Jeremiah 4:10

10 Then said I, "Ah, Lord GOD! Surely Thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, `Ye shall have peace,' whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul."

Jeremiah 4:10 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 4:10

Then said I, ah, Lord God!
&c.] Expressing great sorrow and concern: this "ah" is by way of lamentation. The Targum interprets it as a petition,

``and I said, receive my prayer, O Lord God:''

surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem:
what the false prophets did, that God is said to do, because he suffered them to deceive the people; see ( 1 Kings 22:20-23 ) . The Targum ascribes the deception to the false prophets, and not to God,

``surely behold the false prophets deceive this people, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem;''

or this may be ironically said, because the false prophets pretended to speak in the name of the Lord; wherefore Jeremiah says, "surely thou hast greatly deceived" "saying, ye shall have peace"; as the false prophets did, ( Jeremiah 6:14 ) : whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul;
takes away the life, many are slain by it; so the Targum,

``and now behold the sword killeth among the people;''

great slaughter is made by it. L'Empereur ^F23 observes that the word here used signifies, in the Arabic language, to educate or bring up; and then the sense is,

``ah, Lord, thou hast brought up this people with great tenderness, and promised them all manner of happiness; but now thou thunderest out threatenings of calamities of all sorts, and death itself; and assigned a place for the sword to enter into their very souls;''

so the Arabic word <arabic> used in the version of ( Acts 22:2 ) ( 1 Timothy 4:6 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F23 Not. ad Mosis Kimchi, (odoiporia) , p. 186.

Jeremiah 4:10 In-Context

8 For this, gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl; for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

9 "And it shall come to pass at that day," saith the LORD, "that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder."

10 Then said I, "Ah, Lord GOD! Surely Thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, `Ye shall have peace,' whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul."

11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem: "A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people -- not to fan, nor to cleanse --

12 even a full wind from those places shall come unto Me. Now also will I give sentence against them."