Jeremiah 28:14
in Jeremiah 28For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have even given him control of the beasts of the field.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also.
KJV
For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also.
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This verse in Jeremiah 28
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
I have put--Though Hananiah and those like him were secondary instruments in bringing the iron yoke on Judea, God was the great First Cause (Jer 27:4-7).
This site's exposition
But shortly after Hananiah the prophet
on Jeremiah 28:12-14
The LORD's reply comes after Hananiah has broken the yoke. “You have broken a yoke of wood, but in its place you have fashioned a yoke of iron.” The bondage grows harder, and Nebuchadnezzar is given even “control of the beasts of the field,” the submission of chapter 27 restated.
This site's exposition
put a yoke of iron on the neck
The LORD claims the iron yoke as His own work. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that Hananiah and those like him helped bring it on, yet God was the first cause. The words repeat the grant of 27:6, down to the beasts of the field.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
About four hundred years have passed since the preaching of Christ burst on the world, and during that time in which his robe has been torn by countless heresies, almost the whole body of error has been derived from the Chaldaean, Syriac and Greek languages. Basilides, the master of licentiousness and the grossest sensuality, after the lapse of so many years and like a second Euphorbus, was changed by transmigration into Jovinian, so that the Latin tongue might have a heresy of its own. Was there no other province in the whole world to receive the gospel of pleasure and into which the serpent might insinuate itself, except that which was founded by the teaching of Peter, on the rock Christ? Idol temples had fallen before the standard of the cross and the severity of the gospel. Now, on the contrary, lust and gluttony endeavor to overthrow the solid structure of the cross. And so God says by Isaiah, "O my people, they which bless you cause you to err, and trouble the paths of your feet." Also by Jeremiah, "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every one his life," and do not believe the false prophets who say, "Peace, peace, and there is no peace," who are always repeating, "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord." "Your prophets have foreseen false and foolish things for you. They have not exposed your iniquity in order to call you to repentance. They devour God's people like bread. They have not called on God. Jeremiah announced the captivity and was stoned by the people. Hananiah, the son of Azzur, broke the bars of wood for the present but was preparing bars of iron for the future. False prophets always promise pleasant things and please for a time. Truth is bitter, and those preaching it are filled with bitterness. For with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth the Lord's Passover is kept, and it is eaten with bitter herbs.
(Ver. 2 and following) And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after Ananias the prophet broke the chain (or yoke) from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying: Go and tell Ananias, this is what the Lord says: You have broken the wooden chains (or yokes), and I will make iron yokes in their place. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations, so they will serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. And what follows: 'And they shall serve him, and the beasts of the earth I have given to him. But in the present place, according to the Septuagint, Ananias the prophet is not written, and in the following, lest they should seem to call a false prophet a prophet. But what about the Hebrew truth? After Jeremiah the prophet went on his way and swallowed up the injury in silence, the word of the Lord came to him, so that he would not speak in his own words to the false prophet boasting in lies; but he should say: thus says the Lord: even though Ananias, breaking the wooden yoke, spoke with the same authority in the presence of the Lord: thus says the Lord.' For falsehood always imitates the truth. And that which it has brought in: You have shattered wooden forks, and instead of them have made iron chains, shows this, that, rejecting the lesser punishment, it was for the sake of a greater penalty among the people. The allegorical interpreter also raves in this passage, calling the wooden forks and chains, ethereal and airy bodies, namely, of demons and adverse powers. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
the beasts of the field have I given to him He rode on a lion and tied a serpent on its head.
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. 6 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
27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כֹֽה־ | khoh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֩ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֨ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֜וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֣י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| עֹ֣ל | ʾol | a yoke of | H5923 → | 40 times |
| בַּרְזֶ֡ל | barzel | iron | H1270 → | 76 times |
| נָתַ֜תִּי | natati | I have put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| צַוַּ֣אר׀ | tzavar | [the] neck of | H6677 → | 42 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַגּוֹיִ֣ם | hagoyim | the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| הָאֵ֗לֶּה | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| לַעֲבֹ֛ד | laavod | to serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נְבֻכַדְנֶאצַּ֥ר | nevukhadnetzar | Nebuchadnezzar | H5019 → | 60 times |
| מֶֽלֶךְ־ | melekh- | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| בָּבֶ֖ל | bavel | Babylon | H894 → | 262 times |
| וַעֲבָדֻ֑הוּ | vaavaduhu | and they will serve him | H5647 → | 288 times |
| וְגַ֛ם | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| חַיַּ֥ת | chaiyat | [the] animal[s] of | H2416 → | 498 times |
| הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה | hasadeh | the field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| נָתַ֥תִּי | natati | I have given | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לֽוֹ׃ | lo | to <the> him |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כֹֽה־thus
khoh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַר֩he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֨הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֜וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
עֹ֣לa yoke of
ʾolH5923 →40 times
בַּרְזֶ֡לiron
barzelH1270 →76 times
נָתַ֜תִּיI have put
natatiH5414 →2011 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
צַוַּ֣אר׀[the] neck of
tzavarH6677 →42 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַגּוֹיִ֣םthe nations
hagoyimH1471 →561 times
הָאֵ֗לֶּה<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
לַעֲבֹ֛דto serve
laavodH5647 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
נְבֻכַדְנֶאצַּ֥רNebuchadnezzar
nevukhadnetzarH5019 →60 times
מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of
melekh-H4428 →2525 times
בָּבֶ֖לBabylon
bavelH894 →262 times
וַעֲבָדֻ֑הוּand they will serve him
vaavaduhuH5647 →288 times
וְגַ֛םand also
vegamH1571 →769 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
חַיַּ֥ת[the] animal[s] of
chaiyatH2416 →498 times
הַשָּׂדֶ֖הthe field
hasadehH7704 →334 times
נָתַ֥תִּיI have given
natatiH5414 →2011 times
לֽוֹ׃to <the> him
lo
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
Deuteronomy 4:20Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 8:51
For they are Your people and Your inheritance; You brought them out of Egypt, out of the furnace for iron.
- Jeremiah 11:4
which I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey Me, and do everything I command you, and you will be My…
- Deuteronomy 32:9
But the LORD’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.
- Exodus 19:5–6
Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Deuteronomy 9:29
But they are Your people, Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your great power and outstretched arm.”
- 1 Kings 8:51
Through
Jeremiah 40:4But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains that were on your wrists. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 39:11–12
Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, saying,
- Genesis 20:15
And Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you. Settle wherever you please.”
- Jeremiah 39:11–12
Through
Deuteronomy 28:48you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 28:13–14
“Go and tell Hananiah that this is what the LORD says: ‘You have broken a yoke of wood, but in its place you have fashioned a yoke of iron.’
- Jeremiah 28:13–14
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 Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Against Jovinianus 2.37; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).
