Jeremiah 4:17

17 They have closed in around her like watchers of a field, because she has rebelled against me, says the Lord.

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 declares from Dan and proclaims disaster from Mount Ephraim.
16 Tell the nations, "Here they are!" Proclaim against Jerusalem, "Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah.
17 They have closed in around her like watchers of a field, because she has rebelled against me, says the Lord.
18 Your ways and your doings have brought this upon you. This is your doom; how bitter it is! It has reached your very heart."
19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent; for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.