A Lament of Shame and Imminent Disaster
Jeremiah 13:15-27
Jer.13.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שמעו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- והאזינו: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl
- אל: NEG
- תגבהו: VERB,qal,impf,2,pl
- כי: CONJ
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 32:1 (verbal): Both open with an address to ‘hear’/‘give ear’—a prophetic summons to listen to divine speech (a structural/ verbal parallel to Jeremiah’s ‘hear and listen’).
- Amos 3:1 (quotation): Amos begins with ‘Hear this word that the LORD has spoken’—a prophetic formula very close to Jeremiah’s warning ‘for the LORD has spoken,’ framing a divine pronouncement against the people.
- Proverbs 16:18 (thematic): ‘Pride goes before destruction’ thematically parallels Jeremiah’s injunction ‘do not be proud,’ linking pride with coming judgment.
- Isaiah 2:11 (thematic): Isaiah depicts the humbling of the lofty and proud—a thematic parallel to Jeremiah’s warning against pride and its divine consequences.
- James 4:6 (thematic): ‘God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble’ echoes Jeremiah’s prohibition against pride and reflects the same theological concern (divine opposition to pride).
Alternative generated candidates
- Hear and give ear; do not be haughty, for the LORD has spoken.
- Hear and give ear; do not exalt yourselves, for the LORD has spoken.
Jer.13.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- תנו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- ליהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- אלהיכם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,pl
- כבוד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בטרם: PREP
- יחשך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ובטרם: CONJ
- יתנגפו: VERB,hitpael,impf,3,m,pl
- רגליכם: NOUN,f,pl,suff
- על: PREP
- הרי: NOUN,m,pl,def
- נשף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וקויתם: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- לאור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושמה: CONJ+ADV,loc
- לצלמות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ושית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לערפל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Joel 2:2 (verbal): Uses nearly identical imagery — “a day of darkness and gloom… like blackness spread upon the mountains” — echoing Jeremiah’s warning about impending darkness on the hills and loss of light.
- Amos 5:18-20 (thematic): Warns against desiring the day of the LORD because that day will be darkness, not light; parallels Jeremiah’s call to honor God before judgment brings darkness instead of expected light.
- Proverbs 4:19 (thematic): Contrasts the way of the righteous (light) with the way of the wicked (deep darkness, stumbling), reflecting Jeremiah’s image of feet stumbling and the hoped-for light turning into gloom.
- Zephaniah 1:14-16 (allusion): Announces the nearness of the day of the LORD described as a day of wrath, darkness and gloom — similar eschatological/illuminative language to Jeremiah’s exhortation to glorify God before darkness falls.
Alternative generated candidates
- Give glory to the LORD your God, before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the hills of dusk; while you hope for light, he will make it into gloom and turn brightness into deep darkness.
- Give to the LORD your God the honor—before it grows dark, before your feet stumble on the hills of twilight. For you hoped for light and it became darkness; you turned brightness into gloom.
Jer.13.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואם: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- תשמעוה: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- במסתרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תבכה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- נפשי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- מפני: PREP
- גוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ודמע: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תדמע: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- ותרד: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- עיני: NOUN,f,pl,cons+1s
- דמעה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- נשבה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- עדר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Jeremiah 9:1 (verbal): Both verses express the prophet's intense desire to weep—Jeremiah wishes his head were waters and eyes a fountain of tears, echoing the image of tears flowing in Jer 13:17.
- Lamentations 3:48 (verbal): Uses the same bodily imagery of eyes running down with tears/rivers of water in response to the city's suffering, paralleling the mournful language of Jer 13:17.
- Psalm 119:136 (verbal): The psalmist speaks of 'rivers of water' running from his eyes because the law is not kept, echoing the motif of abundant tears over communal unfaithfulness found in Jer 13:17.
- Ezekiel 34:11-16 (thematic): God as shepherd who seeks and gathers the scattered flock and condemns unfaithful shepherds—parallels the concern in Jer 13:17 over 'the flock of the LORD' being taken captive.
- Ezekiel 33:7-9 (thematic): Outlines the prophet's watchman role and the consequences when people fail to heed warnings; thematically related to Jeremiah's grief when the people will not listen and the resulting disaster.
Alternative generated candidates
- But if you will not listen, my soul will mourn in secret because of your pride; my eyes will flow with tears and pour out, for the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
- And if you will not hear, then in secret I will weep—my soul will mourn because of your pride; my tears will flow, my eyes will pour out water, for the flock of the LORD has been taken captive.
Jer.13.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- למלך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולגבירה: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- השפילו: VERB,hiphil,imp,2,m,pl
- שבו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- כי: CONJ
- ירד: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- מראשותיכם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,pl
- עטרת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- תפארתכם: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Ezekiel 21:26-27 (verbal): Commands removal of the turban and crown and declares overturning of honors—language and judgment closely parallel 'your crown has come down from your heads.'
- Lamentations 5:16 (verbal): Uses the exact image 'the crown has fallen from our head' to express national humiliation and divine punishment, echoing Jeremiah's address to king and queen mother.
- Isaiah 3:16-26 (thematic): God strips the proud daughters of Zion of ornaments and crowns—similar theme of humiliation and removal of visible signs of rank and glory.
- Psalm 89:39 (verbal): Speaks of God renouncing his servant and defiling his crown—paralleling the motif of a crown removed as judgment on a king/leadership.
Alternative generated candidates
- Say to the king and to the queen: Humble yourselves, sit down; for the crown of your glory has fallen from your heads.
- Say to the king and to the queen mother: Humble yourselves, sit down; for the crown of your glory has fallen from your heads.
Jer.13.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ערי: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- הנגב: NOUN,m,sg,def
- סגרו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ואין: CONJ+PART,exist
- פתח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הגלת: NOUN,f,sg,def
- יהודה: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- כלה: ADV
- הגלת: NOUN,f,sg,def
- שלומים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Jeremiah 1:14 (thematic): Both speak of judgment coming from the north as the instrument of disaster against the land (a motif framing the coming exile referenced in 13:19).
- Jeremiah 25:11-12 (thematic): Both verses treat the deportation of Judah as a divinely-ordained judgment; 25:11–12 states the duration and purpose of the exile that Jeremiah repeatedly announces.
- 2 Kings 25:8-11 (structural): Narrative fulfillment of Jeremiah’s warnings: these verses describe the siege and capture of Jerusalem and the deportation of people—what Jeremiah 13:19 prophesies.
- Lamentations 1:3 (thematic): A poetic lament over Judah/Jerusalem’s captivity and desolation; thematically parallels Jeremiah’s depiction of closed cities and the consequences of exile.
Alternative generated candidates
- The towns of the Negev are shut up; none can open them. Judah’s exile is complete; the whole exile is finished.
- The cities of the south are shut up; there is no one to open them. Judah is carried away into exile—her captivity is complete.
Jer.13.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שאו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- עיניכם: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- וראו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- הבאים: PART,qal,ptcp,masc,pl,def
- מצפון: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- איה: ADV,interr
- העדר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- נתן: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- צאן: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תפארתך: NOUN,f,sg,abs+2fs
Parallels
- Jeremiah 4:6 (verbal): Uses the same imperative gesture 'lift up your eyes' toward the north to announce an approaching disaster—parallel in form and imagery to Jer 13:20's summons to look to the north.
- Jeremiah 1:14-15 (thematic): Early pronouncement in Jeremiah that nations will come 'from the north' as an instrument of God’s judgment—same north-coming motif that Jer 13:20 invokes against Judah.
- Ezekiel 34:11-12 (thematic): God speaks of seeking and gathering his scattered sheep—parallels Jer 13:20's rhetorical question about the lost flock and the theme of a people/pasture plundered or taken away.
- Zechariah 11:4-7 (thematic): Prophetic passage using shepherd/flock imagery to portray failed shepherding and loss of the flock—resonates with Jer 13:20's lament 'where is the flock... your beautiful flock?'
Alternative generated candidates
- Lift up your eyes and see who comes from the north—where is the flock that was given you, the flock of your glory?
- Lift up your eyes and see who comes from the north: where is the flock that was given you, the glory of your flock?
Jer.13.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מה: PRON,int
- תאמרי: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
- כי: CONJ
- יפקד: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עליך: PREP+2ms
- ואת: CONJ
- למדת: VERB,qal,perf,2,f,sg
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- עליך: PREP+2ms
- אלפים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לראש: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הלוא: PART
- חבלים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יאחזוך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg+OBJ,2,f,sg
- כמו: PREP
- אשת: NOUN,f,sg,cns
- לדה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Jeremiah 4:31 (verbal): Same childbirth imagery—'a cry as of a woman in labor' (Heb. עתה קול ילודה) used to describe Zion's anguish, echoing Jeremiah 13:21's 'like a woman in childbirth.'
- Isaiah 13:8 (verbal): Uses the identical simile ('they will writhe like a woman in labor') to portray the terror and agony of a people facing divine judgment, paralleling Jeremiah's labor imagery.
- Isaiah 47:2-3 (thematic): Describes humiliation, capture and being bound with fetters (chains/ropes) and led away—themewise parallel to Jeremiah's 'bands/ropes will seize you' and the reversal from position of power to bondage.
- Isaiah 3:12 (thematic): Accuses the people of promoting unfit rulers ('children are their oppressors; women rule over them')—parallels Jeremiah's charge that the people have 'set thousands and made them heads' (i.e., installed leaders who bring judgment).
Alternative generated candidates
- What will you say when he visits you? You have trained them to rule over you—thousands as your commanders; will they not seize you with cords, like a woman in travail?
- What will you say when he visits you? For you have trained them against you—thousands shall press upon you; they will seize you, none shall escape; they will bind you with cords like a woman in travail.
Jer.13.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וכי: CONJ
- תאמרי: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
- בלבבך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- מדוע: ADV
- קראני: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg+OBJ,1,sg
- אלה: DEM,pl,abs
- ברב: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עונך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2ms
- נגלו: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,pl
- שוליך: NOUN,m,pl,abs,2,m
- נחמסו: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,pl
- עקביך: NOUN,m,pl,abs,2,m
Parallels
- Isaiah 47:3 (verbal): Both speak of exposed nakedness as the result of guilt—'thy nakedness shall be uncovered' parallels Jeremiah's 'thy skirts are uncovered' (נגלו שוליך) as a humiliating punishment for sin.
- Ezekiel 16:37 (thematic): Ezekiel portrays Jerusalem stripped and shamed for her adultery; the motif of exposure and public humiliation for covenant unfaithfulness echoes Jeremiah's image of uncovered skirts and injured heels.
- Hosea 2:10–13 (thematic): Hosea depicts punishment that includes humiliation, stripping and loss because of Israel's faithlessness—paralleling Jeremiah's connection between abundant sin and the resulting shame/striping.
- Genesis 3:15 (allusion): Genesis presents the heel as a point of bruising in the consequence of sin ('bruise thy heel'); Jeremiah's 'thy heels are bruised' (נחמסו עקביך) echoes the motif of the heel as afflicted in divine judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- And if you say in your heart, “Why has this come upon me?”—it is because of the multitude of your guilt: your skirts have been uncovered and your heels have been trampled.
- And if you say in your heart, 'Why has this come upon me?'—it is because of the multitude of your sins; your skirts have been uncovered and your heels trampled.
Jer.13.23 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- היהפך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- כושי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עורו: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- ונמר: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חברברתיו: NOUN,f,pl,suff
- גם: ADV
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- תוכלו: VERB,qal,impf,2,pl
- להיטיב: VERB,qal,inf
- למדי: VERB,piel,inf,NA,NA,NA
- הרע: ADJ,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Proverbs 26:11 (thematic): Uses animal imagery to illustrate the futility of reverting to habitual wrongdoing (a fool returning to his folly), paralleling Jeremiah’s rhetorical question about changing ingrained behavior.
- 2 Peter 2:22 (thematic): New Testament echo of the proverb in Proverbs 26:11 (dog returning to vomit); thematically parallels Jeremiah’s point about people reverting to evil and the difficulty of genuine change.
- Jeremiah 17:9 (thematic): Same prophet’s statement about human moral intractability — “the heart is deceitful… who can know it?” — which resonates with the rhetorical question in 13:23 about the possibility of changing entrenched character.
- Ezekiel 18:21-23 (thematic): Presents a theological counterpoint: while Jeremiah’s proverb stresses the difficulty of changing habitual evil, Ezekiel emphasizes that the wicked can turn and live, highlighting divine willingness to accept repentance.
- Isaiah 1:16-17 (thematic): Calls Israel to ‘wash yourselves’ and ‘cease to do evil,’ a direct exhortation to change behavior that corresponds to Jeremiah’s challenge to those ‘accustomed to do evil’ to do good.
Alternative generated candidates
- Can the Cushite change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, you who are accustomed to doing evil.
- Can the Cushite change his skin, or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good, you who are accustomed to do evil.
Jer.13.24 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואפיצם: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- כקש: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עובר: VERB,qal,ptc,act,m,sg
- לרוח: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מדבר: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 1:4 (verbal): Uses the same chaff-before-the-wind image: the wicked are like chaff that the wind drives away, a direct verbal parallel of scattering by wind.
- Job 21:18 (verbal): Job describes the wicked as straw/stubble before the wind, closely matching Jeremiah's simile and vocabulary.
- Matthew 3:12 (thematic): John the Baptist’s winnowing imagery (fork in hand, separating wheat and chaff) thematically echoes scattering and judgment of chaff/stubble.
- Luke 3:17 (thematic): Parallel to Matthew 3:12: Jesus/John’s winnowing and burning of chaff reinforces the motif of divine judgment that scatters or destroys the worthless.
- Malachi 4:1 (thematic): The wicked are called stubble to be burned on the day of the Lord—similar judgment imagery using stubble/chaff to signify destruction.
Alternative generated candidates
- I will scatter them like stubble before the wind of the desert.
- I will scatter them like chaff driven before the wind of the desert.
Jer.13.25 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- זה: PRON,dem,m,sg
- גורלך: NOUN,m,sg,abs,2,ms
- מנת: NOUN,f,sg,const
- מדיך: NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss,2,ms
- מאתי: PREP,1,sg
- נאם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- שכחת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- אותי: PRON,1,sg,acc
- ותבטחי: VERB,qal,perf,2,f,sg
- בשקר: PREP
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 32:18 (verbal): Both accuse the people of forgetting the God who is their Rock; forgetting God results in divine withdrawal and judgment.
- Hosea 4:6 (thematic): Links forgetting/rejecting knowledge of God with ruin—'my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge'—echoing Jeremiah's charge that forgetting God brings calamity.
- Isaiah 28:15 (verbal): Speaks of trusting in lies/falsehood as a refuge ('we have made lies our refuge'), paralleling Jeremiah's condemnation for trusting in falsehood.
- Psalm 78:34-37 (thematic): Describes Israel's pattern of forgetting God, feigned loyalty, and deceit—mirroring Jeremiah's charge that forgetting God and trusting lies leads to judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- This is your lot—your allotted portion from me, declares the LORD—because you have forgotten me and trusted in falsehood.
- This is your lot, the portion I have measured out for you, declares the LORD—because you have forgotten me and trusted in falsehood.
Jer.13.26 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וגם: CONJ
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- חשפתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- שוליך: VERB,qal,ptcp,_,m,sg
- על: PREP
- פניך: NOUN,f,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- ונראה: VERB,qal,cohort,1,m,pl
- קלונך: NOUN,m,sg,abs,2,ms
Parallels
- Isaiah 47:3 (verbal): Speaks of the city's nakedness being uncovered and her shame seen—language closely parallels Jeremiah’s phrase about uncovering garments and exposing shame.
- Isaiah 3:16-17 (thematic): Judgment against the proud women of Zion: the LORD will humble them by removing their finery and exposing their shame—similar motif of public humiliation by divinely caused exposure.
- Ezekiel 16:37-39 (thematic): God declares he will expose Jerusalem to shame before her lovers/nations and punish her; echoes the theme of uncovering and public disgrace as divine judgment.
- Ezekiel 23:10-11 (verbal): Describes the uncovering of sexual shame and exposure of nakedness as part of judgment on unfaithful cities/women—parallels Jeremiah’s imagery of exposed skirts and shame.
- Hosea 2:10-13 (allusion): God promises to strip and shame his unfaithful spouse (Israel), removing her pleasures and exposing her guilt—an analogous depiction of exposure and humiliation for covenant unfaithfulness.
Alternative generated candidates
- And I will uncover your skirts over your face, and your shame will be seen.
- And I will uncover your skirts upon your face, and your shame shall be exposed.
Jer.13.27 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- נאפיך: NOUN,f,pl,abs,2f
- ומצהלותיך: CONJ+NOUN,f,pl,abs,2f
- זמת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- זנותך: NOUN,f,sg,abs,2f
- על: PREP
- גבעות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- בשדה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ראיתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- שקוציך: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,2,ms
- אוי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- ירושלם: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- תטהרי: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
- אחרי: PREP
- מתי: ADV,int
- עד: PREP
Parallels
- Jeremiah 2:20 (verbal): Uses the same image of prostitution on the high places/hills and condemns Judah/Israel for adultery against YHWH—close phrasing and theme to Jer 13:27’s 'on the hills in the field.'
- Ezekiel 16:15-17 (thematic): Portrays Jerusalem’s adornments (jewels, anklets, skirts) as signs of sexualized idolatry and prostitution—parallels Jer 13:27’s linkage of jewelry/skirts and harlotry.
- Isaiah 1:21-23 (structural): A lament over the faithful city turned harlot, with an oracle of woe and moral indictment of Jerusalem’s leaders—structurally similar to the 'Woe to you, Jerusalem' judgment in Jer 13:27.
- Hosea 2:5 (thematic): Uses marriage/sexual fidelity imagery to accuse and announce punishment for Israel’s unfaithfulness to YHWH; parallels Jer 13:27’s depiction of sexualized faithlessness and impending judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- I have seen your nakedness and your prostitution—your lewdness on the hills and in the open fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! You shall not be cleansed; how long—until when?
- Your adulteries and your revels—the prostitution of your lewdness on the hills and in the open field—I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! You shall not be cleansed; how long—until when?
Hear and give ear; do not be haughty, for the LORD has spoken.
Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the heights. You who hoped for light—behold, it will be turned to gloom, and brightness into deep darkness. And if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret because of your pride; my tears will flow, my eyes will run down with weeping, for the flock of the LORD has been taken captive.
Say to the king and to the queen mother, 'Humble yourselves, sit down, for your glorious crown has fallen from your heads.'
The towns of the Negev are shut up, and there is no opening; Judah is taken into exile—her removals are complete.
Lift up your eyes and see who comes from the north. Where is the flock that was given you—the pride of your pasture?
What will you say when he visits you? You have trained them and thousandfold are set over you; will not cords seize you like the pangs of a woman in labor? And if you say in your heart, 'Why has this come upon me?'—it is because of the multitude of your iniquity: your skirts are exposed, your heels are defiled.
Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Then can you—who are accustomed to doing evil—learn to do good?
I will scatter them like chaff driven before the desert wind.
This is your lot, the portion assigned you from me, declares the LORD, because you have forgotten me and trusted in falsehood. And I will also uncover your skirts before your face, and your disgrace shall be seen.
Your skirts and your jingling ornaments—the lewdness of your prostitution—I saw your harlotry on the hills in the open field. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! You shall not be cleansed—how long until you are made pure?