The captain of the guard called for Jeremiah and said, “The Lord your God has brought this disaster on this land,
Parallel translations
- WEB The captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, “Yahweh your God pronounced this evil on this place;
- KJV And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
- BSB The captain of the guard found Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God decreed this disaster on this place,
- NKJV And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him: “The Lord your God has pronounced this doom on this place.
- NASB Now the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “The Lord your God promised this disaster against this place;
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
The Babylonian captain acknowledges that the LORD, Jeremiah's God, had decreed this disaster. Even a pagan officer recognizes God's hand in Judah's fall.
Overview
Nebuzaradan attributes Jerusalem's destruction directly to Yahweh, an astonishing confession from a Gentile commander. His words echo the prophets' message that the calamity was God's righteous act, not mere geopolitical fortune. This testimony from an outsider underscores that God's sovereignty over the nations is evident even to those outside the covenant.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Deut 29:24–28even all the nations will say, “Why has Yahweh done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?”
- Jer 22:8–9“Many nations will pass by this city, and they will each ask his neighbor, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this great city?’
- 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.
- 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’?”
- 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?’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 40:2 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.