Bible Strands
Jeremiah 23:19
Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone out with fury, a whirlwind swirling down upon the heads of the wicked.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah addresses the nation of Judah, contrasting those who stand in the council of the LORD with those who ignore His word. He pronounces impending judgment at the moment when divine patience yields to active reckoning.
The words — The text highlights סַעֲרַת (sa.'a.Rat), literally “storm of,” and מִתְחֹלֵל (mit.cho.Lel), meaning “whirling,” to describe the violent, inescapable movement of divine judgment. These terms ground the metaphor in physical weather phenomena before attributing them to Yahweh’s action.
The thread — The identical storm metaphor appears in Jeremiah 30:23, while Jeremiah 25:32 and Amos 1:14 extend the image to describe spreading disaster and divine warfare. These passages link the whirlwind motif to unavoidable national judgment.
Why it lands — The passage demands that readers recognize divine judgment as an active, directed force rather than an abstract concept. It requires immediate attention to God’s word before the stated purposes of His heart are fully executed.
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
Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 30:23 Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone out with fury, a whirlwind swirling down upon the heads of the wicked.
- Jeremiah 25:32 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation; a mighty storm is rising from the ends of the earth.”
- Amos 1:14 So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah to consume its citadels amid war cries on the day of battle and a violent wind on the day of tempest.
- Proverbs 10:25 When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are secure forever.
- Isaiah 21:1 This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror.
- Nahum 1:3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
- Psalms 58:9 Before your pots can feel the burning thorns—whether green or dry—He will sweep them away.
- Proverbs 1:27 when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.
- Isaiah 5:25 Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lie like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Isaiah 40:24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.