Jeremiah 17:4

4 You shall loosen your hand from your heritage which I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land which you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled which shall burn for ever."

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 while their children remember their altars and their Ashe'rim, beside every green tree, and on the high hills,

3 on the mountains in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your sin throughout all your territory.

4 You shall loosen your hand from your heritage which I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land which you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled which shall burn for ever."

5 Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, whose heart turns away from the LORD.

6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.