Bible Strands
Jeremiah 10:22
Listen! The sound of a report is coming—a great commotion from the land to the north. It will make the cities of Judah a desolation, a haunt for jackals.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah pronounces this oracle to Judah during a period of national warning, immediately following a rebuke of Israel's blind spiritual leaders.
The words — The verse highlights קֹל (kol, "sound") and שְׁמוּעָה (shĕmûʿâ, "report") to describe an incoming message, paired with רַעַשׁ (raʿash, "din") and צָפוֹן (ṣāpôn, "north") to depict a great commotion advancing from a distant land.
The thread — This northern threat motif recurs in Jeremiah 1:15 and Jeremiah 4:6, while the resulting desolation echoes the judgment described in Jeremiah 9:11.
Why it lands — The text reports an approaching military advance that will reduce Judah's cities to ruins before drawing the inference that human agency cannot control such divine judgment. It demands recognition that geopolitical events operate under sovereign authority rather than human direction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 9:11 “And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
- Jeremiah 1:15 For I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD. “Their kings will come and set up their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all her surrounding walls and all the other cities of Judah.
- Jeremiah 4:6 Raise a signal flag toward Zion. Seek refuge! Do not delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, and terrible destruction.
- Jeremiah 5:15 Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.
- Jeremiah 6:1 “Run for cover, O sons of Benjamin; flee from Jerusalem! Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa; send up a signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms from the north, even great destruction.
- Jeremiah 6:22 This is what the LORD says: “Behold, an army is coming from the land of the north; a great nation is stirred up from the ends of the earth.
- Habakkuk 1:6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
- Malachi 1:3 but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”