Worthy.Bible » YLT » Jeremiah » Chapter 4 » Verse 10

Jeremiah 4:10 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

10 And I say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah, Surely thou hast entirely forgotten this people and Jerusalem, saying, Peace is for you, And struck hath a sword unto the soul!'

Cross Reference

Jeremiah 5:12 YLT

They have lied against Jehovah, And they say, ``It is' not He, Nor come in against us doth evil, Yea, sword and famine we do not see.

Jeremiah 23:17 YLT

Saying diligently to those despising The word of Jehovah: Peace is for you, And `to' every one walking in the stubbornness of his heart they have said: Evil doth not come in unto you.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 YLT

`him,' whose presence is according to the working of the Adversary, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and in all deceitfulness of the unrighteousness in those perishing, because the love of the truth they did not receive for their being saved, and because of this shall God send to them a working of delusion, for their believing the lie, that they may be judged -- all who did not believe the truth, but were well pleased in the unrighteousness.

Romans 1:28 YLT

And, according as they did not approve of having God in knowledge, God gave them up to a disapproved mind, to do the things not seemly;

Romans 1:26 YLT

Because of this did God give them up to dishonourable affections, for even their females did change the natural use into that against nature;

Romans 1:24 YLT

Wherefore also God did give them up, in the desires of their hearts, to uncleanness, to dishonour their bodies among themselves;

Ezekiel 14:9-10 YLT

`And the prophet, when he is enticed, and hath spoken a word -- I, Jehovah, I have enticed that prophet, and have stretched out My hand against him, and have destroyed him from the midst of My people Israel. And they have borne their iniquity: as the iniquity of the inquirer, so is the iniquity of the prophet;

Ezekiel 11:13 YLT

And it cometh to pass, at my prophesying, that Pelatiah son of Benaiah is dying, and I fall on my face, and cry -- a loud voice -- and say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah, an end Thou art making of the remnant of Israel.'

Lamentations 2:21 YLT

Lain on the earth `in' out-places have young and old, My virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword, Thou hast slain in a day of Thine anger, Thou hast slaughtered -- Thou hast not pitied.

Jeremiah 32:17 YLT

`Ah, Lord Jehovah, lo, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power, and by Thy stretched-out arm; there is nothing too wonderful for Thee:

Exodus 9:14 YLT

for, at this time I am sending all My plagues unto thy heart, and on thy servants, and on thy people, so that thou knowest that there is none like Me in all the earth,

Jeremiah 14:13-14 YLT

And I say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah, Lo, the prophets are saying to them: Ye do not see a sword, yea, famine is not to you, For true peace I give to you in this place.' And Jehovah saith unto me: Falsehood the prophets are prophesying in My name, I did not send them, nor command them, Nor have I spoken unto them: A false vision, and divination, and vanity, And the deceit of their own heart, they are prophesying to you.

Jeremiah 8:11 YLT

And they heal the breach of the daughter of my people slightly, Saying, Peace, peace! and there is no peace.

Jeremiah 6:14 YLT

And they heal the breach of the daughter of my people slightly, Saying, `Peace, peace!' and there is no peace.

Jeremiah 4:18 YLT

Thy way and thy doings have done these to thee, This `is' thy vexation, for `it is' bitter, For it hath struck unto thy heart.

Jeremiah 1:6 YLT

And I say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah! lo, I have not known -- to speak, for I `am' a youth.'

Isaiah 63:17 YLT

Why causest Thou us to wander, O Jehovah, from Thy ways? Thou hardenest our heart from Thy fear, Turn back for Thy servants' sake, The tribes of Thine inheritance.

Isaiah 37:35 YLT

And I have covered over this city, To save it, for Mine own sake, And for the sake of David My servant.'

Isaiah 30:10 YLT

Who have said to seers, `Ye do not see,' And to prophets, `Ye do not prophesy to us Straightforward things, Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits,

1 Kings 22:20-23 YLT

and Jehovah saith, Who doth entice Ahab, and he doth go up and fall in Ramoth-Gilead? and this one saith thus, and that one is saying thus. `And the spirit goeth out, and standeth before Jehovah, and saith, I -- I do entice him; and Jehovah saith unto him, By what? and he saith, I go out, and have been a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets; and He saith, Thou dost entice, and also thou art able; go out and do so. And now, lo, Jehovah hath put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and Jehovah hath spoken concerning thee -- evil.'

Commentary on Jeremiah 4 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 4

Jer 4:1-31. Continuation of Address to the Ten Tribes of Israel. (Jer 4:1, 2). The Prophet Turns Again to Judah, to Whom He Had Originally Been Sent (Jer 4:3-31).

1. return … return—play on words. "If thou wouldest return to thy land (thou must first), return (by conversion and repentance) to Me."

not remove—no longer be an unsettled wanderer in a strange land. So Cain (Ge 4:12, 14).

2. And thou—rather, "And if (carried on from Jer 4:1) thou shalt swear, 'Jehovah liveth,' in truth, &c.", that is, if thou shalt worship Him (for we swear by the God whom we worship; compare De 6:13; 10:20; Isa 19:18; Am 8:14) in sincerity, &c.

and the nations—Rather, this is apodosis to the "if"; then shall the nations bless themselves in (by) Him" (Isa 65:16). The conversion of the nations will be the consequence of Israel's conversion (Ps 102:13, 15; Ro 11:12, 15).

3. Transition to Judah. Supply mentally. All which (the foregoing declaration as to Israel) applies to Judah.

and Jerusalem—that is, and especially the men of Jerusalem, as being the most prominent in Judea.

Break … fallow ground—that is, Repent of your idolatry, and so be prepared to serve the Lord in truth (Ho 10:12; Mt 13:7). The unhumbled heart is like ground which may be improved, being let out to us for that purpose, but which is as yet fallow, overgrown with weeds, its natural product.

4. Remove your natural corruption of heart (De 10:16; 30:6; Ro 2:29; Col 2:11).

5. cry, gather together—rather, "cry fully" that is, loudly. The Jews are warned to take measures against the impending Chaldean invasion (compare Jer 8:14).

6. Zion—The standard toward Zion intimated that the people of the surrounding country were to fly to it, as being the strongest of their fortresses.

7. lion—Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans (Jer 2:15; 5:6; Da 7:14).

his thicket—lair; Babylon.

destroyer of the Gentiles—rather, "the nations" (Jer 25:9).

8. Nothing is left to the Jews but to bewail their desperate condition.

anger … not turned back—(Isa 9:12, 17, 21).

9. heart—The wisdom of the most leading men will be utterly at a loss to devise means of relief.

10. thou hast … deceived—God, having even the false prophets in His hands, is here said to do that which for inscrutable purposes He permits them to do (Ex 9:12; 2Th 2:11; compare Jer 8:15; which passage shows that the dupes of error were self-prepared for it, and that God's predestination did not destroy their moral freedom as voluntary agents). The false prophets foretold "peace," and the Jews believed them; God overruled this to His purposes (Jer 5:12; 14:13; Eze 14:9).

soul—rather, "reacheth to the life."

11. dry wind—the simoom, terrific and destructive, blowing from the southeast across the sandy deserts east of Palestine. Image of the invading Babylonian army (Ho 13:15). Babylon in its turn shall be visited by a similar "destroying wind" (Jer 51:1).

of … high places—that is, that sweeps over the high places.

daughter—that is, the children of my people.

not to fan—a very different wind from those ordinary winds employed for fanning the grain in the open air.

12. full … from those places—rather, "a wind fuller (that is, more impetuous) than those winds" (which fan the corn) (Jer 4:11) [Rosenmuller].

unto me—"for Me," as My instrument for executing My purpose.

sentence—judgments against them (Jer 1:16).

13. clouds—continuing the metaphor in Jer 4:11:12. Clouds of sand and dust accompany the simoom, and after rapid gyrations ascend like a pillar.

eagles—(De 28:49; Hab 1:8).

Woe unto us—The people are graphically presented before us, without it being formally so stated, bursting out in these exclamations.

14. Only one means of deliverance is left to the Jews—a thorough repentance.

vain thoughts—namely, projects for deliverance, such as enlisting the Egyptians on their side. Gesenius translates, "How long wilt thou harbor vain thoughts?"

15. For … from Dan—The connection is: There is danger in delay; for the voice of a messenger announces the approach of the Chaldean enemy from Dan, the northern frontier of Palestine (Jer 8:16; compare Jer 4:6; Jer 1:14).

Mount Ephraim—which borders closely on Judah; so that the foe is coming nearer and nearer. Dan and Beth-el in Ephraim were the two places where Jeroboam set up the idolatrous calves (1Ki 12:29); just retribution.

16. The neighboring foreign "nations" are summoned to witness Jehovah's judgments on His rebel people (Jer 6:18, 19).

watchers—that is, besiegers (compare 2Sa 11:16); observed or watched, that is, besieged.

their voice—the war shout.

17. keepers of a field—metaphor from those who watch a field, to frighten away the wild beasts.

18. (Jer 2:17, 19; Ps 107:17).

this is thy wickedness—that is, the fruit of thy wickedness.

19. The prophet suddenly assumes the language of the Jewish state personified, lamenting its affliction (Jer 10:19, 20; 9:1, 10; Isa 15:5; compare Lu 19:41).

at my very heart—Hebrew, "at the walls of my heart"; the muscles round the heart. There is a climax, the "bowels," the pericardium, the "heart" itself.

maketh … noise—moaneth [Henderson].

alarm—the battle shout.

20. Destruction … cried—Breach upon breach is announced (Ps 42:7; Eze 7:26). The war "trumpet" … the battle shout … the "destructions" … the havoc throughout "the whole land" … the spoiling of the shepherds' "tents" (Jer 10:20; or, "tents" means cities, which should be overthrown as easily as tents [Calvin]), form a gradation.

21. Judah in perplexity asks, How long is this state of things to continue?

22. Jehovah's reply; they cannot be otherwise than miserable, since they persevere in sin. The repetition of clauses gives greater force to the sentiment.

wise … evil … to do good … no knowledge—reversing the rule (Ro 16:19) "wise unto … good, simple concerning evil."

23. Graphic picture of the utter desolation about to visit Palestine. "I beheld, and lo!" four times solemnly repeated, heightens the awful effect of the scene (compare Isa 24:19; 34:11).

without form and void—reduced to the primeval chaos (Ge 1:2).

24. mountains—(Isa 5:25).

moved lightly—shook vehemently.

25. no man … birds—No vestige of the human, or of the feathered creation, is to be seen (Eze 38:20; Zep 1:3).

26. fruitful place—Hebrew, Carmel.

a wilderness—Hebrew, "the wilderness," in contrast to "the fruitful place"; the great desert, where Carmel was, there is now the desert of Arabia [Maurer].

cities—in contrast to the fruitful place or field.

27. full end—utter destruction: I will leave some hope of restoration (Jer 5:10, 18; 30:11; 46:28; compare Le 26:44).

28. For this—on account of the desolations just described (Isa 5:30; Ho 4:3).

not repent—(Nu 23:19).

29. whole city—Jerusalem: to it the inhabitants of the country had fled for refuge; but when it, too, is likely to fall, they flee out of it to hide in the "thickets." Henderson translates, "every city."

noise—The mere noise of the hostile horsemen shall put you to flight.

30. when thou art spoiled—rather, "thou, O destroyed one" [Maurer].

rentest … face with painting—Oriental women paint their eyes with stibium, or antimony, to make them look full and sparkling, the black margin causing the white of the eyes to appear the brighter by contrast (2Ki 9:30). He uses the term "distendest" in derision of their effort to make their eyes look large [Maurer]; or else, "rentest," that is, dost lacerate by puncturing the eyelid in order to make the antimony adhere [Rosenmuller]. So the Jews use every artifice to secure the aid of Egypt against Babylon.

face—rather, thy eyes (Eze 23:40).

31. anguish—namely, occasioned by the attack of the enemy.

daughter of Zion—There is peculiar beauty in suppressing the name of the person in trouble, until that trouble had been fully described [Henderson].

bewaileth herself—rather, "draweth her breath short" [Horsley]; "panteth."

spreadeth … hands—(La 1:17).