Bible Strands
Jeremiah 21:7
‘After that,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officers, and the people in this city who survive the plague and sword and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will not spare them or show pity or compassion.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to Zedekiah’s envoys, immediately following a prior warning of plague and divine strike against the city’s inhabitants. This declaration occurs during the Babylonian siege when Judah’s leadership seeks a sign of deliverance.
The words — The phrase נְאֻם יְהוָה (ne.'um Yah.weh) literally renders “utterance of Yahweh,” marking the statement as a direct divine decree. The verb אֶתֵּן ('e.Ten) translates “I will give,” establishing God’s active role in surrendering the survivors to Nebuchadnezzar.
The thread — This surrender motif connects to Jeremiah 37:17, where Zedekiah privately consults Jeremiah about the siege, and 2 Kings 25:5, which records the Chaldean army overtaking the fleeing king. The broader theme of God raising up the Chaldeans appears in Habakkuk 1:6.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that survival in the city offers no escape from the coming judgment. It requires the reader to accept that divine sovereignty operates through historical conquest rather than political negotiation.
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 afterward, saith the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 37:17 Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”
- 2 Kings 25:5 but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and his whole army deserted him.
- Habakkuk 1:6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
- Ezekiel 7:9 I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for the abominations among you. Then you will know that it is I, the LORD, who strikes the blow.
- Ezekiel 17:20 I will spread My net over him and catch him in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there for the treason he committed against Me.
- Deuteronomy 28:50 a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.
- 2 Kings 25:18 The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
- Jeremiah 13:14 I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’”
- Jeremiah 52:8 but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and his whole army deserted him.
- 2 Chronicles 36:17 So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,