Jeremiah 1 · Verse 18

Jeremiah 1:18

For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
Jeremiah 1:18, King James Version

Jeremiah 1:18 in other translations

BSBNow behold, this day I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.
WEBFor behold, I have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.
ASVFor, behold, I have made thee this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
YLTAnd I, lo, I have given thee this day for a fenced city, and for an iron pillar, and for brazen walls over all the land, to the kings of Judah, to its heads, to its priests, and to the people of the land;
DARBYAnd I, behold, I appoint thee this day as a strong city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole land; against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.
BBEFor see, this day have I made you a walled town, and an iron pillar, and walls of brass, against all the land, against the kings of Judah, against its captains, against its priests, and against the people of the land.
WebsterFor behold, I have made thee this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against her princes, against her priests, and against the people of the land.

What does Jeremiah 1:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
18. defenced city, &c.--that is, I will give thee strength which no power of thine enemies shall overcome (Jr 6:27; 15:20; Is 50:7; 54:17; Lu 21:15; Ac 6:10). walls--plural, to express the abundant strength to be given him. De Rossi's'S manuscripts read singular, "wall." people of the land--the general masses, as distinguished from the princes and priests.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and, brazen walls - Though thou shalt be exposed to persecutions and various indignities, they shall not prevail against thee. To their attacks thou shalt be as an impregnable city; as unshaken as an iron pillar; and as imperishable as a wall of brass. None, therefore, can have less cause to apprehend danger than thou hast. The issue proved the truth of this promise: he outlived all their insults; and saw Jerusalem destroyed, and his enemies, and the enemies of his Lord, carried into captivity. Instead of חמות chomoth, walls, many MSS. and editions read חמת chomath, a wall, which corresponds with the singular nouns preceding.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Jeremiah 1:11-19

God gave Jeremiah a view of the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. The almond-tree, which is more forward in the spring than any other, represented the speedy approach of judgments. God also showed whence the intended ruin should arise. Jeremiah saw a seething-pot boiling, representing Jerusalem and Judah in great commotion. The mouth or face of the furnace or hearth, was toward the north; from…

Read the full comment on Jeremiah 1:11-19 →

Jeremiah 1:18 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַאֲנִ֞יva.'a.Niand IH589
הִנֵּ֧הhi.Nehhere!H2009
נְתַתִּ֣יךָne.ta.Ti.khaI have made youH5414
הַיּ֗וֹםhai.Yomthis dayH3117
לְעִ֨ירle.'Irinto a city ofH5892
מִבְצָ֜רmiv.TzarfortificationH4013
וּלְעַמּ֥וּדu.le.'a.Mudand into a pillar ofH5982
בַּרְזֶ֛לbar.ZelironH1270
וּלְחֹמ֥וֹתu.le.cho.Motand into walls ofH2346
נְחֹ֖שֶׁתne.Cho.shetbronzeH5178
עַל\־'al-onH5921
כָּל\־kol-allH3605
הָאָ֑רֶץha.'A.retzthe landH776
לְמַלְכֵ֤יle.mal.Kheito [the] kings ofH4428
יְהוּדָה֙ye.hu.DahJudahH3063
לְשָׂרֶ֔יהָle.sa.Rei.hato officials itsH8269
לְכֹהֲנֶ֖יהָle.kho.ha.Nei.hato priests itsH3548
וּלְעַ֥םu.le.'Amand to [the] people ofH5971
הָאָֽרֶץ\׃ha.'A.retzthe landH776

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Jeremiah 1:18

  • Isaiah 50:7

    For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

  • Ezekiel 3:8-9

    Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

  • Jeremiah 15:20

    And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord.

  • Jeremiah 6:27

    I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.

  • Micah 3:8-9

    But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

  • Jeremiah 37:7

    Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.

  • Jeremiah 34:20-22

    I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which are gone up from you. Behold, I will command, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.

  • Jeremiah 36:27-32

    Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? Therefore thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. …

  • Jeremiah 26:12-15

    Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.

  • Jeremiah 38:2

    Thus saith the Lord, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.

  • Jeremiah 42:22

    Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

  • Jeremiah 21:4-22:30

    Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city. And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence. And afterward, saith the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I have.
6:27; 15:20; Isa 50:7; Eze 3:8,9; Mic 3:8,9; Joh 1:42
against.
21:4-14; 22:1-30; 26:12-15; 34:3,20-22; 36:27-32; 37:7; 38:2,18
42:22

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Jeremiah 1:17

    Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.

  • Jeremiah 1:18

    For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

  • Jeremiah 1:19

    And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.

Read all of Jeremiah 1

Jeremiah 1:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Porque he aquí que yo te he puesto en este día como ciudad fortalecida, y como columna de hierro, y como muro de bronce sobre toda la tierra, á los reyes de Judá, á sus príncipes, á sus sacerdotes, y al pueblo de la tierra.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et moi, voici, je t’établis aujourd’hui comme une ville forte, et comme une colonne de fer, et comme des murailles d’airain, contre tout le pays, contre les rois de Juda, ses princes, ses sacrificateurs, et le peuple du pays.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und ich, siehe, ich mache dich heute zu einer festen Stadt und zu einer eisernen Säule und zu einer ehernen Mauer wider das ganze Land, sowohl wider die Könige von Juda als auch dessen Fürsten, dessen Priester und das Volk des Landes.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Ego quippe dedi te hodie in civitatem munitam, et in columnam ferream, et in murum æreum, super omnem terram, regibus Juda, principibus ejus, et sacerdotibus, et populo terræ.