Bible Strands
Jeremiah 38:2
“This is what the LORD says: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war, and he will live.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jeremiah relays a divine declaration to the princes who heard his prior proclamation, immediately before the Babylonian forces surround Jerusalem.
The words — כֹּה֮ (koh) means “thus,” and יָמ֕וּת (ya.Mut) means “he will die,” anchoring the statement as a direct oracle and its unavoidable outcome.
The thread — The threat of death by sword appears in Jeremiah 39:18, where Yahweh promises rescue from the sword for one who trusts in Him, and in Jeremiah 34:17, where Yahweh pronounces judgment because the people failed to obey and grant freedom to their slaves. The scope of coming disaster on every living creature is echoed in Jeremiah 45:5.
Why it lands — The text states that staying in the city guarantees death by sword, famine, or plague, while surrendering to the Chaldeans guarantees life. It demands a reader to confront the practical consequences of resistance versus submission to the stated warning.
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
Thus saith the Lord, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 39:18 For I will surely rescue you so that you do not fall by the sword. Because you have trusted in Me, you will escape with your life like a spoil of war, declares the LORD.’”
- Jeremiah 34:17 Therefore this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. So now I proclaim freedom for you, declares the LORD—freedom to fall by sword, by plague, and by famine! I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Jeremiah 45:5 But as for you, do you seek great things for yourself? Stop seeking! For I will bring disaster on every living creature, declares the LORD, but wherever you go, I will grant your life as a spoil of war.”
- Jeremiah 42:17 So all who resolve to go to Egypt to reside there will die by sword and famine and plague. Not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring upon them.’
- Ezekiel 14:21 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?
- Jeremiah 21:8 Furthermore, you are to tell this people that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.
- Jeremiah 24:8 But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt.
- Jeremiah 27:13 Why should you and your people die by sword and famine and plague, as the LORD has decreed against any nation that does not serve the king of Babylon?
- Jeremiah 29:18 I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them.
- Jeremiah 38:17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive.