And many nations will pass by this city; and everyone will say to his neighbor, ‘Why has the Lord done so to this great city?’
Parallel translations
- WEB “Many nations will pass by this city, and they will each ask his neighbor, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this great city?’
- KJV And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?
- BSB And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’
- NASB “Many nations will pass by this city; and they will say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this great city?’
- NLT “People from many nations will pass by the ruins of this city and say to one another, ‘Why did the Lord destroy such a great city?’
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
Passing nations will ask why the LORD destroyed such a great city. The ruin of Jerusalem will become a question on the world's lips.
Overview
The desolation of Jerusalem will be so striking that travelers from many nations will wonder at it. This echoes the covenant warning in Deuteronomy that the nations would ask why God brought such disaster. The public nature of the judgment serves a witness function, declaring to all peoples the seriousness of forsaking the living God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Kgs 9:8–9Though this house is so high, yet everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this land, and to this house?’
- 2 Chr 7:20–22then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
- Deut 29:23–26and that all of its land is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, doesn’t produce, nor does any grass grow in it, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath;
- Lam 2:15–17All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men called ‘The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’?”
- Lam 4:12The kings of the earth didn’t believe, neither did all the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem.
- Jer 16:10It shall happen, when you shall show this people all these words, and they ask you, ‘Why has Yahweh pronounced all this great evil against us?’ or ‘What is our iniquity? or ‘What is our sin that we have committed against Yahweh our God?’
- Dan 9:7Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as it is today; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.
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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 22:8 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.