Limitless Word
“Therefore behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know My hand and My might; And they shall know that My name is the Lord.
Jeremiah 16:21 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB “Therefore behold, I will cause them to know, this once will I cause them to know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is Yahweh.”
  • KJV Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.
  • BSB “Therefore behold, I will inform them, and this time I will make them know My power and My might; then they will know that My name is the LORD.
  • NASB ¶“Therefore behold, I am going to make them know— This time I will make them know My power and My might; And they will know that My name is the Lord.”
  • NLT The Lord says, “Now I will show them my power; now I will show them my might. At last they will know and understand that I am the Lord.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God declares that He will at last make them know His power and might, so they will know that His name is the LORD. Through judgment, even a rebellious people will be brought to acknowledge who He truly is.

Overview

God's purpose in judgment is not merely punitive but revelatory: that they may know His hand, His might, and His name, Yahweh. This recurring aim, that people would know the LORD, runs throughout the prophets. It finds its fullest realization in Christ, through whom God makes His name and saving power known to the ends of the earth (John 17:6).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Ps 9:16Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah.
  • Jer 33:2“Yahweh who does it, Yahweh who forms it to establish it; Yahweh is his name, says:
  • Ps 83:18that they may know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth.
  • Amos 5:8seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is his name,
  • Isa 43:3For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
  • Exod 15:3Yahweh is a man of war. Yahweh is his name.
  • Ezek 6:7The slain shall fall among you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
  • Exod 14:4I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh.” They did so.
  • Ezek 25:14I will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord Yahweh.
  • Ezek 24:27In that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped, and you shall speak, and be no more mute: so you will be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
  • Ezek 24:24Thus Ezekiel shall be a sign to you; according to all that he has done, you will do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.
  • Exod 9:14–18For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Jeremiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Jeremiah 16:21YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JeremiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.

How Jeremiah 16:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.