Jeremiah 22:21
in Jeremiah 22I warned you when you were secure. You said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from youth, that you have not obeyed My voice.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.
KJV
I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.
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This verse in Jeremiah 22
Commentary
10 notes on this verseI spake unto thee in thy prosperity - In all states and circumstances I warned thee by my prophets; and thou wilt only be ashamed of thy conduct when thou shalt be stripped of all thy excellencies, and reduced to poverty and disgrace, Jer 22:22.
This site's exposition
Go up to Lebanon and cry
on Jeremiah 22:20-23
The city is told to “Go up to Lebanon and cry out,” “for all your lovers have been crushed,” the allies Judah trusted. The one “nestled in the cedars” answers the cedar palace of verse 14, and its comfort turns to “agony like a woman in labor.”
This site's exposition
I warned you when you were secure
The LORD spoke while Judah was at ease and felt safe. The refusal was a habit from the nation's youth, as the people confess at 3:25. Clarke notes that shame would come only when all that ease was stripped away, as verse 22 says.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 20 and following) Ascend Lebanon and cry out, and in Bashan give forth your voice, and cry out to the passersby, for all your lovers are crushed. I spoke to you in your abundance, you said: I will not listen. This is your way from your youth, for you have not listened to my voice. The wind will pasture all your shepherds (or lovers), and your lovers (or friends) will go into captivity. And then you will be confounded and ashamed of all your wickedness.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Jerusalem and Judah are here spoken to, or the Jewish state as a single person, and we have it here under a threefold character:-- 1. Very haughty in a day of peace and safety (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
): " I spoke unto thee in thy prosperity, spoke by my servants the prophets, reproofs, admonitions, counsels, but thou saidst, I will not hear, I will not heed, thou obeyedst not my voice, and wast resolved that thou wouldst not, and hadst the front to tell me so." It is common for those that live at ease to live in contempt of the word of God.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
I spake unto thee in thy prosperity,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The Hebrew is plural, to express, "In the height of thy prosperity"; so "droughts" (Isa 58:11). thou saidst--not in words, but in thy conduct, virtually. thy youth--from the time that I brought thee out of Egypt, and formed thee into a people (Jer 7:25;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Prosperity - literally, as in the margin. God spake thus not once only, but whenever Judah was at peace.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דִּבַּ֤רְתִּי | dibarti | I spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֵלַ֙יִךְ֙ | ʾelayikh | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּשַׁלְוֹתַ֔יִךְ | beshalvotayikh | in prosperity your | H7962 → | |
| אָמַ֖רְתְּ | ʾamart | you said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶשְׁמָ֑ע | ʾeshma' | I will listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| זֶ֤ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| דַרְכֵּךְ֙ | darkekh | [has been] way your | H1870 → | 707 times |
| מִנְּעוּרַ֔יִךְ | mineurayikh | since youth<s> your | H5271 → | 47 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁמַ֖עַתְּ | shamaat | you have listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| בְּקוֹלִֽי׃ | bekoli | to voice my | H6963 → | 506 times |
דִּבַּ֤רְתִּיI spoke
dibartiH1696 →1141 times
אֵלַ֙יִךְ֙to you
ʾelayikhH413 →5510 times
בְּשַׁלְוֹתַ֔יִךְin prosperity your
beshalvotayikhH7962 →
אָמַ֖רְתְּyou said
ʾamartH559 →5305 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֶשְׁמָ֑עI will listen
ʾeshma'H8085 →1159 times
זֶ֤הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
דַרְכֵּךְ֙[has been] way your
darkekhH1870 →707 times
מִנְּעוּרַ֔יִךְsince youth<s> your
mineurayikhH5271 →47 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁמַ֖עַתְּyou have listened
shamaatH8085 →1159 times
בְּקוֹלִֽי׃to voice my
bekoliH6963 →506 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
Proverbs 30:9Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.
it leads to
- Hosea 13:6
When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.
- Deuteronomy 31:20
When I have brought them into the land that I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. Then they will turn to…
- Ezekiel 16:49–50
Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.
- Deuteronomy 8:10–14
When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.
- Nehemiah 9:25–26
They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat…
- Hosea 13:6
Through
Isaiah 48:8You have never heard; you have never understood; for a long time your ears have not been open. For I knew how deceitful you are; you have been called a rebel from birth.
it leads to
- Psalms 58:3
The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.
- Hosea 5:7
They have been unfaithful to the LORD; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the New Moon will devour them along with their land.
- Psalms 58:3
Through
Jeremiah 3:25Let us lie down in our shame; let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our fathers; from our youth even to this day we have…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:26
As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets
- Jeremiah 2:26
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); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; 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.