Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 4:19 - 4:31

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 4:19 - 4:31


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The Desolation Following the Lord's Judgment.

The prophet here, in a most dramatic manner, introduces Israel as lamenting over the calamity which has struck the nation.

v. 19. My bowels, my bowels!
the whole inner part of the man quaking with terror. I am pained at my very heart! or, I feel the pain of a severe cramp—the chambers of my heart! My heart maketh a noise in me, moaning with the severity of the affliction; I cannot hold my peace because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war, the shout of battle, as the enemy advances to subdue the land of Israel.

v. 20. Destruction upon destruction is cried,
blow upon blow is reported; for the whole land is spoiled, rendered desolate by the enemy; suddenly are my tents spoiled and my curtains, those out of which the tent was made, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.

v. 21. How long shall I see the standard,
the banner of the advancing enemy, and hear the 'sound of the trumpet? How long would this state of things continue? When would the reports of calamities and disasters cease? The answer of the Lord gives them the proper enlightenment.

v. 22. For My people is foolish,
without the right knowledge of God, they have not known Me, still more emphatic in the Hebrew, "Me have they not known"; they are sottish children, silly and unreasonable, and they have none understanding, no discernment; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge, thereby showing themselves to be the opposite of the ideal held before men in Rom_16:19.

v. 23. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void,
as in the beginning of creation, the prophet thus picturing the dismal waste which would follow the Chaldean invasion, and the heavens, and they had no light; here also a return to chaos.

v. 24. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled,
because the very foundations of the earth were moved, and all the hills moved lightly, as heavy bodies which shake with the slightest disturbance.

v. 25. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man,
the land itself was stripped of its inhabitants, and all the birds of the heavens were fled, preferring to shun the dead wastes beneath them. Note that this description presupposes the account of Genesis 1.

v. 26. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness,
Carmel, the part of Canaan renowned for its fertility, a desert, and all the cities thereof were broken down, sharing in the general devastation, at the presence of the Lord, whose sentence of judgment would thereby be carried out, and by His fierce anger.

v. 27. For thus hath the Lord said,
thus has Jehovah spoken, The whole land shall be desolate, be turned into a desert; yet will I not make a full end, He would not bring about a total annihilation at this time.

v. 28. For this shall the earth mourn,
lamenting on account of the desolations just described, which destroyed its fruitfulness, and the heavens above be black, wearing the garment of mourning, because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, the sentence as carried out rested upon His decree, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it, the ruin had definitely been determined upon on account of the persistent transgressing of the people.

v. 29. The whole city,
or, "every city," all the cities of the land, shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen, as the invading army draws near; they shall go into thickets, their hiding-places, and climb up upon the rocks, seeking refuge before the attacking hordes; every city shall be forsaken and not a man dwell therein. Cf Jdg_6:2; 1Sa_13:6.

v. 30. And when thou art spoiled,
rather, "But thou, O destroyed one," what wilt thou do? How escape the threatened destruction? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, in garments of the most expensive material, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, in decking herself for the purpose of coquetting with heathen nations, though thou rentest thy face with painting, applying antimony black to the eyelids, in order to increase the luster of the eyes, a custom still followed by harlots and vain women in the Orient and elsewhere, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair, all arts exercised to procure the aid of foreign nations would be useless; thy lovers will despise thee, no longer attracted by such artifices, they will seek thy life.

v. 31. For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child,
heartrending wails and moans, the voice of the daughter of Zion, of the Lord's own chosen people, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, panting in her agony, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers, as one who yields to murderers, unable to withstand any longer. Such is the usual fate of men who disregard the warnings and pleadings of the Lord: when it is too late, they begin to mourn and lament, bewailing their fate. But as far as God is concerned, love is still with Him even in the might of His anger.