Jeremiah 4:23

23 I looked at the earth, and behold, it was wasteland and emptiness, and to the heavens, and [they were] without their light.

Jeremiah 4:23 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 4:23

I beheld the earth
The land of Judea, not the whole world; and this the prophet says, either in spirit, as Jerom; or in prophecy, as Kimchi; or in a visionary way; for these are not the words of God continued, as Cocceius, but of the prophet; who, by a prophetic spirit, describes the dreadful destruction of the Jewish nation, as follows: and, lo, it was without form, and void;
as the first earth or chaos was, before it was brought into form and order; the same words, "tohu" and "bohu", are used here, as in ( Genesis 1:2 ) , the land of Judea now was, in the prophet's view of it, like the first earth, when darkness covered it; no grass sprung out of it, not a tree to be seen in it, and neither man nor beast as yet upon it, but all an undigested mass, and in the utmost wild disorder and confusion; and this may denote not only the natural, but the political, and ecclesiastical, disorder of the Jewish nation and state: and the heavens, and they had no light;
that were over the land of Judea;

``their lights did not shine,''
as the Targum paraphrases it; that is, the sun, moon, and stars, which were darkened by the smoke of the burning of Jerusalem; or which withdrew their light, as blushing at, and being ashamed of, the iniquities of his people, and who were unworthy of enjoying the light of them; and which this phrase may denote.

Jeremiah 4:23 In-Context

21 How long must I see [the] banner, [and] hear [the] sound of a horn?
22 "For my people [are] foolish, they have not known me. They [are] foolish children, and they do not have insight. They [are] skillful at doing evil, and they do not know [how] to do good."
23 I looked at the earth, and behold, it was wasteland and emptiness, and to the heavens, and [they were] without their light.
24 I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all of the hills were jolted to and fro.
25 I looked and behold, there was no person, and all of the birds of the sky had fled.
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.