Jeremiah 13:18

18 Say to the king and the queen mother: "Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head."

Jeremiah 13:18 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 13:18

Say unto the king, and to the queen
Jehoiachin, and his mother Nehushta, as it is generally interpreted by the Jewish commentators, and others; who, with many princes and officers, were carried captive into Babylon, ( 2 Kings 24:12-15 ) or rather Zedekiah and his wife; since the captivity after threatened is a perfect and complete one, which Jehoiachin's was not: humble yourselves, sit down;
or, "sit down humbled" F4; come down from your thrones, and sit in the dust; humble yourselves before the Lord for your own sins, and the sins of the people; in times of general corruption, and which threatens a nation with ruin, it becomes kings and princes to set an example of repentance, humiliation, and reformation; though it may be this is rather a prediction of what would be, that they should descend from their throne, and lose their grandeur, and be in a low and abject condition, than an exhortation to what was their duty; since it follows: for your principalities shall come down;
their royal state and greatness, and all the ensigns of it; and especially such as they had upon their heads, as the word used denotes, and as the following explanation shows: even the crown of your glory;
or glorious crown, which should fall from their heads, or be taken from them, when they should be no more served in state, or treated as crowned heads.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 (wbv wlypvh) "degite humiliter", Castalio; "abjectissime considite", Junius & Tremellius; "loco humili considite", Piscator

Jeremiah 13:18 In-Context

16 Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness.
17 But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock has been taken captive.
18 Say to the king and the queen mother: "Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head."
19 The cities of the Negeb are shut up, with none to open them; all Judah is taken into exile, wholly taken into exile.
20 "Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock?
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.