Bible Strands
Jeremiah 38:3
This is what the LORD says: This city will surely be delivered into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD delivers this declaration through Jeremiah to King Zedekiah and the Jerusalem leadership during the Babylonian siege. The statement follows a survival warning and immediately precedes the officials’ accusation that the prophecy undermines the city’s defense.
The words — כֹּ֖ה (koh) = thus and הִנָּתֹ֨ן (hi.na.Ton) = certainly to be given. These terms ground the announcement in prophetic formula and stress the unavoidable transfer of control.
The thread — The motif of the city being handed over to enemy forces runs in Jeremiah 21:10 and Jeremiah 32:3. Each reference marks a moment where divine judgment is executed through military conquest rather than natural disaster alone.
Why it lands — The verse states that the city will be captured by Babylon and requires a pragmatic response to imminent defeat. It forces the reader to weigh the cost of resistance against the necessity of surrender to preserve life.
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, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 21:10 For I have set My face against this city to bring disaster and not good, declares the LORD. It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, who will destroy it with fire.’
- Jeremiah 32:3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: “Why are you prophesying like this? You claim that the LORD says, ‘Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.