Jeremiah 22:25 meaning summary explained with word-by-word analysis enriched with context, commentary and Cross References from KJV, NIV, ESV and NLT.
Jeremiah 22:25 kjv
And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
Jeremiah 22:25 nkjv
and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear?the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans.
Jeremiah 22:25 niv
I will deliver you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear?Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians.
Jeremiah 22:25 esv
and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
Jeremiah 22:25 nlt
I will hand you over to those who seek to kill you, those you so desperately fear ? to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the mighty Babylonian army.
Jeremiah 22 25 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Jer 22:24 | "As I live, declares the LORD... even if Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off." | Immediate context of judgment on Coniah/Jehoiachin |
| Jer 22:26 | "I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country..." | Details of Jehoiachin's and his mother's exile |
| 2 Kgs 24:14 | "He carried away all Jerusalem and all the princes and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives..." | Historical fulfillment of the deportation |
| 2 Chr 33:11 | "Therefore the LORD brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks..." | Kings delivered into enemy hands for sin |
| Isa 10:5 | "Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hand is my fury!" | God using a foreign nation as an instrument of judgment |
| Jer 20:4 | "For thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies...'" | Prophecy of terror and delivery into enemy hands |
| Jer 25:9 | "Behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant..." | Naming Babylon as God's chosen instrument |
| Jer 38:23 | "Your wives and your children will be led out to the Chaldeans..." | Leaders and their families delivered to Chaldeans |
| Eze 17:16 | "As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king who enthroned him resides, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke—with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die." | Kings brought to Babylon to die |
| Hab 1:6 | "For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation..." | God's raising of the Chaldeans as a powerful force |
| Dan 2:21 | "He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings..." | God's sovereignty over kings and kingdoms |
| Psa 38:12 | "Those who seek my life lay snares for me..." | Depiction of enemies seeking to harm or kill |
| Jer 44:30 | "Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies...'" | God giving kings into their enemies' hands |
| Lev 26:17 | "I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you." | Consequence of disobedience: fear and defeat by enemies |
| Deut 28:49-50 | "The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away... a nation ruthless in appearance, which will not regard the old or show favor to the young." | Description of a fearsome foreign enemy (like Babylon) |
| Isa 5:13 | "Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge..." | Consequence of Judah's sin and lack of understanding |
| Psa 75:6-7 | "For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another." | God's ultimate authority over elevation and debasement |
| Rom 13:1 | "For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." | God's establishment and removal of all authority |
| 1 Sam 19:1 | "Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David." | Examples of enemies seeking someone's life |
| Jer 22:30 | "Thus says the LORD: Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days, for none of his offspring shall sit on the throne of David..." | Severe end to Jehoiachin's royal lineage (as king) |
| 2 Kgs 24:1-2 | "In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years... And the LORD sent against him bands of Chaldeans..." | Judah's subjection to Babylon already in motion |
| Mic 4:10 | "Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you shall go out from the city and dwell in the open country; you shall go to Babylon." | Prophecy of exile to Babylon |
| Lam 1:3 | "Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place..." | Description of Judah's reality in exile |
Jeremiah 22 verses
Jeremiah 22 25 meaning
Jeremiah 22:25 declares God's solemn decree to hand King Jehoiachin (also called Coniah) of Judah into the power of his relentless and dreaded enemies. Specifically, it names Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his people, the Chaldeans, as the instruments of this divine judgment. The verse thereby confirms the imminent, inescapable Babylonian conquest and exile, ultimately stripping the king of his security, authority, and throne, fulfilling God's word of condemnation.
Jeremiah 22 25 Context
This verse is situated within Jeremiah's pronounced judgments against the corrupt kings of Judah (Jeremiah chapters 21-23), particularly targeting Shallum (Jehoahaz), Jehoiakim, and Coniah (Jehoiachin). Jeremiah 22:25 directly follows God's absolute repudiation of King Coniah (Jehoiachin) in verse 24, where God emphatically declares He would tear Coniah off, even if he were a precious signet ring, signifying total removal of favor and authority.
Historically, this prophecy targets King Jehoiachin, whose brief reign of merely three months and ten days (597 BC) ended abruptly with the first major Babylonian deportation of Judah's elite, including Jehoiachin himself (2 Kings 24:10-16). Judah was already a vassal state under Babylon, meaning the fear of Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans was not theoretical but an oppressive, tangible reality. Culturally and religiously, the people of Judah, spurred on by false prophets, clung to a belief in Jerusalem's inviolability and the eternal security of the Davidic line despite rampant idolatry and injustice. Jeremiah's message, especially this verse, starkly counters these false assurances, showing that God would indeed use the terrifying power of Babylon as His instrument of judgment against a disobedient nation and its leadership.
Jeremiah 22 25 Word analysis
- And I will give (וְנָתַתִּי, `wə·na·taṭ·tî`): This Hebrew verb signifies a deliberate act of granting or delivering. The first-person singular imperfect conjugation ("I will give") strongly emphasizes God's direct agency and sovereignty. It's not a mere passive allowing but an active, decisive decree by the LORD Himself. This highlights that the judgment is from God, not simply political fortune.
- thee (אֹתְךָ, `’oṯ·ḵā`): Refers specifically to Coniah/Jehoiachin, named in the preceding verse. The prophecy is a personal and direct address to the king, marking his individual accountability and fate.
- into the hand of (אֶל־יַד, `’el-yaḏ`): This common Hebrew idiom signifies being completely under the control or power of another. The repetition of this phrase (three times in this verse) dramatically intensifies the sense of inescapable capture and subjugation.
- them that seek thy life (מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשֶׁךָ, `mə·ḇaq·šê nap̄·še·ḵā`): This idiom literally translates to "those seeking your soul/being." It denotes enemies who have hostile intentions, seeking to utterly destroy, capture, or bring ruin, often implying murder. This group represents a grave, existential threat.
- and into the hand of them of whom thou art afraid (וְאֶל־יַד אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה דֹּאֵג מִפְּנֵיהֶם, `wə·’el-yaḏ ’ă·šer ’at·tāh dô·’êḡ mip·pə·nê·hem`): This phrase emphasizes the king's existing dread and terror of the approaching foreign power. God is making his worst fears a tangible reality, linking the judgment directly to his foreboding sense of doom. The term for "afraid" (דֹּאֵג, `doeg`) carries connotations of worry, anxiety, and dread.
- even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon (אֶל־יַד נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶל, `’el-yaḏ nə·ḇū·ḵaḏ·reṣ·ṣar me·leḵ-bā·ḇel`): Specifies the principal figure of the empire responsible for the coming judgment. The precise naming of the king removes any ambiguity about the instrument of God's wrath and underlines the prophecy's accuracy. The spelling "Nebuchadrezzar" reflects a form consistent within Jeremiah's book.
- and into the hand of the Chaldeans (וְאֶל־יַד הַכַּשְׂדִּים, `wə·’el-yaḏ hak·kaś·dîm`): This adds the collective people (the Babylonians were often referred to as Chaldeans) to the individual king, indicating the full force of their empire. It emphasizes the complete and total capture by the entire enemy power.
- "And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life": This initial declaration underscores God's direct intervention. The active divine hand in delivering the king signifies that his fate is divinely ordained judgment, not random misfortune. It portrays the king as utterly vulnerable before the combined will of God and his enemies.
- "into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them of whom thou art afraid": This pairing powerfully demonstrates that God delivers the king specifically to the very forces he fears and who pose the greatest threat to his existence. It intensifies the dread by showing that the predicted outcome is perfectly aligned with his deepest anxieties. God is fulfilling his judgment through the exact means of the king's dread.
- "even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans": This definitive naming of the specific captors leaves no room for doubt about the prophecy's target and instrument. It moves from general descriptions of "seekers of life" and "those you fear" to the explicit, historically verifiable figures. This precision elevates Jeremiah's prophetic authority and foretells the coming historical events with absolute certainty, ensuring the people understood the identity of their appointed judgment.
Jeremiah 22 25 Bonus section
This prophecy regarding Coniah/Jehoiachin is intensely personal and directly foreshadowed his brief, inglorious end and deportation, thereby verifying Jeremiah's prophetic message against the many false prophets who promised peace. Jehoiachin's quick capture and exile (within months of this prophecy) dramatically confirmed the veracity of God's word through Jeremiah, despite popular disbelief. While Jehoiachin's physical line was not entirely cut off, Jer 22:30 declares that none of his descendants would succeed him on the throne, profoundly impacting the understanding of the Davidic covenant and creating a gap that only a future, pure Davidic "Branch" could truly fill (Jer 23:5-6; 33:15-17). This verse also reminds believers that divine judgment, though often manifesting through human or national agents, ultimately flows from God's righteous character and His absolute control over history.
Jeremiah 22 25 Commentary
Jeremiah 22:25 serves as a chilling and potent declaration of God's active, specific, and unyielding judgment against Jehoiachin, a king who, like his predecessors, failed to lead Judah in obedience to the Lord. God unequivocally states that He personally will deliver the king into the full control of his enemies – specifically Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans – those very powers the king and the people feared most. This isn't merely a prediction of geopolitical events, but a theological statement highlighting divine sovereignty over all earthly powers and destinies. It underscores that Babylon's rise and Judah's fall were not accidental but precisely orchestrated by God as a consequence of His people's sustained idolatry and unrighteousness, making their deepest fears a divinely ordained reality.