Jeremiah 4:17

17 Like guards in a field they surround her, because she has rebelled against me," says ADONAI.

Jeremiah 4:17 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 4:17

As keepers of a field, are they against her round about
As those that are set to watch a field, in which are fruit and corn of any sort, that thieves and robbers, and wild beasts, may not enter to waste and destroy, and are placed on all sides for that purpose; so the Chaldeans were round about Jerusalem, that none could make their escape out of it; see ( 2 Kings 25:4 ) : because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord;
it was not without reason that the Lord suffered the Chaldeans to come against Jerusalem, besiege, and take it; the inhabitants of it had rebelled against him, their King and their God; and therefore he delivers them up into the hands of another lord, and a cruel one; they had provoked him to anger with their sins, and caused him to stir up his wrath against them in this way: rebellion against a prince, or against a parent, is a provoking sin; see ( 1 Samuel 15:23 ) ( Isaiah 1:2 ) .

Jeremiah 4:17 In-Context

15 For a voice is announcing the news from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Efrayim:
16 "Report it to the nations, proclaim about Yerushalayim: '[Enemies] are coming from a distant country, watching and shouting their war cry against the cities of Y'hudah.'
17 Like guards in a field they surround her, because she has rebelled against me," says ADONAI.
18 "Your own ways and your actions have brought these things on yourselves. This is your wickedness, so bitter! It has reached your very heart."
19 My guts! My guts! I'm writhing in pain! My heart! It beats wildly - I can't stay still! - because I have heard the shofar sound; it's the call to war.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.