Jeremiah 19 8

Jeremiah 19:8 kjv

And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.

Jeremiah 19:8 nkjv

I will make this city desolate and a hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues.

Jeremiah 19:8 niv

I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds.

Jeremiah 19:8 esv

And I will make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds.

Jeremiah 19:8 nlt

I will reduce Jerusalem to ruins, making it a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be astonished and will gasp at the destruction they see there.

Jeremiah 19 verses

Jeremiah 19 8 Meaning

Jeremiah 19:8 foretells God's severe judgment upon Jerusalem, declaring it will become an utter wasteland, despised and scoffed at by all who witness its ruin. The city, once revered, will become a shocking spectacle, prompting both astonishment and derision from those who pass by, as a direct consequence of the immense divine chastisement it endures. This verse signifies the complete reversal of Jerusalem's glory and security due to its persistent sin.

Jeremiah 19 8 Context

Jeremiah 19:8 is situated within the "Potter's Jar" prophecy (Jer 19:1-15), one of Jeremiah's symbolic acts intended to convey God's imminent judgment. The preceding verses (19:1-7) describe Jeremiah taking an earthenware jar to the Valley of Hinnom (Topheth) outside Jerusalem, a place associated with the abhorrent practice of child sacrifice to foreign gods like Molech. God commands Jeremiah to break the jar there as a symbol of Jerusalem's irreversible breaking and utter destruction. The prophecy sternly rebukes Judah's widespread idolatry, especially its child sacrifice, which defiled sacred land. Historically, Judah had deeply departed from God's covenant, choosing to worship false deities, shedding innocent blood, and stubbornly rejecting Jeremiah's warnings. This verse functions as a vivid consequence: the very city where they performed these detestable acts would be laid waste, becoming a grim testament to divine wrath, shocking and deriding to any onlooker, in direct contrast to their false belief in its inviolability due to the presence of the Temple.

Jeremiah 19 8 Word analysis

• And I will make (וְשַׂמְתִּי – wəśamtî): This Hebrew verb signifies "to set, to place, to make." Its use here emphasizes the divine agency and sovereign will of God as the active initiator and executor of this judgment. It is not merely a consequence, but a deliberate decree and action by the Lord Himself.
• this city (הָעִ֣יר הַזֹּ֗את – hāʿîr hazzōṯ): Refers explicitly to Jerusalem. In the immediate context of the shattered pot in Topheth, it links the site of abhorrent sin to the fate of the capital, broadening to encompass the entirety of Judah's principal city, once the "city of the Great King" (Ps 48:2), now marked for devastation.
• a desolation (לְחָרְבָּה – ləḥārḇâ): From the root "ḥārēḇ," meaning "to be dry, waste, desolate." It denotes complete ruin, emptiness, and uninhabited wasteland. This word powerfully communicates the utter destruction that awaits Jerusalem, aligning with the covenant curses foretold in Deuteronomy.
• and a thing to be hissed at (וְלִשְׁרֵקָה – wəlišrēqâ): From "šərēqâ," meaning "hissing, whistling, scorn." This is not just a silent ruin; it becomes an object that actively elicits sounds of derision, mockery, astonishment, or even mournful awe from observers. It reverses Jerusalem's status from a beacon of praise to a spectacle of public shame and scorn.
• every one who passes by it (כֹּל עֹבֵ֥ר עָלֶֽיהָ – kōl ʿôḇēr ʿāleyhā): This phrase underscores the widespread observation of Jerusalem's downfall. Its destruction will not be a private matter but a publicly acknowledged spectacle, a testimony to God's judgment visible to all travelers.
• will be astonished (יִשַּׁ֣ם – yiššam): From "šāmam," meaning "to be desolate, to be appalled, to be dumbfounded." This term captures the shock, dread, and horror felt by observers at the sight of such unprecedented destruction. It speaks to the utter desolation causing an internal and visible response of stupefaction.
• and will hiss (וְיִשְׁרֹ֑ק – wəyišrōq): This repetition of the "hissing" imagery (from "šāraq") reinforces the strong, visceral reaction to the city's fate. It can convey mockery, triumphant scorn from enemies, or a lament of shock and despair from sympathetic onlookers.
• because of all its blows (עַל כָּל־מַכּוֹתֶ֞יהָ – ʿal kāl makkôṯehā): "Blows" (makkôṯ) refers to severe strikes, plagues, or calamitous defeats. This indicates that the visible desolation and the observers' reactions are direct consequences of the numerous and devastating judgments (or "strokes") that God inflicts upon Jerusalem due to its accumulated sins.

Words-group analysis:

• "And I will make this city a desolation, and a thing to be hissed at": This entire phrase highlights God's definitive decree. The divine "I will make" transforms the once glorious "city" into a symbol of destruction ("desolation") and infamy ("a thing to be hissed at"). It encapsulates both the physical destruction and the accompanying disgrace.
• "every one who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss": This group describes the universal and visceral reaction to the judgment. The imagery conveys widespread public acknowledgment of Jerusalem's downfall, marked by shock and either mockery or mournful awe, emphasizing the didactic purpose of the judgment to demonstrate God's righteousness.
• "because of all its blows": This clarifies the precise cause of the city's ruin and the onlookers' reaction. It directly links the catastrophic outcome to God's cumulative, severe judgments ("blows") administered in response to the city's persistent sin, removing any ambiguity about the origin of the calamity.

Jeremiah 19 8 Bonus section

The specific location of the broken pot prophecy in Topheth, the Valley of Hinnom, is highly significant. This valley was a place of extreme idolatry and child sacrifice, making it the very antithesis of God's covenant with Israel. By pronouncing Jerusalem's future desolation and public disgrace at Topheth, God underscored that the city's judgment was a direct consequence of its sin precisely in such abhorrent places. The future desolation would thus mirror the moral desolation brought about by their wickedness. This location foreshadows the eventual association of the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) with eternal judgment in later biblical literature, reinforcing the severe nature of the "blows" God intended to inflict. The judgment proclaimed was absolute and irreversible, much like a shattered pot cannot be mended.

Jeremiah 19 8 Commentary

Jeremiah 19:8 serves as a chilling summary of God's verdict on Judah, pronounced through the graphic prophecy of the broken pot. It declares Jerusalem's inescapable destiny: from the heart of a proud kingdom, it would be reduced to an unrecognizable heap of rubble—a profound desolation. This was no ordinary destruction, but one so complete and ignominious that it would become a notorious spectacle. Observers from afar and travelers passing by would not merely notice; they would be "astonished" to the point of disbelief, overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the ruin, reflecting the terrifying magnitude of divine wrath. The "hissing" reaction further intensifies the shame, implying open derision and scorn from those who witness its demise, a complete reversal of the glory the city once boasted. This prophetic word is a stark testament to the principle that unrepentant sin, especially deep-seated idolatry like child sacrifice, inevitably brings the most severe divine judgment, culminating in utter destruction and public humiliation as a severe consequence of "all its blows" – the multiple forms of divine chastisement poured out. It upholds God's justice and sovereignty, ensuring that His holy name and covenant cannot be flouted without dire consequences.