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The Prophets · Old Testament

Jeremiah 13

Jeremiah 13: the marred girdle, the wine bottles and the pride of Judah

General context

The Lord tells Jeremiah to get a linen girdle, wear it on his loins and keep it out of water. A second word sends him to Euphrates to hide it in a hole of the rock. After many days he is sent back, digs it up and finds it marred and profitable for nothing. The Lord explains: in this manner he will mar the pride of Judah and Jerusalem, and this people who refuse to hear will be as this girdle, good for nothing; as a girdle cleaves to a man's loins he caused the whole house of Israel and Judah to cleave to him, but they would not hear. Jeremiah is then to say that every bottle shall be filled with wine. When they answer that they know this, he is to say that the Lord will fill all the inhabitants of the land, the kings on David's throne, priests, prophets and people, with drunkenness, and dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, without pity. The people are told to give glory to the Lord before he causes darkness; if they will not hear, the speaker's soul will weep in secret for their pride because the Lord's flock is carried away captive. The king and the queen are told to humble themselves, for their crown will come down; the cities of the south are shut up and Judah will be wholly carried away captive. For the greatness of her iniquity her skirts are discovered. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may those accustomed to evil do good. The Lord will scatter them as stubble and, having seen her adulteries on the hills, asks when Jerusalem will be made clean.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 13:1, Jeremiah 13:2, Jeremiah 13:4, Jeremiah 13:5, Jeremiah 13:6, Jeremiah 13:7, Jeremiah 13:9, Jeremiah 13:10, Jeremiah 13:11, Jeremiah 13:12, Jeremiah 13:13, Jeremiah 13:14, Jeremiah 13:15, Jeremiah 13:16, Jeremiah 13:17, Jeremiah 13:18, Jeremiah 13:19, Jeremiah 13:20, Jeremiah 13:21, Jeremiah 13:22, Jeremiah 13:23, Jeremiah 13:24, Jeremiah 13:25, Jeremiah 13:26, Jeremiah 13:27

Jeremiah 13 (KJV)

1Thus saith the Lord unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.

2So I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins.

3And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying,

4Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.

5So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

6And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.

7Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.

8Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

9Thus saith the Lord, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.

10This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.

11For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.

12Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?

13Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.

14And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.

15Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.

16Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.

17But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock is carried away captive.

18Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.

19The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.

20Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?

21What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?

22And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.

23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

24Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.

25This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.

26Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.

27I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?

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Historical context

The girdle episode is told in the first person as a sequence of commands and compliances: "So I got a girdle," "So I went, and hid it by Euphrates," "Then I went to Euphrates, and digged." The text says Jeremiah went to Euphrates twice and that "many days" passed between hiding and recovery, but gives no route, distance or date, and the narrator does not say whether anyone witnessed it. The meaning is supplied by the Lord's own words in verses 9 through 11, not left to inference. The bottle saying is presented as a proverb the hearers will claim to know, with their reply quoted, "Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?" The judgment names "the kings that sit upon David’s throne," priests and prophets, but no king by name. Verse 18 is addressed to "the king and to the queen" without naming either, and the text does not say who they are. Verse 17 has a speaker whose soul will weep in secret "because the Lord’s flock is carried away captive"; the text does not label whether this is the prophet or the Lord. The invaders again "come from the north." The Ethiopian and the leopard appear only as a comparison about what cannot be changed. The exposure of skirts and heels in verses 22 and 26 is a figure of public shaming and is stated as the Lord's act.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 13:1, Jeremiah 13:2, Jeremiah 13:5, Jeremiah 13:6, Jeremiah 13:7, Jeremiah 13:9, Jeremiah 13:12, Jeremiah 13:13, Jeremiah 13:17, Jeremiah 13:18, Jeremiah 13:20, Jeremiah 13:23, Jeremiah 13:26

Literary context

The chapter is built from two signs and a sequence of warnings. The girdle sign works through delay: the command, the compliance, the second command, the many days, and only then the finding, with the interpretation withheld until verse 9. The phrase "profitable for nothing" in verse 7 becomes "good for nothing" in verse 10, and the physical clinging of the girdle in verse 11 becomes the Lord's own act of causing the people to cleave to him. The wine bottle sign works through a trap in speech: a proverb the hearers accept becomes a sentence they did not expect, filled with drunkenness rather than wine. Pride is the chapter's stated target, the pride of Judah in verse 9, be not proud in verse 15, weeping for your pride in verse 17, and the crown of glory coming down in verse 18. The flock appears twice, carried away captive in verse 17 and asked after in verse 20. The closing verses pile up questions: what wilt thou say, wherefore come these things, can the Ethiopian change his skin, wilt thou not be made clean, when shall it once be. The last question is left without an answer.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 13:1, Jeremiah 13:4, Jeremiah 13:7, Jeremiah 13:9, Jeremiah 13:10, Jeremiah 13:11, Jeremiah 13:12, Jeremiah 13:13, Jeremiah 13:15, Jeremiah 13:17, Jeremiah 13:18, Jeremiah 13:20, Jeremiah 13:21, Jeremiah 13:22, Jeremiah 13:23, Jeremiah 13:27

Key moments

  1. Get thee a linen girdle (Jeremiah 13:1). Jeremiah is told to wear a linen girdle and keep it out of water.
  2. Hidden by Euphrates (Jeremiah 13:5). Jeremiah hides the girdle in a hole of the rock as commanded.
  3. Marred, profitable for nothing (Jeremiah 13:7). After many days he digs up the girdle and finds it ruined.
  4. As the girdle cleaveth (Jeremiah 13:11). The Lord says he caused Israel and Judah to cleave to him, but they would not hear.
  5. Every bottle filled with wine (Jeremiah 13:12). A proverb the hearers claim to know becomes a sentence of drunkenness.
  6. The king and the queen (Jeremiah 13:18). The crown of their glory will come down.
  7. Can the Ethiopian change his skin? (Jeremiah 13:23). Those accustomed to evil are compared with what cannot change.

For reflection

The Lord says the people were made to cleave to him as a girdle cleaves to a man's loins, and the girdle was found marred after being hidden away. What does the sign suggest about the difference between being worn and being kept?

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