Jeremiah 9:16
in Jeremiah 9I will scatter them among the nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them.
KJV
I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.
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This verse in Jeremiah 9
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA sword - But I will follow them with the sword, 'till they be destroyed, such of them as were appointed for destruction; for otherwise, they were not all consumed, a full end was not to be made.
This site's exposition
I will feed this people wormwood
on Jeremiah 9:15-16
The LORD will “feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink”, a judgment that reaches the body's most basic need. The words “I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off” show that scattering is only part of the sentence.
This site's exposition
I will scatter them among the nations
Wesley limits the sword to those appointed for destruction, and he notes that the people were never wholly finished off. Henry adds that scattering them among nations their fathers had never known hid no one from the LORD. The sword would find them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
I was then about sixteen years of age. I did not know the true God. I was taken as a captive to Ireland with many thousands of people, and deservedly so, because we had turned away from God and did not keep his commandments and …
(Verses 15, 16.) Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood (or distress), and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them among the nations, which neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until they are consumed.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
(1.) That all their comforts at home shall be poisoned and embittered to them: I will feed this people with wormwood (or rather with wolf's-bane, for it signifies a herb that is not wholesome, as wormwood is though it be bitter, but some herb that is both nauseous and noxious), and I will give them water of gall (or juice of hemlock or some other herb that is poisonous) to drink.
And yet, though they are scattered so as that they will not know where to find one another. God will know where to find them all out ( Ps. xxi. 8 ) with that evil which still pursues impenitent sinners: I will send a sword after them, some killing judgment or other, till I have consumed them; for when God judges he will overcome, when he pursues he will overtake.
I will scatter them also among the Heathen,....
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַהֲפִֽצוֹתִים֙ | vahafitzotim | and I will scatter them | H6327 → | 67 times |
| בַּגּוֹיִ֔ם | bagoyim | among the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| אֲשֶׁר֙ | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָֽדְע֔וּ | yadeu | they knew | H3045 → | 945 times |
| הֵ֖מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| וַֽאֲבוֹתָ֑ם | vaavotam | and ancestors their | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וְשִׁלַּחְתִּ֤י | veshilachti | and I will send forth | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אַֽחֲרֵיהֶם֙ | ʾachareihem | after them | H310 → | 715 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַחֶ֔רֶב | hacherev | the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| עַ֥ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| כַּלּוֹתִ֖י | kaloti | have made an end of I | H3615 → | 208 times |
| אוֹתָֽם׃ פ | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
וַהֲפִֽצוֹתִים֙and I will scatter them
vahafitzotimH6327 →67 times
בַּגּוֹיִ֔םamong the nations
bagoyimH1471 →561 times
אֲשֶׁר֙which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָֽדְע֔וּthey knew
yadeuH3045 →945 times
הֵ֖מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
וַֽאֲבוֹתָ֑םand ancestors their
vaavotamH1 →1212 times
וְשִׁלַּחְתִּ֤יand I will send forth
veshilachtiH7971 →845 times
אַֽחֲרֵיהֶם֙after them
ʾachareihemH310 →715 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַחֶ֔רֶבthe sword
hacherevH2719 →413 times
עַ֥דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
כַּלּוֹתִ֖יhave made an end of I
kalotiH3615 →208 times
אוֹתָֽם׃ פ<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 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
Deuteronomy 28:64Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you…
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:33
But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 4:27–28
Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
- Deuteronomy 28:36
The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.
- Jeremiah 16:13
So I will cast you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you…
- Leviticus 26:33
Through
Ezekiel 5:12A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 15:2
If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword;…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 5:2
When the days of the siege have ended, you are to burn up a third of the hair inside the city; you are also to take a third and slash it with the sword…
- Jeremiah 15:2
Through
Ezekiel 5:2When the days of the siege have ended, you are to burn up a third of the hair inside the city; you are also to take a third and slash it with the sword…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 5:12
A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every…
- Ezekiel 12:14
And I will scatter to every wind all the attendants around him and all his troops, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 5:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 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 Patrick of Ireland, CONFESSION 1:1.