Jeremiah 14:5

5 Even deer in the fields give birth and abandon their young because there's no grass.

Jeremiah 14:5 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 14:5

Yea, the hind also calved in the field
Or brought forth her young in the field; of which see ( Job 39:1-4 ) , and which they sometimes did through fear, particularly when frightened with thunder and lightning; and which are common in a time of heat and drought, which is the case here; see ( Psalms 29:9 ) of these sort of creatures there were great plenty in Judea and the parts adjacent. Aelianus ^F26 says, the harts in Syria are bred on the highest mountains, Amanus, Lebanon, and Carmel; which were mountains on the borders of the land of Canaan; and the flesh of these was much used for food by the Jews; see ( Deuteronomy 12:15 Deuteronomy 12:22 ) ( Deuteronomy 14:4 Deuteronomy 14:5 ) ( 15:22 ) : and forsook it;
which, as it is a loving creature to its mate, so very careful of its young, and provident for it, and nourishes it, as Pliny

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 observes. The reason of such uncommon usage follows: because there was no grass;
for the hind to feed upon, and so had no milk to suckle its young with; and therefore left it to seek for grass elsewhere, that it might have food for itself, and milk for its young.
F26 De Anima. l. 5. c. 56.
F1 Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 32.

Jeremiah 14:5 In-Context

3 Important people send their assistants out for water. They go to the cisterns, but they don't find any water. They come back with their containers empty. They cover their heads, because they are ashamed and disgraced.

4 The ground is cracked because there has been no rain in the land. The farmers are disappointed. They cover their heads.

5 Even deer in the fields give birth and abandon their young because there's no grass.

6 Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills. They sniff the air like jackals. Their eyesight fails because they have no green plants.

7 Do something, LORD, for the sake of your name, even though our sins testify against us. We have been unfaithful and have sinned against you.