What is the meaning of Jeremiah 38:21?

But if you refuse to surrender

- A genuine, God-given choice is set before King Zedekiah. The siege is real, yet his decision still carries weight (Jeremiah 38:17-18).

- Scripture frequently frames obedience in simple, literal alternatives of life or death (Jeremiah 21:8-9; Deuteronomy 30:19).

- Refusal equals rebellion against the clear will of God, echoing Saul’s disobedience in 1 Samuel 15:23.

- Personal accountability is front-and-center; each person answers for how he responds when God speaks (Ezekiel 18:30-32).

---

This is the word

- “The word” signals unchanging divine authority—the same voice that created light (Genesis 1:3) and that never returns void (Isaiah 55:11).

- Once God has spoken, no human counsel can overturn it (Numbers 23:19; Psalm 119:89).

- Jeremiah’s role is to transmit, not edit, the message (Jeremiah 1:7-9; 26:2).

---

that the LORD has shown me

- “Shown” points to revelation; Jeremiah is reporting what he has seen and heard from God (Jeremiah 24:1-3; Amos 3:7).

- The covenant name LORD grounds the warning in God’s faithfulness: the same LORD who delivered Israel now commands surrender to Babylon (Jeremiah 27:5-6).

- Prophetic integrity requires Jeremiah to pass on the word exactly as received, even under persecution (Jeremiah 38:4-6; Acts 5:29).

---

summary

Jeremiah 38:21 delivers a conditional, unequivocal warning: if Zedekiah rejects God’s directive to yield, he will reap the judgment detailed in the following verses. The line stresses individual responsibility, the absolute authority of God’s spoken word, and the prophet’s duty to relay revelation without alteration. Refusing to surrender would mean resisting not merely Babylon but the LORD Himself, with inevitable, literal consequences.