Jeremiah 13:21

KJV1611 – Modern English

What will you say when he shall punish you? For you have taught them to be captains, and as chief over you: shall sorrows not take hold of you, as a woman in labor?

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

מַה־תֹּֽאמְרִי֙ כִּֽי־יִפְקֹ֣ד עָלַ֔יִךְ וְ֠אַתְּ לִמַּ֨דְתְּ אֹתָ֥ם עָלַ֛יִךְ אַלֻּפִ֖ים לְרֹ֑אשׁ הֲל֤וֹא חֲבָלִים֙ יֹאחֱז֔וּךְ כְּמ֖וֹ אֵ֥שֶׁת לֵדָֽה׃

Transliteration

What tōʾmerî when yipqōd upon you, and you limmadt ʾōtām upon you ʾallupîm for rōʾsh? Will not chăbālîm yōʾchĕzûk like ʾēshet lēdâ?

Grammar Details

• *mah*: interrogative - what
• *tōʾmerî*: imperfect, 2nd feminine singular - you will say
• *kî*: conjunction - when
• *yipqōd*: imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - he visits/appoints
• *ʿālayik*: preposition with 2nd feminine singular suffix - over you
• *weʾatt*: conjunction with 2nd feminine singular independent pronoun - and you
• *limmadt*: piel perfect, 2nd feminine singular - you taught
• *ʾōtām*: direct object marker with 3rd masculine plural suffix - them
• *ʾallupîm*: noun, masculine plural - chiefs/friends
• *lerōʾsh*: preposition with noun, masculine singular - for a head
• *hălōʾ*: interrogative with negative particle - will not
• *chăbālîm*: noun, masculine plural - pains/pangs
• *yōʾchĕzûk*: imperfect, 3rd masculine plural with 2nd feminine singular suffix - they will seize you
• *kemô*: preposition - like
• *ʾēshet*: noun, feminine singular construct - woman of
• *lēdâ*: noun, feminine singular - childbirth

Word Meanings

• *yipqōd*: visits/appoints/sets over
• *ʾallupîm*: chiefs/friends/companions/tame ones
• *lerōʾsh*: as head/as leader
• *chăbālîm*: pains/pangs/sorrows

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  What will you say when He appoints leaders over you, those you taught to be rulers? Will not pain seize you like a woman in labor?

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  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?

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  What wilt thou say, when he shall set over thee as head those whom thou hast thyself taught to be friends to thee? shall not sorrows take hold of thee, as of a woman in travail?

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  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?

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  To whom wilt thou make thy mone, when they come vpon the? for thou hast taught the thy self, and made the masters ouer the. Shal not sorowe come vpo the, as on a woman trauelinge with childe?

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  What wilt thou saye, when hee shall visite thee? (for thou hast taught them to be captaines and as chiefe ouer thee) shall not sorow take thee as a woman in trauaile?

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  To whom wilt thou make thy mone when the enemie shall come vpon thee? for thou hast taught them thy selfe, and made them maisters ouer thee: Shall not sorowe come vpon thee as on a woman trauaylyng with childe?

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  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?

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  What will you say, when he shall set over you as head those whom you have yourself taught to be friends to you? shall not sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in travail?

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  What dost thou say, when He looketh after thee? And thou -- thou hast taught them `to be' over thee -- leaders for head? Do not pangs seize thee as a travailing woman?

• American Standard Version (1901)

  What wilt thou say, when he shall set over thee as head those whom thou hast thyself taught to be friends to thee? shall not sorrows take hold of thee, as of a woman in travail?

• American Standard Version (1901)

  What wilt thou say, when he shall set over thee as head those whom thou hast thyself taught to be friends to thee? shall not sorrows take hold of thee, as of a woman in travail?

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  What will you say when he puts over you those whom you yourself have made your friends? will not pains take you like a woman in childbirth?

• World English Bible (2000)

  What will you say, when he shall set over you as head those whom you have yourself taught to be friends to you? shall not sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in travail?

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  What will you say when the LORD appoints as rulers over you those allies that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such? Then anguish and agony will grip you like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.

Referenced Verses

• Isa 13:8 : 8 And they will be afraid: pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; they will be in pain as a woman in labor: they will be amazed at one another; their faces will be like flames.
• Jer 4:31 : 31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor, and the anguish as of her that brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewails herself, that spreads her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
• Jer 5:31 : 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will you do in the end thereof?
• Isa 10:3 : 3 And what will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation that shall come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory?
• Jer 38:22 : 22 And, behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those women shall say, Your friends have set you on and have prevailed against you; your feet are sunk in the mire, and they have turned away back.
• Isa 39:2-4 : 2 And Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say and from where did they come to you? And Hezekiah said, They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon. 4 Then he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah answered, They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.
• Jer 48:41 : 41 Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab in that day shall be like the heart of a woman in her pangs.
• Ezek 28:9 : 9 Will you still say before him who slays you, I am God? but you shall be a man, and no God, in the hand of him who slays you.
• 1 Thess 5:3 : 3 For when they say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
• 2 Kgs 16:7 : 7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am your servant and your son; come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.
• Isa 21:3 : 3 Therefore my loins are filled with pain; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was bent over when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it.
• Jer 6:24 : 24 We have heard the report, our hands grow weak; anguish has taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in labor.
• Jer 22:23 : 23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, who makes your nest in the cedars, how gracious shall you be when pangs come upon you, the pain as of a woman in labor!
• Jer 30:6 : 6 Ask now, and see whether a man is in labor with a child? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in labor, and all faces turned pale?