Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 13

Verses 1-27

The account of this time of communion between Jeremiah and Jehovah ends with the story of how Jehovah gave him two signs, one for himself and one for the people. That for himself was the sign of the girdle which he was to wear, then to hide by Euphrates, and then to seek in order to see its worthlessness. The significance of the sign was clearly stated to him. The girdle was the emblem of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah.

The second sign was a spoken one in the form of a proverb, "Every bottle shall be fled with wine." This he was to declare in the hearing of the people. Their obvious retort would be, 'Do we not know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?" In answer he was commanded to declare that God would fill the rulers with drunkenness, and dash them one against another.

The account closes with the cry of the prophet to the people to hear, the last charge of Jehovah, which is a call to the king and queen mother, Jehoahaz and Hamutal; and an announcement of the coming judgment and its cause, the declaration of the hopelessness of the case, and a final pronouncement of doom.