Jeremiah 13:22

22 And when you ask yourself: Why have these things happened to me?- it is because of your great guilt^[a] that your skirts have been stripped off,^[b] your body ravished.^[c]

Jeremiah 13:22 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 13:22

And if thou say in thine heart
Not daring to express it with the mouth; and which, notwithstanding, God, that knows the heart, was privy to, and could discern all the secret workings of it; putting such a question as this: wherefore come these things upon me?
all these calamities, the invasion and siege of the enemy, famine, sword, captivity: the answer returned is, for the greatness of thine iniquity;
the enormous crimes the Jews were guilty of, such as idolatry, blasphemy which were attended with aggravated circumstances: or, "for the multitude of thine iniquity" {h}; their sins being so many, as well as great: are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare;
being obliged to walk naked and barefoot, their buttocks uncovered, and their legs and feet naked, without stockings or shoes, as captives used to be led, to their great shame and disgrace; see ( Isaiah 20:2-4 ) . The phrases are expressive of captivity, and the manner of it; the cause of which was the greatness and multitude of their sins. The Targum is,

``because thy sins are multiplied, thy confusion is revealed, thy shame is seen.''

---

FOOTNOTES:

F8 (Knwe brb) "propter multitudinem iniquitatis tuae", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Schmidt.

Jeremiah 13:22 In-Context

20 Look up and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep [that were] your pride?

21 What will you say when He appoints close friends as leaders over you, ones you yourself trained? Won't labor pains seize you, as [they do] a woman in labor?

22 And when you ask yourself: Why have these things happened to me?- it is because of your great guilt that your skirts have been stripped off, your body ravished.

23 Can the Cushite change his skin, or a leopard his spots? If so, you might be able to do what is good, you who are instructed in evil.

24 I will scatter you like drifting chaff before the desert wind.

Footnotes

• [a]. Jr 5:6; 30:15
• [b]. Ezk 16:37-39; Hs 2:3,10; Nah 3:5
• [c]. Lit your heels have suffered violence