doing the duty of one's place. For a king, that meant justice for the weak.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He judged the cause of the poor and needy,....
They told us that they had found the promises which godliness has of the life that now is made good to them, and that religion and piety are friendly to outward prosperity. So that we are inexcusable if we turn aside from that good way. Here we have Jehoiakim's doom faithfully read,
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
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
was not this to know me--namely, to show by deeds that one knows God's will, as was the case with Josiah (compare Joh 13:17; contrast Tit 1:16).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Shall you reign Will you live long that you contend to make your rule oppressive to let all know that you are a king?
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דָּ֛ן | dan | he defended | H1777 → | 24 times |
| דִּין־ | din- | [the] cause of | H1779 → | 20 times |
| עָנִ֥י | ʾani | [the] poor | H6041 → | |
| וְאֶבְי֖וֹן | veevyon | and [the] needy | H34 → | 61 times |
| אָ֣ז | ʾaz | then | H227 → | 141 times |
| ט֑וֹב | tov | was well | H2895 → | 45 times |
| הֲלוֹא־ | halo'- | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הִ֛יא | hi' | [is] that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| הַדַּ֥עַת | hadaat | the knowledge | H1847 → | 92 times |
| אֹתִ֖י | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
דָּ֛ןhe defended
danH1777 →24 times
דִּין־[the] cause of
din-H1779 →20 times
עָנִ֥י[the] poor
ʾaniH6041 →
וְאֶבְי֖וֹןand [the] needy
veevyonH34 →61 times
אָ֣זthen
ʾazH227 →141 times
ט֑וֹבwas well
tovH2895 →45 times
הֲלוֹא־¿ not
halo'-H3808 →5168 times
הִ֛יא[is] that
hi'H1931 →1879 times
הַדַּ֥עַתthe knowledge
hadaatH1847 →92 times
אֹתִ֖י<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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 1:17Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
it leads to
- Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 22:3
This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.…
- Psalms 82:3–4
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.
- Micah 6:8
Through
Titus 1:16They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
it leads to
- 1 John 2:4
If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
- Isaiah 29:13
Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught…
- 1 John 2:4
Through
Jeremiah 9:24But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,”…
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 10:17
Rather, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
- Galatians 6:14
But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
- 1 Corinthians 1:31
Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
- 2 Corinthians 10:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.