Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.

JEREMIAH 32:24KJV
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What does Jeremiah 32:24 mean?

Jeremiah 32:24 describes how enemy siege ramps have reached Jerusalem, and the city is now being handed over to the Chaldeans because of war, famine, and disease, just as God had foretold. The verse highlights that everything God said would happen is now visibly taking place.

In this verse, Jeremiah is speaking to God during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. He points out the dire situation: the Babylonian army (the Chaldeans) is attacking, and the city is suffering from violence, hunger, and plague. Jeremiah acknowledges that God’s warnings—spoken through the prophets—are now coming true before everyone’s eyes.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 32:24

  • "mounts" (סֹלְלוֹת, solelot): This word refers to siege ramps or mounds built by attacking armies to breach city walls. Mentioning these ramps shows the seriousness and immediacy of the threat to Jerusalem.
  • "Chaldeans" (כַּשְׂדִּים, Kasdim): This is the term for the Babylonians, who were the dominant empire at the time. Naming them specifically makes clear who the enemy is.
  • "sword" (חֶרֶב, cherev), "famine" (רָעָב, ra’av), and "pestilence" (דֶּבֶר, dever): These three words are often used together in the prophets to describe the main disasters that come with siege and war. Their use here emphasizes the totality of Jerusalem’s suffering.

Why Jeremiah 32:24 matters

  • Jeremiah 32:24 clarifies that the destruction of Jerusalem was not random but the direct fulfillment of God’s warnings, showing the seriousness of ignoring those warnings.
  • The verse emphasizes the reality and undeniability of the situation—what was once a prophecy is now happening in plain sight, reinforcing the reliability of God’s word.
  • By describing the siege so concretely, Jeremiah 32:24 connects the spiritual message of the book with the actual historical events the people were living through.

Where else these words appear

“mounts” Hebrew H5550 · used in 11 verses

  • 2 Samuel 20:15 And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.
  • Jeremiah 6:6 For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
  • Ezekiel 17:17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons:

“pestilence” Hebrew H1698 · used in 48 verses

  • Exodus 5:3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
  • Psalms 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
  • Jeremiah 42:22 Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

“Chaldeans” Hebrew H3778 · used in 80 verses

  • Genesis 11:28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
  • Jeremiah 32:4 And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;
  • Jeremiah 50:1 The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.

“famine” Hebrew H7458 · used in 88 verses

  • Genesis 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
  • 2 Kings 25:3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
  • Jeremiah 29:18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: