And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.

2 KINGS 21:13KJV
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2 Kings 21:13 (KJV)

What does 2 Kings 21:13 mean?

2 Kings 21:13 uses the image of measuring tools and cleaning a dish to describe how God will judge Jerusalem, treating it as He did Samaria and the house of Ahab. The verse says God will wipe Jerusalem clean, turning it upside down, showing a complete removal or reversal.

In this verse, God is speaking through a prophet to warn the people of Jerusalem. The situation is that Jerusalem, under King Manasseh, has become deeply corrupt, much like Samaria and the house of Ahab before it. The verse uses strong visual language to make clear that God’s judgment will be thorough and inescapable, just as one would carefully clean and overturn a dish to remove every trace of food.

The Hebrew behind 2 Kings 21:13

  • The word "line" (קַו, qav) refers to a measuring cord, often used by builders to ensure straightness or to mark out destruction. Here, it signals that Jerusalem will be measured for judgment just as Samaria was.
  • "Plummet" (מִשְׁקֹלֶת, mishqolet) is a tool for measuring vertical alignment, reinforcing the idea of precise and deliberate judgment.
  • The verb "wipe" (מָחָה, machah) is repeated several times in this verse, emphasizing the thoroughness of the action—God will not just punish, but completely remove the current state of Jerusalem, like wiping a dish clean.

Why 2 Kings 21:13 matters

  • This verse clears up that God’s judgment on Jerusalem is not random or partial; it is as precise and total as a builder’s measurement or a dish being wiped and turned upside down.
  • The comparison to Samaria and the house of Ahab shows that Jerusalem is not exempt from consequences, even though it is the city of the temple.
  • The vivid imagery helps readers grasp the seriousness of the coming judgment and connects it to earlier biblical events, showing a pattern in how God deals with persistent wrongdoing.

Where else these words appear

“plummet” Hebrew H4949 · used in 2 verses

  • Isaiah 28:17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

“dish” Hebrew H6747 · used in 3 verses

  • Proverbs 19:24 A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
  • Proverbs 26:15 The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth.

“line” Hebrew H6957 · used in 15 verses

  • 1 Kings 7:23 And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
  • Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
  • Isaiah 44:13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

“wipe” Hebrew H4229 · used in 32 verses

  • Genesis 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
  • Deuteronomy 25:19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.
  • Psalms 109:13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.