Bible Strands
Jeremiah 13:7
So I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth, and I took it from the place where I had hidden it. But now it was ruined—of no use at all.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God commands Jeremiah to retrieve a buried linen loincloth from Perath, and Jeremiah complies by digging it up from its original hiding place. The action occurs immediately after the divine instruction in Jeremiah 13:6, during a prophetic oracle addressing Judah’s spiritual decay.
The words — The narrative emphasizes וָ/אֵלֵ֣ךְ (va./'e.Lekh, “and I went”) and פְּרָ֔תָ/ה (pe.Ra.ta/h, “to Perath”) to record the prophet’s physical movement to the commanded location. It also uses וָ/אֶחְפֹּ֗ר (va./'ech.Por, “and I dug”) to describe the deliberate excavation of the hidden object.
The thread — The ruined loincloth parallels Isaiah 64:6, where human righteousness is described as filthy rags, and Romans 3:12, which states that all have turned away and become worthless. This thread continues in Jeremiah 13:10, where stubborn hearts refuse God’s words and follow their own desires.
Why it lands — The text shows that retrieving what was once set apart can reveal total decay when the object has been exposed to corruption. It requires the reader to acknowledge that human stubbornness renders even consecrated things useless, demanding a clear-eyed assessment of spiritual condition rather than comfort in past appearances.
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
Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 64:6 Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
- Romans 3:12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
- Jeremiah 13:10 These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this loincloth—of no use at all.
- Jeremiah 24:1 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD.
- Ezekiel 15:3 Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can one make from it a peg on which to hang utensils?
- Zechariah 3:3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel.
- Luke 14:34 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its savor, with what will it be seasoned?
- Philemon 1:11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.