Jeremiah 4:17

17 As the keepers of a field They have been against her round about, For with Me she hath been rebellious, An affirmation of Jehovah.'

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 is declaring from Dan, And sounding sorrow from mount Ephraim.
16 Make ye mention to the nations, Lo, sound ye to Jerusalem: `Besiegers are coming from the land afar off, And they give forth against cities of Judah their voice.
17 As the keepers of a field They have been against her round about, For with Me she hath been rebellious, An affirmation of Jehovah.'
18 Thy way and thy doings have done these to thee, This [is] thy vexation, for [it is] bitter, For it hath struck unto thy heart.
19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained [at] the walls of my heart, Make a noise for me doth My heart, I am not silent, For the voice of a trumpet I have heard, O my soul -- a shout of battle!
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.