Jeremiah 38:23

23 “All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured by the king of Babylon; and this city will^[a] be burned down.”

Jeremiah 38:23 in Other Translations

23 So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.

23 All your wives and your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire."

23 All your wives and children will be led out to the Babylonians, and you will not escape. You will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned down.”

23 "They'll take all your wives and children and give them to the Chaldeans. And you, don't think you'll get out of this - the king of Babylon will seize you and then burn this city to the ground."

23 All your wives and sons will be brought out to the Chaldeans. You yourself will not escape from them, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon and this city will burn down.' "

Jeremiah 38:23 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 38:23

So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the
Chaldeans
Not the citizens of Jerusalem; but, as Kimchi observes, the Chaldeans that should enter the city shall bring them out to the Chaldeans without: or it may be rendered impersonally, "they shall be brought out": not only the ladies at court, that waited on him and his queen, as before; but all his wives and concubines, and his children, or his sons rather; for at the taking of the city no mention is made of daughters, only of sons, who were slain before his eyes, ( Jeremiah 39:6 ) ; and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the
hand of the king of Babylon;
not by him personally, for he was not present at the taking of him, but by his army, who having taken him, brought him to him, and delivered him into his hand, ( Jeremiah 39:5 ) ; and thou shalt cause this city to be burnt with fire;
or, "thou shall burn this city with fire" ^F2; be the moral cause of it; through his sin and obstinacy, impenitence and unbelief, the burning of the city might be laid to his charge; his sin was the cause of it; and it was all one as if he had burnt it with his own hands. All this is said to work upon him to hearken to the advice given; but all was in vain.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (vab Pdvt) "combures igne", Vatablus, Schmidt; "cremabis in igne", Montanus.

Jeremiah 38:23 In-Context

21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the LORD has revealed to me:

22 All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you: “ ‘They misled you and overcame you— those trusted friends of yours. Your feet are sunk in the mud; your friends have deserted you.’

23 “All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured by the king of Babylon; and this city will be burned down.”

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you may die.

25 If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,’

Cross References

• 1. S 2 Kings 25:6
• 2. S Jeremiah 32:4; Ezekiel 17:15
• 3. S Jeremiah 24:8; Jeremiah 41:10
• 4. Jeremiah 21:10; Jeremiah 37:8

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "and you will cause this city to"