Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 13:11

"For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith Jehovah; that they may be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear." — Jeremiah 13:11 (ASV)

The whole house of Israel. —The acted parable includes not only, as in Jeremiah 13:9, Judah, to whom the warning was specially addressed, but also the other great division of the people. The sense of national unity is still strong in the prophet’s mind. Not Judah only, but the whole collective Israel had been as the girdle of Jehovah, consecrated to His service, designed to be, as the girdle was to a man, a praise and glory (Deuteronomy 26:19).