Jeremiah 22:23
in Jeremiah 22O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs of anguish come upon you, agony like a woman in labor.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how greatly to be pitied shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
KJV
O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 22
Commentary
11 notes on this verseO inhabitant of Lebanon,.... Jerusalem is meant, and the inhabitants of it, so called, because they lived near Lebanon, or in that land in which Lebanon was; or rather because they dwelt in houses made of the wood of Lebanon; and which stood as thick as the trees in the forest of Lebanon; and where they thought themselves safe and secure, according to the next clause; not but that there were inhabitants of the mountain of Lebanon, called Druses; and there were towns and villages on it, inhabited by people, as there are to this day.
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
O inhabitant of Lebanon
The inhabitant of Lebanon is Jerusalem, living in houses built of cedar from Lebanon. Barnes and Gill link it to the kings who took pride in cedar palaces, as in verse 14. The safe nest turns to labor pains when the siege comes.
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
Note, Those that are proud of their worldly advantages would do well to consider how they will look when pangs come upon them, and how they will then have lost all their beauty. Here is a prophecy of the disgrace of the king; his name was Jeconiah, but he is here once and again called Coniah, in contempt.
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
Lebanon - Jerusalem is called an inhabitant of Lebanon, because their houses were built of wood cut down out of the forest of Lebanon. Cedars - Their houses were built of the Cedars of Lebanon. How gracious - What favour wilt thou find when my judgments come upon thee, as the pains of a woman in travail come upon her.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Lebanon is the usual metaphor for anything splendid. and is here put for Jerusalem, but with special reference to the kings whose pride it was to dwell in palaces roofed with cedar Jer 22:14. How gracious shalt thou be - Or, How wilt thou groan!
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
inhabitant of Lebanon--namely, Jerusalem, whose temple, palaces, and principal habitations were built of cedars of Lebanon. how gracious--irony. How graciously thou wilt be treated by the Chaldees, when they come on thee suddenly, as pangs on a woman in travail (Jer 6:24)!
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How gracious shalt thou be - A strong irony.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יֹשַׁבְתְּ֙ | yoshavti | O [you who] dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בַּלְּבָנ֔וֹן | balevanon | in <the> Lebanon | H3844 → | 71 times |
| מְקֻנַּ֖נְתְּ | mekunanti | [who is] nested | H7077 → | |
| בָּֽאֲרָזִ֑ים | baarazim | among the cedars | H730 → | 73 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | how! | H4100 → | 752 times |
| נֵּחַנְתְּ֙ | nechant | you will groan | H584 → | |
| בְּבֹא־ | bevo'- | when will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לָ֣ךְ | lakh | to <the> you | ||
| חֲבָלִ֔ים | chavalim | labor-pains | H2256 → | 62 times |
| חִ֖יל | chil | anguish | H2427 → | 7 times |
| כַּיֹּלֵדָֽה׃ | kaiyoledah | like <the> [woman] giving birth | H3205 → | 496 times |
יֹשַׁבְתְּ֙O [you who] dwell
yoshavtiH3427 →1079 times
בַּלְּבָנ֔וֹןin <the> Lebanon
balevanonH3844 →71 times
מְקֻנַּ֖נְתְּ[who is] nested
mekunantiH7077 →
בָּֽאֲרָזִ֑יםamong the cedars
baarazimH730 →73 times
מַה־how!
mah-H4100 →752 times
נֵּחַנְתְּ֙you will groan
nechantH584 →
בְּבֹא־when will come
bevo'-H935 →2568 times
לָ֣ךְto <the> you
lakh
חֲבָלִ֔יםlabor-pains
chavalimH2256 →62 times
חִ֖ילanguish
chilH2427 →7 times
כַּיֹּלֵדָֽה׃like <the> [woman] giving birth
kaiyoledahH3205 →496 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
Jeremiah 21:13Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
it leads to
- Lamentations 4:12
The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any people of the world, that an enemy or a foe could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel 13:8
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD.
- Obadiah 1:3–4
The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
- Lamentations 4:12
Through
Jeremiah 22:6For this is what the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are like Gilead to Me, like the summit of Lebanon; but I will surely turn you into a…
it leads to
- 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,
- Psalms 107:34
and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
- Isaiah 27:10
For the fortified city lies deserted—a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.
- Isaiah 6:11
Through
Amos 9:2Though they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will pull them down.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:53
Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, the destroyers I send will come against her,” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 139:7–10
Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?
- Jeremiah 51:53
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
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); 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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.