My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

JEREMIAH 10:20KJV
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Jeremiah 10:20 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 10:20 mean?

Jeremiah 10:20 describes a scene of deep loss and devastation, using the image of a ruined tent to show that the speaker’s home and family have been destroyed and scattered, leaving no one to help rebuild. The verse expresses grief over the loss of community and stability, picturing a life that has fallen apart with no hope of restoration.

In this verse, the prophet Jeremiah is speaking about the destruction facing the people of Judah because of their unfaithfulness to God. The “tabernacle” or tent represents the nation or family, and the “cords” and “curtains” are the parts that hold it together. Jeremiah’s words reflect the pain of exile: the people (his “children”) are gone, and there is no one left to restore what has been lost.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 10:20

  • “Tabernacle” (אֹהֶל, ohel) means a tent or dwelling. Here, it stands for the whole household or nation, not just a physical structure.
  • “Spoiled” (שָׁדַד, shadad) means to be plundered or laid waste. This word emphasizes the violence and totality of the destruction.
  • “Cords” (מֵיתָר, meytar) are the ropes that hold a tent together. Their being “broken” (נָתַק, nathaq) shows that the very things holding life together have snapped, making the tent (life or nation) collapse.
  • “Children” (בֵּן, ben) refers to descendants or people belonging to the household. Their absence underlines the loss of future and hope.

Why Jeremiah 10:20 matters

  • Jeremiah 10:20 uses the image of a tent to make the destruction of Judah personal and vivid, helping readers feel the emotional weight of exile.
  • The verse clarifies that the loss is not just physical but relational and communal—without people (“children”), even the possibility of rebuilding is gone.
  • This verse connects to the wider message of Jeremiah 10, which contrasts the living God with powerless idols and warns of the consequences of turning away from God.

Where else these words appear

“cords” Hebrew H4340 · used in 9 verses

  • Exodus 35:18 The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords,
  • Numbers 3:26 And the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof.
  • Numbers 4:32 And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden.

“broken” Hebrew H5423 · used in 26 verses

  • Leviticus 22:24 Ye shall not offer unto the LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land.
  • Job 17:11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.
  • Jeremiah 2:20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

“curtains” Hebrew H3407 · used in 32 verses

  • Exodus 26:1 Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.
  • Exodus 26:12 And the remnant that remaineth of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remaineth, shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle.
  • Exodus 36:16 And he coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves.

“spoiled” Hebrew H7703 · used in 47 verses

  • Judges 5:27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
  • Jeremiah 4:20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
  • Jeremiah 49:3 Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.