Jeremiah 27:2
in Jeremiah 27This is what the LORD said to me: “Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith Jehovah to me: Make thee bonds and bars, and put them upon thy neck;
KJV
Thus saith the Lord to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 27
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 2.) This is what the Lord says to me: Make for yourself chains and shackles. Or κλοιοὺς, which are called Mutoth () in Hebrew, and in the common language they are called Boias.
This site's exposition
This is what the LORD said
on Jeremiah 27:2-4
Jeremiah is told, “Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck.” The message goes through “the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah,” so five kings hear one word. The sign joins those of chapters 13 and 19.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
We find him with one on, ch. xxviii. Hereby he intimated that he advised them to nothing but what he was resolved to do himself; for he was not one of those that bind heavy burdens on others, which they themselves will not touch with one of their fingers.
Thus saith - God commands the prophet to procure some yokes with bonds to make them more fast; and to put one of them upon his own neck, that therein he might be a type both to his own people, and also the people afterward mentioned, that they should be in bondage to the king of Babylon.
Thus saith the Lord to me, make thee bonds and yokes,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
bonds--by which the yoke is made fast to the neck (Jer 5:5). yokes--literally, the carved piece of wood attached at both ends to the two yokes on the necks of a pair of oxen, so as to connect them. The plural is used, as he was to wear one himself, and give the others to the ambassadors;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Make thee bonds and yokes - Probably yokes with straps, by which they were attached to the neck. This was a symbolical action, to show that the several kings mentioned below should be brought under the dominion of the Chaldeans.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Yokes - Two curved pieces of wood, the one put over the neck of the ox, the other under, and then fastened together by bonds or cords (compare Psa 2:3). Compare the marginal references.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
thongs They are the thongs of the yoke that are called kongoijli (cojongles).
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim Three years prior to Nebuchadnezzar’s ascent to the throne, he prophesied about him that he would reign.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּֽה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֤ר | ʾamar | he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֵלַ֔י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עֲשֵׂ֣ה | ʾaseh | make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לְךָ֔ | lekha | for <the> yourself | ||
| מוֹסֵר֖וֹת | moserot | fetters | H4147 → | 11 times |
| וּמֹט֑וֹת | umotot | and yoke-bars | H4133 → | 12 times |
| וּנְתַתָּ֖ם | unetatam | and you will put them | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| צַוָּארֶֽךָ׃ | tzavarekha | neck your | H6677 → | 42 times |
כֹּֽה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַ֤רhe said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֵלַ֔יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
עֲשֵׂ֣הmake
ʾasehH6213 →2628 times
לְךָ֔for <the> yourself
lekha
מוֹסֵר֖וֹתfetters
moserotH4147 →11 times
וּמֹט֑וֹתand yoke-bars
umototH4133 →12 times
וּנְתַתָּ֖םand you will put them
unetatamH5414 →2011 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
צַוָּארֶֽךָ׃neck your
tzavarekhaH6677 →42 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
Amos 7:1This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up.
it leads to
- Joel 1:4
What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
- Amos 8:1
This is what the Lord GOD showed me: I saw a basket of summer fruit.
- Isaiah 33:4
Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts; like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.
- Joel 2:25
I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.
- Amos 4:9
“I struck you with blight and mildew in your growing gardens and vineyards; the locust devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
- Joel 1:4
Through
Jeremiah 27:12And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!
it leads to
- Jeremiah 28:1
In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, near the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to…
- Jeremiah 38:17
Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live,…
- Jeremiah 28:1
Through
Amos 7:4This is what the Lord GOD showed me: The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.
it leads to
- Isaiah 66:15–16
For behold, the LORD will come with fire—His chariots are like a whirlwind—to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.
- Isaiah 66:15–16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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); 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.