The Lord’s response to this threat is judgment. He will punish Jeremiah’s opponents and they will die by the sword, their sons and daughters shall die by famine, and none of them shall be left.
This speaks of war and the famine that follows war. The phrase, Year of their punishment,
does not refer to a literal year but rather to the period of the Lord taking action. This period ultimately took place when the Babylonians invaded Judah.1 The end result, however, is that the Lord vindicates his prophet as he promised he would (Jeremiah 1:7–18) and none of the threats or actual persecution that Jeremiah experienced caused him to step back from his call to proclaim the Lord’s word, no matter how unpopular. But this is more than just protection of his prophet. The Lord is protecting his divine word. Those who mock and reject his word in the way they treat his prophet will be called to account.2
23 and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.”