Jeremiah 13:1
WEB
Yahweh said to me, “Go, and buy yourself a linen belt, and put it on your waist, and don’t put it in water.”
BSB
This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.”
KJV
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.
Matthew Henry
Hebrew interlinear
H3541
prt — like this, thus, so, here, hither, now
Derivation: from the prefix k and 1931;
properly, like this, i.e. by implication, (of manner) thus (or so); also (of place) here (or hither); or (of time) now
KJV: also, here, hitherto, like, on the other side, so (and much), such, on that manner, (on) this (manner, side, way, way and that way), mean while, yonder.
demonstr.adv — thus
כֹּה demonstr.adv. thus, here
1. of manner, thus
2. of place, here
3. of time, hitherto
H559
v — say
Derivation: a primitive root;
to say (used with great latitude)
KJV: answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.
vb — utter
אָמַר 5287 vb. utter, say
Qal
1. Say
2. Say in the heart (= think)
3. Promise
4. Command (esp. late)
Niph. be said, told
Hiph. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)
Hithp. act proudly, boast
H3068
n-pr — Existent, Jeho-vah
Derivation: from 1961;
(the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God
KJV: Jehovah, the Lord. Compare 3050, 3069.
n.pr.dei — God
יהוה c. 6823 i.e. יַהְוֶה n.pr.dei Yahweh, the proper name of the God of Israel—(1. MT יְהֹוָה 6518 (Qr אֲדֹנָי), or יֱהֹוִה 305 (Qr אֱלֹהִים) 2. Many recent scholars explain יַהְוֶה as Hiph. of הוה (= היה) the one bringing into being, life-giver)
I. יהוה is not used by E in Gn, but is given Ex 3:12-15 as the name of the God who revealed Himself to Moses at Horeb
II.
1. יהוה is used with אלהים and suffixes, especially in D
2. the phrase † אֲנִי יהוה is noteworthy
3. יהוה is also used with several predicates, to form sacred names of holy places of Yahweh
H413
prep — near, with, among, to
Derivation: (but only used in the shortened constructive form אֶל ); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e.
near, with or among; often in general, to
KJV: about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in(-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).
prep — motion to
אֶל (nearly always followed by Makkeph), prep. denoting motion to or direction towards (whether physical or mental).
1. of motion to or unto a person or place
2. Where the limit is actually entered, into
3. Of direction towards anything
4. Where the motion or direction implied appears from the context to be of a hostile character, אֶל = against
5. Unto sometimes acquires from the context the sense of in addition to
6. Metaph. in regard to, concerning, on account of
7. Of rule or standard according to (rare)
8. Expressing presence at a spot, against, at, by, not merely after verbs implying motion
9. Prefixed to other preps. it combines with them the idea of motion or direction to
H1980
v — walk
Derivation: akin to 3212; a primitive root;
to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)
KJV: (all) along, apace, behave (self), come, (on) continually, be conversant, depart, be eased, enter, exercise (self), follow, forth, forward, get, go (about, abroad, along, away, forward, on, out, up and down), greater, grow, be wont to haunt, lead, march, × more and more, move (self), needs, on, pass (away), be at the point, quite, run (along), send, speedily, spread, still, surely, tale-bearer, travel(-ler), walk (abroad, on, to and fro, up and down, to places), wander, wax, (way-) faring man, × be weak, whirl.
vb — go
הָלַךְ 1546 vb. go, come, walk
Qal Impf. usually (629 t.) as if from ילך
I. lit.
1. of persons
2. Also of animals, in similar meanings and combinations
3. in like manner of inanimate things
4. The inf. abs. is often used
a. as in other vbs., quite independently
b. to intensify meaning of finite form
c. most noteworthy is the joining of the Inf. abs.
(1). with a following Inf. abs. denoting a simutaneous action or process, and so emphasizing duration or continuance
(2). with a foll. vb. fin. c. ו consec. (rare)
(3). in cases where vb. fin. is foll. by Inf. abs. adj. denoting progress, advance
(4). twice, where vb. fin. is not הלך, but another vb. denoting motion
(5). quite by itself
(6). 13 t. the Inf. abs. = Imv. & is followed by Pf. consec.
d. akin to the use of Inf. abs. are some instances of Pt.
5. In combination with other verbal forms
II. Fig.; the most common uses follow; in most the origin in a literal meaning is evident:
1. pass away, die
2. live (‘walk’), in general
3. of moral and religious life
4. other fig. uses
Pi. (chiefly poet. and late)
1. walk in or with a throng
2. also of walking about = living
3. depart, go entirely away
4. fig. of mode of life, action, etc.
Hithp. walk, walk about, move to and fro
Hiph.
1. lead, bring
2. lead away
3. carry, bring
4. fig. of influence on character
5.
a. cause to walk, go
b. cause to flow, run
c. cause to depart, retire, go back
H7069
v — erect, create, procure, sell, own
Derivation: a primitive root;
to erect, i.e. create; by extension, to procure, especially by purchase (causatively, sell); by implication to own
KJV: attain, buy(-er), teach to keep cattle, get, provoke to jealousy, possess(-or), purchase, recover, redeem, × surely, × verily.
vb — get
קָנָה 84 vb. get, acquire
Qal 81
1. get, acquire (all poet.)
2. elsewhere buy
Niph. be bought
Hiph. caused (one) to purchase me, i.e. made me a bondman
H232
n-m — girt, belt, band
Derivation: from 246;
something girt; a belt, also a band
KJV: girdle.
n.m — waistcloth
אֵזוֹר n.m. waistcloth
H6593
n-f — linen, carded
Derivation: from the same as 6580 as in the sense of comminuting;
linen (i.e. the thread, as carded)
KJV: flax, linen.
n.[m.] — flax
[פֵּ֫שֶׁת] n.[m.] flax, linen
H7760
v — put
Derivation: or שִׂים; a primitive root;
to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically)
KJV: × any wise, appoint, bring, call (a name), care, cast in, change, charge, commit, consider, convey, determine, disguise, dispose, do, get, give, heap up, hold, impute, lay (down, up), leave, look, make (out), mark, name, × on, ordain, order, paint, place, preserve, purpose, put (on), regard, rehearse, reward, (cause to) set (on, up), shew, stedfastly, take, × tell, tread down, (over-)turn, × wholly, work.
vb — put
שׂוּם, שִׂים 582 vb. put, place, set
Qal
1.
a. put, set, in a place
b. put something upon
c. put, lay, set
d. put, c. בֵּין
2. set, direct
3.
a. set, ordain, in a place
b. set, establish a law, statute
c. set, found a nation
d. set, appoint (as ruler, official)
e. set, constitute, make
f. set, determine, fix, bounds
4.
a. set, station, at a post
b. put in position, sacred bread, sword, staves, bars
c. set up altars
d. = plant, wheat
e. set, fix (countenance)
5.
a. make a thing, or pers. (acc.), for, transform into
b. make, constitute
c. work, bring to pass
d. appoint, give
e. set, fix (countenance)
Hiph. I will make him for a sign
Hoph. there was set before him
H5921
prep — above, over, upon, against
Derivation: properly, the same as 5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following);
above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
KJV: above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, × as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, × both and, by (reason of), × had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-) on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, × with.
forasmuch as
כִּי עַל כֵּן forasmuch as
subst — above
עַל, עָ֑ל
I. subst. height
II. As prep. upon, and hence on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against
1. Upon, of the substratum upon which an object in any way rests, or on which an action is performed
a. —
(a). of clothing, etc., which any one wears
(b). With verbs of covering or protecting, even though the cover or veil be not over or above the thing covered, but around or before it
b. Of what rests heavily upon a person, or is a burden to him
c. Of a duty, payment, care, etc., imposed upon a person, or devolving on him
d. על is used idiom. to give pathos to the expression of an emotion, by emphasizing the person who is its subject, and who, as it were, feels it acting upon him
e. חָיָה עַל to live upon (as upon a foundation or support)
f. Of the ground or basis, on which a thing is done
2. It expresses excess
3. It denotes elevation or pre-eminence
4. It expresses addition
5. It expresses the idea of being extended, or suspended over anything, without however being in contact with it, above, over
6. From the sense of inclining or impending over, על comes to denote contiguity or proximity, Engl. by (or sts. on)
7. In connection with verbs of motion (actual or fig.)
8. By writers of the silver age, על is sts. used with the force of a dative
9. With other particles:
III. As conj.
a. עַל אֲשֶׁר because that
b. עַל כִּי similar in meaning, but less frequent
c. עַל alone:
(a). because
(b). notwithstanding that, although
IV. Compounds:
1. with כְּ (rare and late)
a. as concerning, as upon
b. the like of their deeds is the like of (that which) he will repay
2. מֵעַל from upon, from over, from by
H4975
n-m — waist, loins
Derivation: from an unused root meaning to be slender;
properly, the waist or small of the back; only in plural the loins
KJV: greyhound, loins, side.
n.m.du — loins
מַתְנַ֫יִם n.m.du. loins
H4325
n-m — water, juice, urine, semen
Derivation: dual of a primitive noun (but used in a singular sense);
water; figuratively, juice; by euphemism, urine, semen
KJV: piss, wasting, water(-ing, (-course, -flood, -spring)).
n.m — waters
[מַי] 580 n.m. only pl. מַ֫יִם waters, water
H3808
adv — not, no
Derivation: or לוֹא; or לֹה; (Deuteronomy 3:11), a primitive particle;
not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles
KJV: × before, or else, ere, except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (× as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, surely, as truly as, of a truth, verily, for want, whether, without.
adv — not
לֹא or לוֹא adv. not
H935
v — go, come
Derivation: a primitive root;
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
KJV: abide, apply, attain, × be, befall, besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, × certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, × doubtless again, eat, employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be fallen, fetch, follow, get, give, go (down, in, to war), grant, have, × indeed, (in-) vade, lead, lift (up), mention, pull in, put, resort, run (down), send, set, × (well) stricken (in age), × surely, take (in), way.
vb — come in
בּוֹא 2569 vb. come in, come, go in, go
Qal
1. come in
2. come (approach, arrive)
3. go, i.e. walk, associate with
4. go from speaker, but with limit of motion given
Hiph.
1. cause to come in, bring in (conduct, lead, obj. persons and animals)
2. cause to come, bring, bring near, etc. (animate obj.)
Hoph.
a. be brought in (of pers. and things)
b. be brought
c. be introduced, put
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Verses 1–11
Jeremiah 13:1–11
Here is, I. A sign, the marring of a girdle, which the prophet had worn for some time, by hiding it in a hole of a rock near the river Euphrates. It was usual with the prophets to teach by signs, that a stupid unthinking people might be brought to consider, and believe, and be affected with what was thus set before them. 1. He was to wear a linen girdle for some time, Jer 13:1, Jer 13:2. Some think he wore it under his clothes, because it was linen, and it is said to cleave to his loins, Jer 13:11. It should rather seem to be worn upon his clothes, for it was worn for a name and a praise, and probably was a fine sash, such as officers wear and such as are commonly worn at this day in the eastern nations. He must not put it in water, but wear it as it was, that it might be the stronger, and less likely to rot: linen wastes almost as much with washing as with wearing. Being not wet, it was the more stiff and less apt to bend, yet he must make a shift to wear it. Probably it was very fine linen which will wear long without washing. The prophet, like John Baptist, was none of those that wore soft clothing, and therefore it would be the more strange to see him with a linen girdle on, who probably used to wear a leathern one. 2. After he had worn this linen girdle for some time, he must go, and hide it in a hole of a rock (Jer 13:4) by the water's side, where, when the water was high, it would be wet, and when it fell would grow dry again, and by that means would soon rot, sooner than if it were always wet or always dry. 3. After many days, he must look for it, and he should find it quite spoiled, gone all to rags and good for nothing, Jer 13:7. It has been of old a question among interpreters whether this was really done, so as to be seen and observed by the people, or only in a dream or vision, so as to go no further than the prophet's own mind. It seems hard to imagine that the prophet should be sent on two such long journeys as to the river Euphrates, each of which would take him up some week's time, when he could so ill be spared at home. For this reason most incline to think the journey, at least, was only in vision, like that of Ezekiel, from the captivity in Chaldea to Jerusalem (Eze 8:3) and thence back to Chaldea (Eze 11:24); and the explanation of this sign is given only to the prophet himself (Jer 13:8), not to the people, the sign not being public. But there being, it is probable, at that time, great conveniences of travelling between Jerusalem and Babylon, and some part of Euphrates being not so far off but that it was made the utmost border of the land of promise (Jos 1:4), I see no inconvenience in supposing the prophet to have made two journeys thither; for it is expressly said, He did as the Lord commanded him; and thus gave a signal proof of his obsequiousness to his God, to shame the stubbornness of a disobedient people: the toil of his journey would be very proper to signify both the pains they took to corrupt themselves with their idolatries and the sad fatigue of their captivity; and Euphrates being the river of Babylon, which was to be the place of their bondage, was a material circumstance in this sign.
II. The thing signified by this sign. The prophet was willing to be at any cost and pains to affect this people with the word of the Lord. Ministers must spend, and be spent, for the good of souls. We have the explanation of this sign, Jer 13:9-11.
1. The people of Israel had been to God as this girdle in two respects: - (1.) He had taken them into covenant and communion with himself: As the girdle cleaves very closely to the loins of a man and surrounds him, so have I caused to cleave to me the houses of Israel and Judah. They were a people near to God (Psa 148:14); they were his own, a peculiar people to him, a kingdom of priests that had access to him above other nations. He caused them to cleave to him by the law he gave them, the prophets he sent among them, and the favours which in his providence he showed them. He required their stated attendance in the courts of his house, and the frequent ratification of their covenant with him by sacrifices. Thus they were made so as to cleave to him that one would think they could never have been parted. (2.) He had herein designed his own honour. When he took them to be to him for a people, it was that they might be to him for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory, as a girdle is an ornament to a man, and particularly the curious girdle of the ephod was to the high-priest for glory and for beauty. Note, Those whom God takes to be to him for a people he intends to be to him for a praise. [1.] It is their duty to honour him, by observing his institutions and aiming therein at his glory, and thus adorning their profession. [2.] It is their happiness that he reckons himself honoured in them and by them. He is pleased with them, and glories in his relation to them, while they behave themselves as become his people. He was pleased to take it among the titles of his honour to be the God of Israel, even a God to Israel, Ch1 17:24. In vain do we pretend to be to God for a people if we be not to him for a praise.
2. They had by their idolatries and other iniquities loosed themselves from him, thrown themselves at a distance, robbed him of the honour they owed him, buried themselves in the earth, and foreign earth too, mingled among the nations, and were so spoiled and corrupted that they were good for nothing: they could no more be to God, as they were designed, for a name and a praise, for they would not hear either their duty to do it or their privilege to value it: They refused to hear the words of God, by which they might have been kept still cleaving closely to him. They walked in the imagination of their heart, wherever their fancy led them; and denied themselves no gratification they had a mind to, particularly in their worship. They would not cleave to God, but walked after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them; they doted upon the gods of the heathen nations that lay towards Euphrates, so that they were quite spoiled for the service of their own God, and were as this girdle, this rotten girdle, a disgrace to their profession and not an ornament. A thousand pities it was that such a girdle should be so spoiled, that such a people should so wretchedly degenerate.
3. God would by his judgments separate them from him, send them into captivity, deface all their beauty and ruin their excellency, so that they should be like a fine girdle gone to rags, a worthless, useless, despicable people. God will after this manner mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. He would strip them of all that which was the matter of their pride, of which they boasted and in which they trusted; it should not only be sullied and stained, but quite destroyed, like this linen girdle. Observe, He speaks of the pride of Judah (the country people were proud of their holy land, their good land), but of the great pride of Jerusalem; there the temple was, and the royal palace, and therefore those citizens were more proud than the inhabitants of other cities. God takes notice of the degrees of men's pride, the pride of some and the great pride of others; and he will mar it, he will stain it. Pride will have a fall, for God resists the proud. He will either mar the pride that is in us (that is, mortify it by his grace, make us ashamed of it, and, like Hezekiah, humble us for the pride of our hearts, the great pride, and cure us of it, great as it is; and this marring of the pride will be making of the soul; happy for us if the humbling providences our hearts be humbled) or else he will mar the thing we are proud of. Parts, gifts, learning, power, external privileges, if we are proud of these, it is just with God to blast them; even the temple, when it became Jerusalem's pride, was marred and laid in ashes. It is the honour of God to took upon every one that is proud and abase him.
Cross-references: Jer 13:1 · Jer 13:2 · Jer 13:11 · Jer 13:4 · Jer 13:7 · Ezek 8:3 · Ezek 11:24 · Jer 13:8 · Josh 1:4 · Jer 13:9 · Ps 148:14 · 1Chr 17:24