Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

JEREMIAH 18:21KJV
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Jeremiah 18:21 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 18:21 mean?

Jeremiah 18:21 is a prayer in which Jeremiah asks God to bring severe judgment on his enemies, including famine, violence, and the loss of family members. Jeremiah calls for their children to suffer hunger, their men to die by the sword, and their wives to become widows and bereaved mothers.

Jeremiah is speaking to God after facing threats and hostility from his own people, who have rejected his warnings and plotted against him. This verse is part of a larger section where Jeremiah pours out his distress and asks God to respond to those who seek to harm him. The language is intense and reflects Jeremiah’s deep pain and sense of injustice.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 18:21

  • The word for "famine" (רָעָב, ra'av, H7458) highlights the severity of suffering Jeremiah is calling down, not just general hardship but a life-threatening lack of food.
  • "Pour out" (נָסַךְ, nasakh, H5064) is a vivid verb often used for pouring out a liquid, here used to describe bloodshed, emphasizing the violence Jeremiah is invoking.
  • "Sword" (חֶרֶב, cherev, H2719) appears twice, underlining that Jeremiah is specifically asking for death in battle or by violence, not just natural causes.
  • "Bereaved" (שַׁכּוּל, shakul, H7909) and "widows" (אַלְמָנָה, almanah, H490) focus on the devastating social and emotional consequences for the families left behind.

Why Jeremiah 18:21 matters

  • Jeremiah 18:21 shows the depth of Jeremiah’s anguish and the seriousness of the opposition he faced, correcting the idea that prophets always responded with calm or forgiveness.
  • This verse connects to the larger passage where Jeremiah’s relationship with his community has broken down, helping readers understand the emotional cost of his prophetic calling.
  • The strong language and specific requests for judgment highlight how personal and desperate Jeremiah’s prayers became when he felt betrayed and endangered.

Where else these words appear

“bereaved” Hebrew H7909 · used in 6 verses

  • 2 Samuel 17:8 For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.
  • Proverbs 17:12 Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
  • Song of Solomon 6:6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.

“out” Hebrew H5064 · used in 10 verses

  • 2 Samuel 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
  • Psalms 75:8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
  • Ezekiel 35:5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:

“men” Hebrew H970 · used in 44 verses

  • Deuteronomy 32:25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
  • Isaiah 31:8 Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.
  • Lamentations 1:15 The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.

“widows” Hebrew H490 · used in 54 verses

  • Genesis 38:11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.
  • 2 Samuel 14:5 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead.
  • Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.