Bible Strands
Jeremiah 13:19
The cities of the Negev have been shut tight, and no one can open them. All Judah has been carried into exile, wholly taken captive.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah pronounces judgment to Judah’s royal leadership during the final collapse of the southern kingdom. The prophecy marks the moment when southern defenses fail and national captivity becomes irreversible.
The words — סֻגְּר֖וּ (su.ge.Ru) literally means "they have been shut up," describing the Negev cities as completely sealed. כֻּלָּ֖/הּ (ku.La/h) translates to "all of it," stressing that every portion of Judah is included in the exile.
The thread — The sealed-city imagery aligns with Deuteronomy 28:52’s siege warnings and matches the historical record in Jeremiah 52:27 and 2 Kings 25:21 where Babylon executes Judah’s leaders at Riblah.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to accept that human fortifications cannot prevent the stated captivity. It demands a clear-eyed assessment of consequences without minimizing the finality of the exile.
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
The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 52:27 There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.
- Deuteronomy 28:52 They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you.
- 2 Kings 25:21 There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.
- Jeremiah 39:9 Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away to Babylon the remnant of the people who had remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to him.
- Jeremiah 52:30 in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away 745 Jews. So in all, 4,600 people were taken away.
- Leviticus 26:31 I will reduce your cities to rubble and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will refuse to smell the pleasing aroma of your sacrifices.
- Deuteronomy 28:15 If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
- Deuteronomy 28:64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
- Joshua 18:5 and divide the land into seven portions. Judah shall remain in their territory in the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in their territory in the north.
- Job 12:14 What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.