“What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?”
My Notes
What Does Jeremiah 13:21 Mean?
God asks Jerusalem a devastating question: "What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee?" What will your excuse be? What defense will you offer? The question assumes no adequate answer exists—when punishment arrives, Jerusalem will have nothing to say.
The reason for the speechlessness follows: "thou hast taught them to be captains and as chief over thee." Jerusalem trained her own enemies. She elevated the foreign powers that now rule over her. The very nations that oppress her gained their position because Jerusalem cultivated the relationship, sought the alliance, and gave them access. She taught them to be her masters.
The final image—sorrows taking hold like a woman in labor—returns to the childbirth metaphor used throughout Jeremiah. The punishment arrives with the inevitability and intensity of labor: unstoppable, overwhelming, beyond negotiation. And just as labor is the consequence of a previous act, the sorrow is the consequence of Jerusalem's own cultivation of the powers that now dominate her.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What have you 'taught to be captain' over you—a habit, relationship, or pattern that you elevated and that now controls you?
- 2.When consequences arrive for something you caused, can you honestly say 'I did this to myself,' or do you look for someone else to blame?
- 3.How do you dethrone something you yourself enthroned? What does that process look like?
- 4.God's question assumes no adequate excuse exists. When He confronts you with consequences, what will you say?
Devotional
"What will you say when He punishes you?" God asks the question, and the silence that follows is the answer. There's nothing to say. Because the punishment isn't coming from a stranger—it's coming from the people you trained to rule over you. You gave them the power. You taught them to be captains. You elevated them to chief. And now they're doing exactly what you equipped them to do.
This is one of the most painful dynamics in human experience: suffering under the authority of something you created. The relationship you gave too much power to. The habit you cultivated until it controlled you. The pattern you established until it became your master. You trained it. You taught it. You gave it access. And now it rules.
God's question—what will you say?—isn't rhetorical cruelty. It's a mirror. When the consequences arrive, there will be no external party to blame. The thing that punishes you is the thing you elevated. The captain you're suffering under is the one you trained. The only honest answer to God's question is: I did this to myself.
If you're under the authority of something you gave power to—a habit, a relationship, a pattern, a dependency—this verse asks the uncomfortable question: what will you say when the punishment arrives? When the thing you trained to be captain acts like a captain? The only productive answer is confession: I taught them. I elevated them. And I need God's help to dethrone what I enthroned.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
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Cross References
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