“So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.”
My Notes
What Does Jeremiah 38:23 Mean?
Jeremiah delivers a devastating personal warning to King Zedekiah: your wives and children will be taken by the Babylonians, you won't escape, and the city will burn. The judgment isn't abstract — it's domestic. The people closest to the king will bear the consequences of his decisions.
The phrase "thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire" places responsibility squarely on Zedekiah. The city won't just be burned — Zedekiah's refusal to surrender will cause it. The destruction isn't inevitable; it's the result of a specific decision the king is making right now. Zedekiah has a choice: surrender and live, or resist and watch everything burn.
The inclusion of wives and children in the judgment underscores the ripple effects of leadership failure. Zedekiah's stubbornness doesn't just cost him — it costs the most vulnerable people in his household. The king's bad decision becomes his family's catastrophe.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Whose 'wives and children' are affected by the decisions you're currently making?
- 2.How does knowing your stubbornness impacts the vulnerable people around you change your willingness to listen?
- 3.When has a leader's bad decision cost you something you didn't choose?
- 4.What would surrender look like in the situation where you're currently resisting?
Devotional
Your wives. Your children. Taken. The city. Burned. And it's your fault.
Jeremiah delivers the most personal possible warning to the king: the consequences of your stubbornness won't be absorbed by you alone. They'll land on the people you love most. Your wives will be led away. Your children will be captured. The city you're supposed to protect will burn because you refused to listen.
The phrase "thou shalt cause" is the most painful part. Not "it will happen" passively. You will cause this. Your decision — right now, in this conversation — determines whether your family is safe or captive. The agency is entirely in your hands, and you're choosing destruction.
This is the terrible weight of leadership: your decisions don't just affect you. The king who stubbornly refuses to surrender doesn't suffer alone. Everyone connected to him — wives, children, citizens — absorbs the consequences of a choice they didn't make. The most personal people in the king's life become the most victimized by the king's failure.
If you're in any position of authority — over a family, a team, a community — this verse says your decisions create consequences for people who trust you. Your stubbornness isn't private. Your refusal to listen isn't contained. The wives and children are always in the blast radius.
What decision are you making right now that might be causing what Jeremiah warns about?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans,.... Not the citizens of Jerusalem; but, as…
So - And. In addition to the ridicule there shall be the miseries of the capture. Thou shalt cause this city to be…
In the foregoing chapter we had the king in close conference with Jeremiah, and here again, though (Jer 38:5) he had…
And they Du. considers this v. an insertion, as adding nothing to what has been said already.
thou shalt cause, etc.]…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture