Jeremiah 13:21

21 What will you say when he sets over you-- and you have taught them--allies as head over you? Will not labor pains take hold of you, like a woman giving birth?

Jeremiah 13:21 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 13:21

What will thou say when he shall punish thee?
&c.] Or, "visit upon thee" ^F6; that is, either when God shall punish thee for thy sins, thou canst bring no charge of injustice against him, or murmur and repine at the punishment inflicted on thee; so Jarchi; to which agrees the Targum,

``when he shall visit on thee thy sin;''

or else, to which the following words seem to incline, when the enemy shall visit upon thee; so Kimchi and Abarbinel, when the Chaldeans shall come upon thee, and pay thee a visit, an unwelcome one; yet who wilt thou have to blame but thyself? so the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "when they shall visit thee"; these words are directed, not to the king, nor to the queen neither; but to the body of the people, the Jewish state, represented as a woman; who, upon consideration of things past, would have a great deal of reason to reflect upon themselves for what they had done in former times, which had led on to their ruin and destruction: (for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee;)
the Jews showed the Assyrians the way into their country, used them to come thither, and taught them how to conquer them, and be masters over them; or, "hast taught them against thee" ^F7; to thy hurt and detriment, to be captains or governors; for an head,
to have the rule over them: this was done by Ahaz, when he sent to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria to come and save him out of the hands of the kings of Syria and Israel, ( 2 Kings 16:7 ) and by Hezekiah, when he showed the messengers of the king of Babylon all his treasures; these were invitations and temptations to come and plunder them: shall not sorrows take thee as a woman in travail?
denoting the suddenness of their calamities; the sharpness and severity of them; and that they would be inevitable, and could not be prevented.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F6 (Kyle dqpy yk) "quando visitabit super te"; Cocceius; "quum visitaverit super te", Schmidt.
F7 (Kyle Mta tdml taw) "docuisti istos contra te", Piscator.

Jeremiah 13:21 In-Context

19 The towns of the Negev are shut up, and there is no [one who] opens [them]. All of Judah is deported; it is deported [in] completeness.

20 Lift up your eyes and see those coming from [the] north. Where [is] the flock that was given to you, {your magnificent flock}?

21 What will you say when he sets over you-- and you have taught them--allies as head over you? Will not labor pains take hold of you, like a woman giving birth?

22 And if you say in your heart, 'Why have these [things] happened to me?' Because of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered; your heels have endured violence.

23 Can a Cushite change his skin, or a leopard his spots? [Then] you also will be able to do good, [who] are accustomed to doing evil.