Bible Strands
Jeremiah 18:13
Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks through Jeremiah to Israel immediately after the people declare they will ignore correction and follow their own stubborn, evil plans. The oracle is delivered as a direct response to their defiant refusal to repent.
The words — The adverb כֹּ֚ה (koh) literally means "thus," marking the following clause as an exact divine declaration. The imperative שַֽׁאֲלוּ־ (sha'alu-) translates as "ask" or "inquire," commanding the audience to consult external witnesses.
The thread — The rhetorical question "Who has ever heard things like these?" echoes the inquiry in Isaiah 66:8 and mirrors the cross-cultural investigation commanded in Jeremiah 2:10. The declaration of a shocking event in the land parallels the warning in Jeremiah 5:30.
Why it lands — The text requires a factual comparison between Israel's unprecedented apostasy and historical pagan practices. It forces the reader to acknowledge that Israel's rebellion has exceeded known cultural baselines, removing any ground for claiming ignorance or precedent.
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
Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 5:30 A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land.
- Isaiah 66:8 Who has heard of such as this? Who has seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be delivered in an instant? Yet as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.
- Jeremiah 2:10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and take a look; send to Kedar and consider carefully; see if there has ever been anything like this:
- Jeremiah 23:14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”
- Hosea 6:10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: Ephraim practices prostitution there, and Israel is defiled.
- Jeremiah 14:17 You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a severely grievous wound.
- Jeremiah 31:4 Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out in joyful dancing.
- 1 Samuel 4:7 the Philistines were afraid. “The gods have entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before.
- Isaiah 36:22 Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.
- Lamentations 1:15 The Lord has rejected all the mighty men in my midst; He has summoned an army against me to crush my young warriors. Like grapes in a winepress, the Lord has trampled the Virgin Daughter of Judah.