Jeremiah 10:20

20 My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth from me, and they are not: there is none to spread my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

Jeremiah 10:20 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 10:20

My tabernacle is spoiled
Not the temple at Jerusalem only, rather Jerusalem itself, as Kimchi; or the whole land, as the Targum,

``my land is wasted:''
the allusion is to the tents of shepherds, and denotes the unstable condition of the Jewish nation: and all my cords are broken:
all the rest of the cities of the land are destroyed, as Kimchi; and so the Targum,
``my cities are spoiled:''
as the cords are what the parts of the tabernacle or tent are fastened and kept together with, they may intend the strength of the nation, which lay in its wealth, its fortresses, and the numbers of its people, now weakened, loosed, and broke. My children are gone forth of me;
into captivity, as the Targum interprets it; the prophet, representing Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah. The Septuagint adds, "and my sheep"; keeping on the metaphor of a shepherd, his tent, and flock. And they are not;
either not in the world, being destroyed by one judgment or another; or rather not in their own land, being carried captive. There is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my
curtains;
which shows the great destruction and desolation of the land, and its inhabitants, that there would be none to set up a shepherd's tent; perhaps the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the rest of the cities, may be meant.

Jeremiah 10:20 In-Context

18 For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel [it].
19 Woe is me because of my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is [my] grief, and I must bear it.
20 My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth from me, and they are not: there is none to spread my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of Jehovah: therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.
22 The voice of tidings, behold, it cometh, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.