Bible Strands
Jeremiah 20:16
May that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without compassion. May he hear an outcry in the morning and a battle cry at noon,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah pronounces a curse against the messenger who announced his birth, framing the utterance as a desperate prayer during a period of intense personal distress and isolation.
The words — The text employs הָפַךְ (ha.Fakh), meaning "he overthrew," to describe Yahweh's action against the cited cities. This verb establishes the basis for the imprecation by pointing to divine judgment rather than human retribution.
The thread — The sudden assault imagery aligns with Jeremiah 18:22, where cries rise from houses as raiders are brought against the speaker. It also mirrors the barren desolation of Deuteronomy 29:23 and the devastation cries recorded in Jeremiah 48:3.
Why it lands — The verse demands acknowledgment of the messenger's fate as a direct parallel to divine overthrow of unrepentant places. It requires the reader to face the raw reality of prophetic lament without diluting its severity.
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
And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 18:22 Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.
- Deuteronomy 29:23 All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.
- Jeremiah 48:3 A voice cries out from Horonaim: ‘Devastation and great destruction!’
- Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Jeremiah 4:19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.
- Jeremiah 18:8 But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.
- Jeremiah 26:13 So now, correct your ways and deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, so that He might relent of the disaster He has pronounced against you.
- Ezekiel 21:22 In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.
- Hosea 10:14 the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be demolished as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel in the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to pieces along with their children.
- Hosea 11:8 How could I give you up, O Ephraim? How could I surrender you, O Israel? How could I make you like Admah? How could I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within Me; My compassion is stirred!