The Prophets · Old Testament
Jeremiah 4
Jeremiah 4: the alarm of war and the earth without form and void
General context
The Lord tells Israel that if she returns and puts away her abominations she will not be removed. To the men of Judah and Jerusalem he says to break up their fallow ground and circumcise their hearts, lest his fury burn like fire. Then the alarm begins: blow the trumpet, gather into the defenced cities, set up the standard toward Zion, because the Lord brings evil from the north. A lion has come up from his thicket, the destroyer of the Gentiles, to make the land desolate. The king's heart and the princes' heart will perish. The prophet cries that the Lord has greatly deceived the people by saying they would have peace while the sword reaches the soul. A dry wind comes, and the enemy comes up as clouds with chariots like a whirlwind and horses swifter than eagles. Jerusalem is told to wash her heart. A voice from Dan and mount Ephraim publishes affliction, and watchers from a far country surround the rebellious city like keepers of a field. The speaker cries, My bowels, my bowels, at the sound of the trumpet, with destruction upon destruction. The Lord calls his people sottish children. The prophet beholds the earth without form and void, the heavens without light, the mountains trembling, no man, the birds fled, the fruitful place a wilderness. The Lord says the whole land will be desolate, yet he will not make a full end. The city flees from horsemen and bowmen into thickets and rocks. Though she dresses in crimson and gold, her lovers will seek her life. The chapter ends with the daughter of Zion in travail crying Woe is me now, wearied because of murderers.
Cited passages: Jeremiah 4:1, Jeremiah 4:2, Jeremiah 4:3, Jeremiah 4:4, Jeremiah 4:5, Jeremiah 4:6, Jeremiah 4:7, Jeremiah 4:9, Jeremiah 4:10, Jeremiah 4:11, Jeremiah 4:13, Jeremiah 4:14, Jeremiah 4:15, Jeremiah 4:16, Jeremiah 4:17, Jeremiah 4:19, Jeremiah 4:20, Jeremiah 4:22, Jeremiah 4:23, Jeremiah 4:24, Jeremiah 4:25, Jeremiah 4:26, Jeremiah 4:27, Jeremiah 4:28, Jeremiah 4:29, Jeremiah 4:30, Jeremiah 4:31
Jeremiah 4 (KJV)
1If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
2And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
3For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
4Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
5Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
6Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
8For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us.
9And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
10Then said I, Ah, Lord God! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
11At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
12Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.
13Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
14O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
15For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
16Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.
17As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord.
18Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.
19My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
20Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
21How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
24I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
25I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
26I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger.
27For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
28For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
29The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
30And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
31For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
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Historical context
The speakers shift without labels. Verses 1 through 9 carry "saith the Lord." Verse 10 is marked "Then said I," and the speaker addresses the Lord God with the charge "thou hast greatly deceived this people," which the text records as the prophet's own words, not the Lord's. Verses 19 through 21 are a first-person cry of physical pain at the trumpet, and verses 23 through 26 are a first-person report of what "I beheld"; the text does not name the speaker, though the surrounding verses are the prophet's. Verse 22 returns to "my people," the Lord's phrase. The enemy is called a lion, the destroyer of the Gentiles, watchers from a far country, and a people with horsemen and bowmen coming from the north; no nation is named. Dan and mount Ephraim are named as the places from which the voice declares affliction, and Zion, Judah and Jerusalem as those addressed. The four-fold "I beheld" describes the earth as "without form, and void," the heavens without light, the mountains trembling, no man, and the birds fled. The narrator does not say whether this is a vision or a description; it is stated as seen. Verse 27 limits the desolation: "yet will I not make a full end," a phrase repeated in chapter 5. The final verse describes the daughter of Zion's cry as "the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child."
Cited passages: Jeremiah 4:1, Jeremiah 4:9, Jeremiah 4:10, Jeremiah 4:15, Jeremiah 4:16, Jeremiah 4:19, Jeremiah 4:22, Jeremiah 4:23, Jeremiah 4:25, Jeremiah 4:27, Jeremiah 4:29, Jeremiah 4:31
Literary context
The chapter begins with conditions, if thou wilt return, and moves quickly into commands to sound alarm. The trumpet and the standard appear in verse 5 and 6 and return in verse 21, where the speaker asks how long he must see the standard and hear the trumpet. Agricultural images frame the start: fallow ground, thorns, circumcision of the heart. Animal and weather images carry the invasion: the lion from his thicket, the dry wind, clouds, whirlwind, horses swifter than eagles. The four-fold repetition "I beheld, and, lo" in verses 23 through 26 strips the world down step by step, from formless earth to darkened heavens to trembling mountains to absent people and birds, and then to broken cities. The prophet's protest in verse 10, that the Lord said Ye shall have peace, sets up the theme of false peace that chapters 6 and 8 take up in the words Peace, peace; when there is no peace. Verse 18 answers with the cause, thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee, echoing 2:17. The closing contrast is between a woman adorned in crimson and gold and a woman in travail, and the last word is murderers.
Cited passages: Jeremiah 4:1, Jeremiah 4:3, Jeremiah 4:4, Jeremiah 4:5, Jeremiah 4:6, Jeremiah 4:7, Jeremiah 4:10, Jeremiah 4:11, Jeremiah 4:13, Jeremiah 4:18, Jeremiah 4:21, Jeremiah 4:23, Jeremiah 4:24, Jeremiah 4:25, Jeremiah 4:26, Jeremiah 4:30, Jeremiah 4:31
Key moments
- Break up your fallow ground (Jeremiah 4:3). The Lord tells the men of Judah and Jerusalem not to sow among thorns.
- Blow the trumpet (Jeremiah 4:5). The alarm is sounded to gather into the defenced cities.
- The lion from his thicket (Jeremiah 4:7). The destroyer of the Gentiles sets out to make the land desolate.
- Thou hast greatly deceived (Jeremiah 4:10). The prophet protests that the people were told they would have peace while the sword reaches the soul.
- My bowels, my bowels (Jeremiah 4:19). The speaker is pained at heart at the sound of the trumpet and the alarm of war.
- Without form, and void (Jeremiah 4:23). The prophet beholds the earth formless and the heavens without light.
- Not a full end (Jeremiah 4:27). The Lord says the whole land will be desolate but he will not make a full end.
For reflection
The prophet says to the Lord, thou hast greatly deceived this people, saying, Ye shall have peace. How does the chapter let a complaint against the Lord stand inside a message from the Lord?
