Bible Strands
Jeremiah 9:16
I will scatter them among the nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD of Hosts delivers this judgment through Jeremiah to the people of Israel, directly following the declaration that He will feed them wormwood and poisoned water.
The words — The Hebrew verb הֲפִצוֹתִי (ha.fi.tzo.Ti) literally means "I will scatter," paired with גּוֹיִם (go.Yim) for "nations," specifying forced displacement into unfamiliar territory.
The thread — This scattering motif appears in the covenant curses of Leviticus 26:33, Deuteronomy 28:64, and Ezekiel 5:2 as a recurring consequence of covenant violation.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that divine judgment operates through historical displacement and violence, requiring the reader to confront the severity of covenant breach without softening the outcome.
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 scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 26:33 But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
- Deuteronomy 28:64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
- Ezekiel 5:2 When the days of the siege have ended, you are to burn up a third of the hair inside the city; you are also to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind. For I will unleash a sword behind them.
- Ezekiel 5:12 A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every wind and unleash a sword behind them.
- Jeremiah 44:27 I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine, until they are finished off.
- Jeremiah 13:24 “I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind.
- Deuteronomy 4:27 Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
- Deuteronomy 28:25 The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Deuteronomy 28:36 The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.
- Deuteronomy 32:26 I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind,