Jeremiah 4:17

17 They hem her in like those guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me, declares 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 A voice declares from Dan; someone proclaims disaster from the highlands of Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations, proclaim it to Jerusalem! Armies are approaching from a far-away country, raising their war cries against the towns of Judah.
17 They hem her in like those guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me, declares the LORD.
18 Your own conduct, your own deeds have done this to you. This is your payment and how bitter it is, piercing into the depths of your heart.
19 Oh, my suffering, my suffering! My pain is unbearable; my heart is in turmoil; it throbs nonstop. I can't be silent, because I hear the blast of the trumpet and the roar of the battle cry!
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