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Jeremiah 13

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The Sign of the Ruined Girdle 1–11

1
Thus saith Jehovah unto me, Go, and buy thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water. ​
2
So I bought a girdle according to the word of Jehovah, and put it upon my loins.
3
And the word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying,
4
Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock. ​
5
So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as Jehovah commanded me.
6
And it came to pass after many days, that Jehovah said unto me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
7
Then I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. ​
8
Then the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
9
Thus saith Jehovah, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. ​
10
This evil people, that refuse to hear my words, that walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is profitable for nothing.
11
For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith Jehovah; that they may be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear. ​

The Sign of the Wine Jars 12–14

12
Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word: Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? ​
13
Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. ​
14
And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith Jehovah: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them. ​

A Call to Humility and Repentance 15–17

15
Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud; for Jehovah hath spoken. ​
16
Give glory to Jehovah your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. ​
17
But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because Jehovah’s flock is taken captive. ​

Warning to the King and Queen 18–21

18
Say thou unto the king and to the queen-mother, Humble yourselves, sit down; for your headtires are come down, even the crown of your glory. ​
19
The cities of the South are shut up, and there is none to open them: Judah is carried away captive, all of it; it is wholly carried away captive. ​
20
Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? ​
21
What wilt thou say, when he shall set over thee as head those whom thou hast thyself taught to be friends to thee? shall not sorrows take hold of thee, as of a woman in travail? ​

The Incurable Nature of Sin 22–27

22
And if thou say in thy heart, Wherefore are these things come upon me? for the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, and thy heels suffer violence. ​
23
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. ​
24
Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that passeth away, by the wind of the wilderness.
25
This is thy lot, the portion measured unto thee from me, saith Jehovah; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood. ​
26
Therefore will I also uncover thy skirts upon thy face, and thy shame shall appear.
27
I have seen thine abominations, even thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, on the hills in the field. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! thou wilt not be made clean; how long shall it yet be? ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jeremiah 13

Verse 1

a linen girdle — Linen (pishtim) is the fabric of priestly dress (Ezek 44:17), and Jeremiah was of a priestly family (Jer 1:1). The girdle (ezor) is worn next to the loins and kept out of water, so it stays whole until the LORD tells the prophet what to do with it. The sign is explained in v.11.

Verse 4

go to Euphrates — Perath, the great river that bounded the land promised to Abram, 'the great river, the river Euphrates' (Gen 15:18). It is also the river by which Babylon stands: the words of Jeremiah end with a stone cast 'into the midst of Euphrates' to show Babylon's sinking (Jer 51:63–64).

Verse 7

marred, it was profitable for nothing — The verb for 'marred' is shachath, the word the LORD uses of himself in v.9, 'will I mar the pride of Judah', and in v.14, 'destroy'. 'Profitable' is tsalach, the verb translated 'prosper' in 12:1. The ruined girdle matches Christ's saying of salt that has lost its savour (Luke 14:34–35).

Verse 9

the pride of Judah — 'Pride' is ga'on, the word rendered 'swelling' in 12:5, 'pride of your power' in Lev 26:19, and 'excellency' elsewhere. What the people took for their glory is what the LORD says he will spoil. Proverbs states the pattern: 'Pride goeth before destruction' (Prov 16:18).

Verse 11

cleaveth to the loins of a man — Dabaq, to cling, is the verb used twice in the verse. The LORD joined all Israel and Judah to himself 'for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory', the purpose set out in Deut 26:19 and Ex 19:5–6. 'Glory' (tiphereth) is the word of the crown in v.18 and the 'beautiful' flock in v.20.

Verse 12

Every bottle shall be filled with wine — The word is nebel, a large jar or skin for wine. The hearers answer with what everyone knows, and the saying carries a second meaning, which the LORD gives in the next verse: the wine is his judgment, as in the cup of his fury (Isa 51:17; Ps 75:8).

Verse 13

with drunkenness — Shikkaron is the staggering that follows drinking. All ranks are named, from 'the kings that sit upon David's throne' to the priests and prophets, and they are made to drink the cup of the LORD's wrath: 'Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more' (Jer 25:27).

Verse 14

I will dash them one against another — Naphats, to shatter, is the verb of Ps 2:9, 'dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel'. Fathers and sons fall together, as in Jer 6:21. 'Have mercy' is racham, the word of 12:15, 'have compassion': here it is denied, and there it is promised.

Verse 15

be not proud — Gabah, to be high or lifted up. Three different words for pride run through the passage: ga'on (v.9), this verb, and gevah (v.17). The call to 'Hear ye, and give ear' rests on the plain fact that 'the LORD hath spoken', and the answer that fits it is the opposite of pride, the humbling of v.18.

Verse 16

the shadow of death — Tsalmaveth, the word of Ps 23:4 and Isa 9:2. Four terms for darkness are heaped together: 'darkness', the twilight of 'dark mountains', 'shadow of death', and 'gross darkness' (arapel), the gloom of Isa 60:2. 'Give glory' is the call to confession, as Joshua told Achan (Josh 7:19).

Verse 17

my soul shall weep in secret places — The prophet's weeping is unseen by those he warns, as in Jer 9:1, 'Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears'. 'Secret places' (mistar) is the word of Jer 23:24, 'Can any hide himself in secret places?' The flock he weeps over is the LORD's own (cf. v.20).

Verse 18

the king and… the queen — 'Queen' is gebirah, the queen mother, the office held by Maachah under Asa (1 Kgs 15:13). The words suit Jehoiachin, who 'went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother' and was carried to Babylon (2 Kgs 24:12, 15; cf. Jer 22:26). 'Humble yourselves' answers the 'pride' of vv.9, 15, 17.

Verse 19

The cities of the south — The Negev, Judah's southern country, is shut up with no one to open it. 'Wholly' is shalom, here meaning completeness, so the captivity is carried 'all of it, … wholly'. The end came when 'Judah was carried away out of their land' (2 Kgs 25:21).

Verse 20

them that come from the north — The enemy from the north is named from Jeremiah's call onward (Jer 1:14; 6:22). 'Beautiful' is tiphereth, the 'glory' of vv.11 and 18, so the question is where the glorious flock has gone. A flock given to shepherds to keep is the figure of Jer 23:2, where it is scattered.

Verse 21

thou hast taught them to be captains — 'Captains' is alluph, a chief or leader, the 'dukes' of Edom in Gen 36:15 and the 'guide' of Ps 55:13 and Jer 3:4. Jerusalem herself had taught those who would rule over her. The 'sorrows' (chebel) are birth pangs, as in 'a woman in travail' (Jer 4:31; Isa 13:8).

Verse 22

Wherefore come these things upon me? — The question is answered here and elsewhere: 'Because your fathers have forsaken me' (Jer 16:10–11; cf. 5:19). 'Skirts discovered' is the shame of the exposed city, as in Nah 3:5, 'I will discover thy skirts upon thy face'.

Verse 23

Can the Ethiopian change his skin — Cushi, a man of Cush (the KJV's Ethiopia), is set beside the leopard as one whose natural marking cannot be changed. 'Accustomed' is limmud, 'taught', from the same root as 'taught' in v.21: evil has become a learned habit. The remedy promised is the new covenant, 'I will put my law in their inward parts' (Jer 31:33).

Verse 25

thy lot, the portion of thy measures — Goral, 'lot', is the word for the casting of lots, which settled both the scapegoat (Lev 16:8–10) and the land's division (Num 26:55). A measured portion is given to the forgetful. 'Falsehood' (sheqer) is the LORD's word for the idols, as in Jer 10:14, 'his molten image is falsehood'.

Verse 27

thy neighings — Mitsholoth occurs only here and in Jer 8:16, where it is the sound of the northern horses; ni'uph, 'adulteries', only here and Ezek 23:43. The charges join lust and idolatry, 'abominations on the hills in the fields'. The close, 'when shall it once be?', asks how long Jerusalem will go uncleansed.