Jeremiah 13 · Verse 23

Jeremiah 13:23

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Jeremiah 13:23, King James Version

Jeremiah 13:23 in other translations

BSB	Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good— you who are accustomed to doing evil.
WEB	Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
ASV	Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
YLT	Doth a Cushite change his skin? and a leopard his spots? Ye also are able to do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
DARBY	Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
BBE	Is it possible for the skin of the Ethiopian to be changed, or the markings on the leopard? Then it might be possible for you to do good, who have been trained to do evil.
Webster	Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

What does Jeremiah 13:23 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

23. Ethiopian--the Cushite of Abyssinia. Habit is second nature; as therefore it is morally impossible that the Jews can alter their inveterate habits of sin, nothing remains but the infliction of the extremest punishment, their expatriation (Jr 13:24).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin - Can a black, at his own pleasure, change the color of his skin? Can the leopard at will change the variety of his spots? These things are natural to them, and they cannot be altered; so sin, and especially your attachment to idolatry, is become a second nature; and we may as well expect the Ethiopian to change his skin, and the leopard his spots, as you to do good, who have been accustomed to do evil. It is a matter of the utmost difficulty to get a sinner, deeply rooted in vicious habits, brought to the knowledge of himself and God. But the expression does not imply that the thing is as impossible in a moral as it is in a natural sense: it only shows that it is extremely difficult, and not to be often expected; and a thousand matters of fact prove the truth of this. But still, what is impossible to man is possible to God. See the note on Jer 13:27.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Jeremiah 13:18-27

Here is a message sent to king Jehoiakim, and his queen. Their sorrows would be great indeed. Do they ask, Wherefore come these things upon us? Let them know, it is for their obstinacy in sin. We cannot alter the natural colour of the skin; and so is it morally impossible to reclaim and reform these people. Sin is the blackness of the soul; it is the discolouring of it; we were shapen in it, so that we cannot get…

Read the full comment on Jeremiah 13:18-27 →

Jeremiah 13:23 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.

הֲיַהֲפֹ֤ךְha.ya.ha.Fokh¿ will he changeH2015

כּוּשִׁי֙ku.Shia CushiteH3569

עוֹר֔וֹo.Roskin hisH5785

וְנָמֵ֖רve.na.Merand a leopardH5246

חֲבַרְבֻּרֹתָ֑יוcha.var.bu.ro.Tavspots itsH2272

גַּם\־gam-alsoH1571

אַתֶּם֙'a.TemyouH859

תּוּכְל֣וּtu.khe.Luyou will be ableH3201

לְהֵיטִ֔יבle.hei.Tivto do goodH3190

לִמֻּדֵ֖יli.mu.DeiO [those] trainedH3928

הָרֵֽעַ\׃ha.Re.a'<of> to do evilH7489

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

Cross references for Jeremiah 13:23

Jeremiah 2:22
For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God.
Jeremiah 9:5
And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
Matthew 19:24-28
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? …
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jeremiah 5:3
O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
Jeremiah 2:30
In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
Isaiah 1:5
Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Jeremiah 6:29-30
The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.
Proverbs 27:22
Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Ethiopian.
2:22,30; 5:3; 6:29,30; 17:9; Pr 27:22; Isa 1:5; Mt 19:24-28
accustomed. Heb. taught.
9:5

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

Context

Jeremiah 13:22
And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.
Jeremiah 13:23
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
Jeremiah 13:24
Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.

Read all of Jeremiah 13

Jeremiah 13:23 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	¿Mudará el negro su pellejo, y el leopardo sus manchas? Así también podréis vosotros hacer bien, estando habituados á hacer mal.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	L’Éthiopien peut-il changer sa peau, et le léopard ses taches? Alors aussi vous pourrez faire le bien, vous qui êtes instruits à faire le mal. –
German Elberfelder 1871	Kann ein Mohr seine Haut wandeln, ein Pardel seine Flecken? dann könntet auch ihr Gutes tun, die ihr an Bösestun gewöhnt seid.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Si mutare potest Æthiops pellem suam, aut pardus varietates suas, et vos poteritis benefacere, cum didiceritis malum.