This passage of poetry (Jeremiah 18:13–17) is a judgment speech that follows the prose of Jeremiah 18:1–12. The passage before had offered the opportunity for Judah to repent of her rebellion but Jeremiah 18:12 suggested that this was extremely unlikely to happen. It is now clear that Judah has not and will not repent and so the consequences are explained.
Before the judgment itself is announced in Jeremiah 18:16–17, the Lord describes the irrational, almost unbelievable nature and depth of Judah’s wickedness in Jeremiah 18:13–15. The Lord says, Ask among the nations, Who has heard the like of this?
This invitation is plural and is addressed to any among the people of Judah who cares to respond to the challenge. The question is rhetorical and implies a negative answer. Not even among the pagans is there an example of a nation that has been as unfaithful as Judah has been.1 That unfaithfulness is described by the Lord as the virgin Israel
doing horrible things.
By describing Judah as virgin Israel,
the Lord is implying that she should have remained chaste like an unmarried virgin waiting for her husband, but instead she has offered herself to other gods. This could be a reference not only to pagan worship, but to the sexual immorality that went with it.2 The Hebrew word saarurit, translated as horrible
describes behaviour that is morally defiled and repulsive (see Jeremiah 5:30; Jeremiah 23:14; Hosea 6:10).3
13 “Therefore thus says the LORD: Ask among the nations, Who has heard the like of this? The virgin Israel has done a very horrible thing.