Jeremiah 22:8

8 "'And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, ¹"Why has the LORD dealt thus with this great city?"

Jeremiah 22:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 22:8

And many nations shall pass by this city
After it is burned down and destroyed; that is, people out of many nations travelling that way: and they shall say every man to his neighbour;
as in company together, passing along the ruined walls of the city: wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city?
so fortified and so full of people; the metropolis of the whole nation; the greatest city in the east; yea, the joy of the whole earth; a city peculiarly dear to the Lord; greatly honoured by him with his presence, worship, and ordinances, and yet now in ruins; how comes this to pass? they see and acknowledge the hand of the Lord in it, having a better notion of things than the Jews themselves had.

Jeremiah 22:8 In-Context

6 For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: "'You are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, yet surely I will make you a desert, an uninhabited city.

7 I will prepare destroyers against you, each with his weapons, and they shall cut down your choicest cedars and cast them into the fire.

8 "'And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, "Why has the LORD dealt thus with this great city?"

9 And they will answer, "Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and worshiped other gods and served them."'"

10 Weep not for him who is dead, nor grieve for him, but weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he shall return no more to see his native land.

Cross References

• 1. See Jeremiah 5:19