“Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol?”
The full verse · Jeremiah 22:28 · KJV
Is this a ? is he a wherein is no ? wherefore are they cast , he and his , and are into a which they not?
Asked by
Asked to
The people of Judah and Jerusalem, witnessing the exile of their king and his descendants to Babylon, with implications for understanding all future exile.
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionJeremiah shifts from questioning Coniah’s worthlessness to questioning the reason for exile, forcing Judah to connect the king’s spiritual bankruptcy with his physical removal. The interrogative form makes the audience supply the answer they already know: covenant unfaithfulness brings covenant curses.
The Response
What Scripture recordsNo direct response is recorded to the question itself. Verses 29-30 provide God’s answer through Jeremiah, commanding the earth to hear and declaring Coniah childless regarding succession, confirming the exile as permanent judgment.
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThe third rhetorical question pivots from describing Coniah’s worthlessness to questioning the exile’s cause. The Hebrew wherefore (madua) demands explanation, though the answer is implicit throughout Jeremiah’s ministry. The doubled verb ‘cast out’ and ‘cast into’ emphasizes violent removal, using shalak (to hurl) combined with tulach (to be hurled, thrown). By including ‘his seed,’ Jeremiah extends judgment beyond Coniah personally to dynastic consequences. The phrase ‘land which they know not’ underscores exile’s alienating terror, removal from covenant land to pagan territory. Asking why intensifies the tragedy by forcing recognition that this catastrophe was preventable, resulting directly from rebellion against God’s repeatedly declared terms.
Exile follows rebellion as surely as harvest follows planting. Jeremiah asks ‘why’ not because God’s reasons are mysterious but because Judah refused to face them. We experience spiritual exile when we persist in sin, cast into emotional and relational territories we don’t recognize, wondering how we got there. Deuteronomy 28:63-64 warned that covenant breaking brings scattering among nations where fathers never dwelt. Yet Jeremiah 29:10-14 promises that even in exile, seeking God brings restoration. When you find yourself in an unknown land of consequences, remember that confession shortens exile and God specializes in bringing His people home.
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“Who would not fear thee, O King of nations?”
“Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?”
“Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar?”
“Who can know it?”