Background
Jeremiah 13 is a sign-act followed by two sayings. The Church's chapter heading sums it up: “Israel and Judah will be as a rotted and decayed belt—The people are commanded to repent—Judah will be taken captive and scattered as stubble.” Acting out a message was “a common method used by ancient Hebrew prophets to drive home a message,” and the hidden linen girdle is one of Jeremiah's.
The chapter gives no date. The Bible Dictionary puts chapters 7–20 in the reign of Jehoiakim (608–597 B.C.), the years when Jeremiah was “the leading prophet in Jerusalem, serving with Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Lehi, and others.” Lehi's account opens “in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah,” when “many prophets” were warning the people “that they must repent, or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed” (1 Ne. 1:4). The chapter's last line, “Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem,” is close to what Lehi reads in his vision (1 Ne. 1:13).
The chapter has five parts: the girdle and its meaning (verses 1–11), a proverb about wine jars (12–14), a plea to hear and give glory (15–17), a word to the king and queen (18–19), and an indictment of Jerusalem (20–27). Graphic language in the last part is described here, not quoted.
The thread through the chapter
The chapter is about what pride does to a people made to cling to God. The girdle is the picture. It is worn against the body, as close as clothing can be; the Lord says He made Israel and Judah cling to Him in the same way, so that they would be “for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory” (verse 11). But a girdle buried by the Euphrates rots. Verse 9 says what is being ruined: “the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.”
The rest of the chapter follows that word. The wine jars of verses 12–14 are filled and broken. Verse 15 gives the one remedy, “be not proud,” and verse 17 gives Jeremiah's sorrow “for your pride.” Alongside pride runs a second thread, hearing: the people “refuse to hear” (verse 10), “would not hear” (verse 11), and are told “Hear ye” (verse 15) and warned about those who “will not hear” (verse 17). The chapter's last question, “wilt thou not be made clean?” (verse 27), is left open.
Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.
The linen girdle
The Lord told Jeremiah to get a linen belt and wear it, without putting it in water. Then He told him to take it to the Euphrates and hide it in a crack in the rock. Jeremiah did. After many days he was told to go and dig it up, and it was ruined, good for nothing. Then the Lord explained: this is how He will ruin the pride of Judah and Jerusalem, this evil people who refuse to hear and follow other gods. As a belt clings to a man's waist, He made all Israel and Judah cling to Him, to be His people, His name, His praise, and His glory. But they would not listen.
1 Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.
3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
4 Take 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.
5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
6 And 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.
7 Then 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.
8 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 This 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.
11 For 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.
The wine jars
“Every jar will be filled with wine.” When the people answer that of course they know that, Jeremiah is to say that the Lord will fill every inhabitant of the land, kings, priests, prophets, and all Jerusalem, with drunkenness, and will smash them against one another, fathers and sons together, without pity.
12 Therefore 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?
13 Then 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.
14 And 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.
Hear, and give glory
“Listen, and do not be proud, for the Lord has spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and the light you hope for turns to deep gloom. But if you will not listen, I will weep in secret over your pride, and my eyes will run with tears, because the Lord's flock is taken captive.”
15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
16 Give 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.
17 But 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.
To the king and the queen
“Tell the king and the queen: humble yourselves and sit low, for your splendid crown is coming down. The cities of the south are shut up, and no one can open them. All Judah is carried into captivity.”
Jerusalem's shame
“Look up and see the enemy coming from the north. Where is the beautiful flock that was given to you? What will you say when those you cultivated as friends are set over you as head? Pain will take you like a woman in labor. If you ask why this is happening, it is for the greatness of your guilt that your skirts are lifted and you are exposed. Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard its spots? Then you, who are used to doing evil, could do good. I will scatter you like stubble before the desert wind. This is your lot from me, because you forgot me and trusted in lies. I have seen your unfaithfulness and your lewdness on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long will you stay unclean?”
20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
21 What 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?
22 And 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.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
24 Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.
27 I 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?
Seeing Christ in Jeremiah 13
The Lord who speaks here is Jehovah, “the premortal Jesus Christ,” the One who says, “I have caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel.” The picture of clinging is also an invitation. Jacob, speaking to his people, asks them to “repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts” (Jacob 6:5). The same hope is in Jeremiah 13: the Lord's “before he cause darkness” (verse 16) gives a time in which glory can still be given, and the chapter ends with the question, “wilt thou not be made clean?”
Worth exploring next
- Jer. 19:1–13, another sign-act with a “bottle,” this time broken before the elders.
- Jer. 25:15–29, where the cup of the Lord’s fury goes round the nations.
- 1 Ne. 1, Lehi’s vision of Jerusalem and its abominations, in the same years.
- Jer. 29:2 and Jer. 22:24–30, on the king and queen mother who went into exile.
This chapter elsewhere in scripture
- 1 Ne. 1:13 — Lehi reads “Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations!” The Church edition links Jeremiah 13:27 to this verse.
- 1 Ne. 10:12 — Lehi on Israel scattered “upon all the face of the earth,” linked from Jeremiah 13:24.
Sources & further reading
- “Jeremiah”, Bible Dictionary.
- Chapter 23: As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap (Jeremiah 1–19), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
- “Euphrates”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Ethiopia or Cush”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Jehovah”, Bible Dictionary.
- Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.
- Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.
- The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Westminster Leningrad Codex, with morphology, Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (OSHB), openscriptures/morphhb.
- Scripture Central, “Why Does Helaman 7–8 Feel Like a Funeral Speech?”, KnoWhy #575, Aug. 25, 2020.