Jeremiah 22:6
in Jeremiah 22For 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 desert, like cities that are uninhabited.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thus saith Jehovah concerning the house of the king of Judah: Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon; yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
KJV
For thus saith the Lord unto the king’s house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
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This verse in Jeremiah 22
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon - Perhaps in allusion, says Dahler, to the oaks of Gilead, and the cedars of Mount Lebanon, of which the palace was constructed. Lebanon was the highest mountain in Israel, and Gilead the richest and most fertile part of the country; and were, therefore, proper emblems of the reigning family. Though thou art the richest and most powerful, I, who raised thee up, can bring thee down and make thee a wilderness.
This site's exposition
For this is what the LORD
on Jeremiah 22:6-9
The LORD tells the royal house, “You are like Gilead to Me, like the summit of Lebanon,” and He will “turn you into a desert.” The answer names covenant breach: “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.”
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
He calls Jerusalem "Lebanon," and he calls the royal palace in Jerusalem "Gilead." And there is a region in Lebanon that is called by that name, and there is also another Gilead in Israelite territory. But I think that the palace is being compared with …
(V. 6,-8.) Because this is what the Lord says about the house (or to the house) of the king of Judah, Gilead, you are to me the head (or the beginning) of Lebanon. If I do not make you a desolation, cities uninhabitable. And I will consecrate (or build) upon you the one who kills men, and his weapons: and they will cut down your chosen cedars, and throw (or send) them into fire, and many nations will pass through this city, and each one will say to his neighbor: Why did the Lord do such to this great city?
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Gilead - Gilead was a country fertile for pastures; upon which account the Reubenites and Gadites, being men whose estate lay in cattle, begged it of Moses for their portion. Lebanon also was a very pleasant place: they were both in the lot of Gad and Manasseh.
But, (2.) This shall not protect them; the country that is now fruitful as Gilead shall be made a wilderness. The cities that are now strong as Lebanon shall be cities not inhabited; and, when the country is laid waste, the cities must be dispeopled. See how easily God's judgments can ruin a nation, and how certainly sin will do it.
For thus saith the Lord unto the king's house of Judah,.... That is, to the family of the king of Judah; though it may be rendered, "concerning the house of the king of Judah" (z); and so refer to his palace as before: thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon; or, though like to Gilead (which was a very fruitful country) for wealth, riches, and all kind of valuable things; and like to the top of Mount Lebanon (a), being set with tall cedars, for stateliness.
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 mention of Gilead may allude not only to its past beauty, but covertly also to its desolation by the judgment on Israel; a warning now to Judah and the house of David. "Lebanon" is appropriately mentioned, as the king's house was built of its noble cedars. cities--not other cities, but the different parts of the city of Jerusalem (2Sa 12:27;
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
Omit and. “Thou art a Gilead unto me, a summit of Lebanon.” Yet surely - literally, if not, the form of an oath with the imprecation omitted. For the full form see Num 14:23. A wilderness, and cities - Omit and. The meaning is: If the house of David does not hear God’s words, though it be now grand as Lebanon, God will make it a wilderness, even uninhabited cities; the house of David being regarded as equivalent to the kingdom of Judah.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כֹ֣ה׀ | khoh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בֵּית֙ | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יְהוּדָ֔ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| גִּלְעָ֥ד | gilad | [are] Gilead | H1568 → | 134 times |
| אַתָּ֛ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| לִ֖י | li | to <the> me | ||
| רֹ֣אשׁ | rosh | [the] top of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| הַלְּבָנ֑וֹן | halevanon | <the> Lebanon | H3844 → | 71 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֲשִֽׁיתְךָ֙ | ʾashitekha | I will make you | H7896 → | 83 times |
| מִדְבָּ֔ר | midbar | a wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| עָרִ֖ים | ʾarim | cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | [which] not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נוֹשָֽׁבוּ׃ | noshavah | they are inhabited | H3427 → | 1079 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כֹ֣ה׀thus
khohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בֵּית֙[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
יְהוּדָ֔הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
גִּלְעָ֥ד[are] Gilead
giladH1568 →134 times
אַתָּ֛הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
לִ֖יto <the> me
li
רֹ֣אשׁ[the] top of
roshH7218 →599 times
הַלְּבָנ֑וֹן<the> Lebanon
halevanonH3844 →71 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֲשִֽׁיתְךָ֙I will make you
ʾashitekhaH7896 →83 times
מִדְבָּ֔רa wilderness
midbarH4057 →270 times
עָרִ֖יםcities
ʾarimH5892 →1090 times
לֹ֥א[which] not
lo'H3808 →5168 times
נוֹשָֽׁבוּ׃they are inhabited
noshavahH3427 →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
Micah 3:12Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 26:18
“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 79:1
The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
- Micah 4:1–2
In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to…
- Jeremiah 26:18
Through
Psalms 107:34and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
it leads to
- Genesis 13:10
And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was…
- Genesis 14:3
The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
- Genesis 13:10
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 34:13
Her towers will be overgrown with thorns, her fortresses with thistles and briers. She will become a haunt for jackals, an abode for ostriches.
- Isaiah 13:22
Hyenas will howl in her fortresses and jackals in her luxurious palaces. Babylon’s time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.
- Isaiah 25:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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 Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 5:22.