Jeremiah 13:22

22 And if you ask yourself, "Why have these things happened to me?" it is because of your many sins that your skirts are pulled up and you have been violated.

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.''

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Jeremiah 13:22 In-Context

20 Raise your eyes, and you will see them coming from the north. Where is the flock once entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride?

21 When he sets over you as rulers those you trained to be allies, what will you say? Won't pains seize you like those of a woman in labor?

22 And if you ask yourself, "Why have these things happened to me?" it is because of your many sins that your skirts are pulled up and you have been violated.

23 Can an Ethiopian change his skin? or a leopard its spots? If they can, then you can do good, who are so accustomed to doing evil.

24 "So I will scatter them like chaff that flies away in the desert wind.