For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.

JEREMIAH 37:10KJV
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Jeremiah 37:10 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 37:10 mean?

Jeremiah 37:10 warns that even if the people of Jerusalem managed to defeat the entire Babylonian army, leaving only wounded soldiers behind, those survivors would still be able to rise up and destroy the city by fire. The verse stresses that Jerusalem’s fate is sealed, and no human effort can prevent its destruction.

In this verse, the prophet Jeremiah is speaking God’s message to King Zedekiah and the people of Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege. The people hoped for deliverance, but Jeremiah insists that even the most unlikely scenario—only wounded Babylonian soldiers remaining—would not save the city. This highlights the certainty of Jerusalem’s coming judgment because of its persistent disobedience.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 37:10

  • "Smitten" (נָכָה, nakah) means to strike or defeat. The verse uses this word to picture a total victory over the Babylonian army, which is shown to be impossible to achieve.
  • "Wounded" (חָלָל, chalal) refers to those who are injured or pierced. Even these weakened survivors are said to be capable of carrying out God’s judgment, showing that the threat is not about human strength but about God’s will.
  • "Rise up" (קוּם, qum) means to stand or get up. The idea is that even the wounded could recover enough to fulfill God’s purpose of burning the city.
  • "Burn" (שָׂרַף, saraph) is to set on fire or destroy by fire. The verse emphasizes that the destruction of Jerusalem is certain, no matter how weak the attackers might seem.

Why Jeremiah 37:10 matters

  • Jeremiah 37:10 clears up any false hope that Jerusalem could escape destruction by military means, even if the enemy seems defeated or powerless.
  • The verse emphasizes that the real issue is not military strength but God’s declared judgment; human strategies cannot overturn what God has decided.
  • This warning fits into Jeremiah’s larger message that trust in political alliances or military might is futile when God’s word has pronounced judgment.

Where else these words appear

“wounded” Hebrew H1856 · used in 10 verses

  • Numbers 25:8 And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
  • 1 Chronicles 10:4 Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.
  • Lamentations 4:9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.

“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.

“burn” Hebrew H8313 · used in 107 verses

  • Genesis 11:3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
  • Joshua 7:15 And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.
  • Nehemiah 4:2 And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?

“remained” Hebrew H7604 · used in 123 verses

  • Genesis 7:23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
  • Joshua 13:1 Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.
  • Ezra 9:15 O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.