Bible Strands
Jeremiah 9:12
Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah poses this rhetorical question to the people of Judah immediately after declaring Jerusalem and its cities will become uninhabitable ruins. The inquiry precedes Yahweh’s direct response identifying their covenant failure as the cause.
The words — The Hebrew מִי־אִישׁ חָכָם (mi-'ish chakham) translates literally to "who is a wise man." It is paired with וְיָבֵן (ve-yavin), meaning "and he may understand," to frame the demand for discernment.
The thread — This demand for wisdom to comprehend divine judgment runs through Hosea 14:9, Psalms 107:43, and Deuteronomy 32:29. Each passage links human wisdom directly to recognizing the ways and consequences of the LORD.
Why it lands — The text explicitly asks readers to identify the cause of national ruin by examining covenant obedience rather than seeking external explanations. It requires acknowledging that disaster stems from forsaking divine instruction.
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
Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?
Cross-references
- Hosea 14:9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.
- Psalms 107:43 Let him who is wise pay heed to these things and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 32:29 If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
- Psalms 107:34 and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
- Deuteronomy 29:22 Then the generation to come—your sons who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land—will see the plagues of the land and the sicknesses the LORD has inflicted on it.
- 1 Kings 9:8 And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
- Jeremiah 5:19 And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’”
- Jeremiah 16:10 When you tell these people all these things, they will ask you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?’
- Jeremiah 22:8 And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’
- Ezekiel 14:23 They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions, and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done all these things within it,’ declares the Lord GOD.”