Jeremiah 21:13

Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who trust in their elevated geography and fortified walls. This declaration follows a warning to the house of David about unexecuted justice and impending divine wrath.

The words — הִנְנִי (hi./Ni) translates to "Behold, I," and אֵלַיִךְ ('e.La.yi/kh) means "against you," framing the LORD's direct opposition to the city's arrogant self-reliance. יֹשֶׁבֶת (yo.She.vet) literally denotes the female inhabitant or dweller, addressing the city personified.

The thread — This motif of divine opposition to fortified pride appears in Ezekiel 13:8 and Obadiah 1:3, where God confronts those who claim security in their heights. Lamentations 4:12 records the historical fulfillment of this shattered confidence when enemy forces breached Jerusalem's gates.

Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that human security cannot withstand divine judgment. It requires readers to abandon self-sufficient arrogance and recognize that moral failure, not military strength, determines a community's fate.

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

הִנְנִ֨יhi./Nihere/ I אֵלַ֜יִךְ'e.La.yi/kh[am] against/ you יֹשֶׁ֧בֶתyo.She.vetO inhabitant of הָעֵ֛מֶקha./'E.mekthe/ valley צ֥וּרtzurO rock of הַמִּישֹׁ֖רha./mi.Shorthe/ plain נְאֻם־ne.'um-[the] utterance of יְהוָ֑הYah.wehYahweh הָאֹֽמְרִים֙ha./'o.me.RimO those/[who] say מִֽי־mi-who?יֵחַ֣תye.Chatwill he come down עָלֵ֔ינוּ'a.Lei./nuon/ us וּמִ֥יu./Miand/ who?יָב֖וֹאya.Vo'will he come בִּמְעוֹנוֹתֵֽינוּ׃bi/m.'o.no.Tei./nuin/ hiding places/ our

King James Version

Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the Lord; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?

Cross-references

Lamentations 4:12 The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any people of the world, that an enemy or a foe could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 13:8 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD.
Obadiah 1:3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
Psalms 125:2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people, both now and forevermore.
Jeremiah 23:30 “Therefore behold,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words they attribute to Me.”
Jeremiah 49:4 Why do you boast of your valleys—your valleys so fruitful, O faithless daughter? You trust in your riches and say, ‘Who can come against me?’
Jeremiah 50:31 “Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts, “for your day has come, the time when I will punish you.
Micah 3:11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”
2 Samuel 5:6 Now the king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you.” For they thought, “David cannot get in here.”
Isaiah 22:1 This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops,