Bible Strands
Jeremiah 34:20
I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through Jeremiah to the officials of Judah and Jerusalem who violated a covenant ritual in chapter 34. This declaration occurs during the Babylonian siege as the leadership reneged on freeing their Hebrew slaves.
The words — The Hebrew verb נָתַתִּי (na.tat.ti) literally means "I will give" or "I will deliver," establishing divine agency over the coming judgment. The phrase מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשָׁם (me.vak.shei naf.sha) translates to "those who seek their life," identifying the pursuers as active agents of death.
The thread — This motif of corpses becoming food for birds and beasts appears in Jeremiah 7:33, 16:4, and 19:7. It tracks through the prophetic corpus as a standard declaration for covenant unfaithfulness.
Why it lands — The text states that broken commitments invite irreversible exposure and desecration. It requires the reader to treat covenant obligations as binding before divine judgment executes its stated terms.
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
I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 7:33 The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away.
- Jeremiah 16:4 “They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.”
- Jeremiah 19:7 And in this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hands of those who seek their lives, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
- 1 Kings 16:4 Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.”
- Jeremiah 11:21 Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the people of Anathoth who are seeking your life and saying, “You must not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand.”
- Revelation 19:17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,
- 1 Samuel 17:44 “Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
- 1 Samuel 17:46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
- 1 Kings 14:11 Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.’ For the LORD has spoken.
- 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.’