Jeremiah 22:20–23, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Jeremiah 22:20–23
Broken Allies Leave Jerusalem Exposed
Allies called lovers collapse, and the cedar nest is no refuge
Jerusalem is told to go up to Lebanon and cry, lift a voice in Bashan, and cry from Abarim, because all her lovers are destroyed. Prosperity from her youth met a refusal to hear; now she is ashamed of those allies as of a thief's shame.
Inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars: how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail. The city that felt enclosed in prestige is addressed as suddenly laboring in pain.
Feminized city speech must not be turned against women
Lovers, shame, and labor pains are political metaphors for broken alliances and coming invasion. They do not blame women for diplomacy, invasion, or betrayal. They do not make childbirth a punishment or treat female pain as a joke.
The unit exposes complacent security among cedar and allies. It is not a warrant to shame victims of political collapse, and it is not a map of modern coalitions.
How this should shape us
Ask which alliances and status symbols are being trusted to do what only justice can do. Do not let city-as-woman language become contempt for women or for people trapped in a failing government.
Teach it back
Explain Jeremiah 22:20–23 in your own words. Name its place in Jeremiah, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: The feminized city image does not blame women or victims for political betrayal and invasion.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Jeremiah 22:20–23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 22:20–23
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.
Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 22:20–23
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.
Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline and passage studies: kings, prophets, nations, yokes, Hananiah, and exile letter; applied to Jeremiah 22:20–23
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.
Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 2 study guide, pp. 1-6: prophetic conflict, politics, exile, and restoration; applied to Jeremiah 22:20–23
Supports: Controls gendered and sexualized rhetoric, Jeremiah's body and confessions, women mourners, celibacy, and ethical reading of violent imagery.
Carvalho, 'Whose Gendered Language of God?,' Currents 43.3 (2016), pp. 13-15; applied to Jeremiah 22:20–23
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Jeremiah 22:20–23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Jeremiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2; fixed commit
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 22:20–23
Open the fixed Hebrew Jeremiah file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Jeremiah with Translator, Textual, and Study Notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; official eBible PDF distribution, NET Bible Second Edition; official PDF accessed 2026
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 22:20–23
Open the official NET Jeremiah PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Jeremiah: Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Themes, and Bible in the World
Terence E. Fretheim and Michael Chan
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current public course accessed 2026
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline and passage studies: kings, prophets, nations, yokes, Hananiah, and exile letter; applied to Jeremiah 22:20–23
Open the Enter the Bible Jeremiah course ↗open university study guide series
Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Jeremiah Parts 1-3 Study Guides
Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub
Yale Bible Study, 2024
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 2 study guide, pp. 1-6: prophetic conflict, politics, exile, and restoration; applied to Jeremiah 22:20–23
Open the Yale Jeremiah and Ezekiel course ↗peer reviewed open access gender critical article
Whose Gendered Language of God? Contemporary Gender Theory and Divine Gender in the Prophets
Corrine L. Carvalho
Currents in Theology and Mission 43.3, 2016
Supports: Controls gendered and sexualized rhetoric, Jeremiah's body and confessions, women mourners, celibacy, and ethical reading of violent imagery.
Exact location: Carvalho, 'Whose Gendered Language of God?,' Currents 43.3 (2016), pp. 13-15; applied to Jeremiah 22:20–23
Open Carvalho on prophetic gender language ↗