Jeremiah 17:4

4 You will lose the inheritance that I gave you. I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you haven't heard of. I will do this because you have stirred up the fire of my anger. It will burn forever.

Jeremiah 17:4 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 17:4

And thou, even thyself
Or, "thou, and in thee" ^F12; that is, thou and those that are in thee, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea; or, "thou even through thyself" ^F13; through thine own fault, by reason of thy sins and iniquities: shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee;
be removed from it, and no longer enjoy it: or, "shalt intermit from thine heritage" {n}; shall not till the land, plough and sow, and reap, and gather the fruits of it: this was enjoined on every seventh year, when the land was to have its rest, or sabbath, ( Exodus 23:10 Exodus 23:11 ) , but this law they did not observe; and now, therefore, whether they would or not, the land should be intermitted, and not tilled and enjoyed by them. The Targum takes in the whole of the sense,

``and I will bring an enemy upon your land; and it shall be desolate as in the year of intermission: and I will take vengeance of judgment upon you, until I remove you from your inheritance which I have given unto you;''

the land of Canaan, which was given them for an inheritance: I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest
not;
the Babylonians in Chaldea; or, as Jerom thinks; the Romans. Of the different reading of these words, (See Gill on Jeremiah 15:13): for ye have I kindled a fire in mine anger;
or by their sins had caused the anger of the Lord to burn like fire: which shall burn for ever;
as it will in hell, and therefore called everlasting fire: here it only means until these people and their country were consumed by the enemy; perhaps some reference is had to the burning of the city and temple by the Babylonians, or Romans, or both. These first four verses are left out by the Septuagint interpreters, Jerom thinks, to spare their own people.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 (Kbw) "qui [sunt] apud te", Junius & Tremellius.
F13 "Per te", Piscator.
F14 (Kytlxnm htjmvw) "ita intermissionen facies", Junius & Tremellius; so Schmidt.

Jeremiah 17:4 In-Context

2 Even their children remember their altars and their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah beside large trees on high hills

3 and on mountains in the open country. I will turn your wealth and all your treasures into loot. I will do this because of your worship sites and your sin throughout all your territory.

4 You will lose the inheritance that I gave you. I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you haven't heard of. I will do this because you have stirred up the fire of my anger. It will burn forever.

5 "This is what the LORD says: Cursed is the person who trusts humans, who makes flesh and blood his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

6 He will be like a bush in the wilderness. He will not see when something good comes. He will live in the dry places in the desert, in a salty land where no one can live.