The Ruined Loincloth
Jer 13:1 This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.”
Jer 13:2 So I bought a belt, as the LORD directed, and put it around my waist.
Jer 13:3 Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time:
Jer 13:4 “Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.”
Jer 13:5 So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD told me.
Jer 13:6 Many days later the LORD said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.”
Jer 13:7 So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.
Jer 13:8 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
Jer 13:9 “This is what the LORD says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
Jer 13:10 These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless!
Jer 13:11 For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the LORD, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’
The Jars Filled with Wine
Jer 13:12 “Say to them: ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And if they say to you, ‘Don’t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’
Jer 13:13 then tell them, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem.
Jer 13:14 I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them.'”
Exile Threatened
Jer 13:15 Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.
Jer 13:16 Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to utter darkness and change it to deep gloom.
Jer 13:17 If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the LORD’s flock will be taken captive.
Jer 13:18 Say to the king and to the queen mother, “Come down from your thrones, for your glorious crowns will fall from your heads.”
Jer 13:19 The cities in the Negev will be shut up, and there will be no one to open them. All Judah will be carried into exile, carried completely away.
Jer 13:20 Look up and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock that was entrusted to you, the sheep of which you boasted?
Jer 13:21 What will you say when the LORD sets over you those you cultivated as your special allies? Will not pain grip you like that of a woman in labor?
Jer 13:22 And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?”— it is because of your many sins that your skirts have been torn off and your body mistreated.
Jer 13:23 Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.
Jer 13:24 “I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind.
Jer 13:25 This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods.
Jer 13:26 I will pull up your skirts over your face that your shame may be seen—
Jer 13:27 your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution! I have seen your detestable acts on the hills and in the fields. Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long will you be unclean?”
The Ruined Loincloth
Jer 13:1 This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.”
In the type of a linen girdle, hidden at Euphrates, God prefigures the destruction of his people. 12 Under the parable of the bottles filled with wine he foretells their drunkenness in misery. 15 He exhorted to prevent their future judgments. 22 He showed their abominations are the cause thereof.
The events of this chapter may be dated with a high degree of probability in 597 b.c., during the three months’ reign of Jehoiachin, since, as some think, the queen (mother) is probably mentioned in v. 18 (see comments there), and since Nehushta, Jehoiachin’s mother, is frequently mentioned in connection with the reign of Jehoiachin (see 2 Kings 24:6–8, 12, 15; Jer. 22:24, 26; 29:2).
The loincloth symbolically represented the Israelites, whom God had closely bound to Himself (see ch. 13:11).
Jer 13:2 So I bought a belt, as the LORD directed, and put it around my waist.
Jer 13:3 Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time:
The time interval between the first and second messages is not stated.
Jer 13:4 “Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath (Euphates) hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.”
All the other versions render Perath as Euphrates. Though there may be some question as to whether Jeremiah was required to bury the girdle on the banks of the famous river, there is no uncertainty regarding the application of the symbolic prophecy. The girdle represented the house of Israel (Jer. 13:11), and the removal and burial of it, the removal of the people to Babylon.
Jer 13:6 Now it came to pass after many days that the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the sash which I commanded you to hide there.”
After many days. How long the girdle lay buried is not stated. It was sufficiently long for deterioration to render the garment useless (see v. 7).
Jer 13:7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the sash from the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing.
Jer 13:9 “Thus says the LORD: ‘In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
The vain, boastful, arrogant pride arising from the people’s sinful, wayward heart. Any blow to the pride of the city would be likely to involve the great object of Jerusalem’s pride, the Temple (see on ch. 7:4).
Jer 13:10 This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing.
Jer 13:11 For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the LORD, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’
The symbolism of the prophecy is here explained. The loincloth represented both the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
God reminds His people of what would have been their lot had they proved loyal to Him and had they been obedient to His will (see Deut. 7:6; 26:18, 19; 28:1, 13; see pp. 25–38).
The Jars Filled with Wine
Jer 13:12 “Say to them: ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And if they say to you, ‘Don’t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’
Filled with wine. Not understanding the spiritual import of this unique illustration, the question, “Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?” was asked by the people partly in astonishment, partly in mockery. Why should Jeremiah tell them what they already knew?
Jer 13:13 then tell them, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem.
Even the kings. Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, kings of Judah (see 2 Kings 23:31 to 24:20;), were all directly involved in the closing events of the southern kingdom. Perhaps the prophet had all of them in mind.
Jer 13:14 I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them.'”
Spoken of the earthen vessels (see on v. 12). These represent the inhabitants of the land.
Exile Threatened
Jer 13:15 Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.
Pride was Judah’s besetting sin (see v. 9).
Jer 13:16 Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to utter darkness and change it to deep gloom.
Give glory to the Lord. That is, do that which a knowledge of God and of His requirements demands. As in the case of Achan (Joshua 7:19), such an act would involve a contrite confession of sin.
Jer 13:17 If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the LORD’s flock will be taken captive.
The prophet expresses his tender regard and deep love for his people (see Lam. 1:16; see on Jer. 9:1).
Lord’s flock. By this figure God sets forth His tender relationship to His children (see Zech. 10:3; John 10:1–6).
Jer 13:18 Say to the king and to the queen mother, “Come down from your thrones, for your glorious crowns will fall from your heads.”
Queen. Heb. gebirah, here believed to refer to the queen mother, Nehushta, King Jehoiachin’s (Jeconiah’s) mother (see Jer. 29:2; 2 Kings 24:8). The same word, gebirah, is applied to the mother of Asa (see 1 Kings 15:13; 2 Chron. 15:16). That these queen mothers sometimes exerted great influence in the affairs of the kingdom is indicated by Athaliah’s usurpation of the supreme authority (see 2 Kings 11; see on Dan. 5:10).
Jer 13:19 The cities in the Negev will be shut up, and there will be no one to open them. All Judah will be carried into exile, carried completely away.
The south. Heb. negeb, a region in the southern part of Judea.
The entire country, including the cities of the south, would be involved.
Jer 13:20 Look up and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock that was entrusted to you, the sheep of which you boasted?
From the north. The usual invasion route from Babylon approached Palestine from the north (see on ch. 1:14).
Where is the flock? Zion personified is being addressed, as shown by the gender of the pronoun “you,” which, in the Hebrew, is feminine. The flock represents the inhabitants of Judah. These, Zion should have tenderly cared for. But she indulged in iniquity and basely neglected the “Lord’s flock” (v
The question is asked against the background of the invasion already in progress, as indicated by the clause, “behold them that come from the north.” The prophet’s searching question receives no answer. Like the man without a wedding garment, Zion remains “speechless” (Matt. 22:12). In fact, the question requires no answer. The painful truth is all too evident. The day of probation has passed. The flock is passing into enemy hands.
The same searching question is directed at parents, teachers, and spiritual leaders. God has entrusted precious souls to their care. He will require a strict account of those who are guardians of His flock.
Jer 13:21 What will you say when the LORD sets over you those you cultivated as your special allies? Will not pain grip you like that of a woman in labor?
God is referred to (see DA 641).
Jer 13:22 And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?”— it is because of your many sins that your skirts have been torn off and your body mistreated.
The removal of the “skirts” was an indication of the deepest degradation (see Isa. 47:1–3; Nahum 3:5). Assyrian reliefs picture captive women suffering this outrage.
Made bare. Literally, “treated violently.” This may mean that they would be compelled to walk barefoot like menial slaves or an outcast harlot (see Isa. 20:2–4)
Jer 13:23 Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.
The figure vividly impressed the sad truth that so firmly fixed was the sin of Judah that its people were not able of themselves to “change” their evil ways. Nothing was left for them but captivity.
Jer 13:24 “I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind.
The crushed and broken straw found on the threshing floor after the oxen have trampled the grain. This will be blown away by the dreaded hot wind that sweeps in from the Arabian Desert (see on ch. 4:11).
Jer 13:25 This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods.
Jer 13:26 I will pull up your skirts over your face that your shame may be seen—
A figurative expression denoting the uncovering of the people’s “shame.”
Jer 13:27 your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution! I have seen your detestable acts on the hills and in the fields. Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long will you be unclean?”
A figure representing the idolatrous worship of the Israelites (see ch. 3:20).
Neighings. A figure representing the unrepressed desires and lusting of Judah after idolatry (see ch. 2:24; cf. ch. 5:8). The closing part of the verse sets forth the loving hope of the Lord for the Israelites’ spiritual reformation. The wording suggests a hope tinged with plaintive despair because of the persistently unrepentant course of the people.