Jeremiah 15:3

3 I will appoint over them four agents of death, declares the LORD: soldiers to kill, dogs to drag off, and vultures and wild animals to devour and destroy.

Jeremiah 15:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 15:3

And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord
Or four families ^F24, and these very devouring ones; that is, four sorts of punishment; and so the Targum,

``four evil punishments;''

which are after mentioned. These are represented as under God, and at his beck and command; servants of his, that go and come at his pleasure, and do his will; and as being over men, and having power and authority to kill and to destroy by a divine commission: the sword to slay:
the first and chief of the four families or punishments, which had a commission from the Lord to sheath itself in his people, the Jews; even the sword of the enemy, the Chaldeans, drawn against them by a divine order and appointment: and the dogs to tear;
the carcasses of those that are slain with the sword: or "to draw" ^F25; as the word signifies; it being the usual way of dogs to draw and drag the flesh about they are feeding on; this is another of the four families, and a very voracious one it is: and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and
destroy;
or "to eat, and to corrupt", the bodies of those that are slain by the sword. The meaning is, that such should not have a burial, but should be the food of fowls and wild beasts: these are the other two destroying families, which have their commission from the Lord for such service.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (twxpvm ebra) "quatuor familias, [sive] cognationes", Vatablus, Tigurine version, Calvin.
F25 (bwxol) "ad trahendum", Calvin, Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt; so Ben Melech,

Jeremiah 15:3 In-Context

1 The LORD said to me: Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, I wouldn't change my mind about these people. Send them away from me. Let them go!

2 And if they say, "Go where?" tell them, This is what the LORD proclaims: Those marked for death—to death, those marked for war—to war, those marked for famine—to famine, and those marked for exile—to exile.

3 I will appoint over them four agents of death, declares the LORD: soldiers to kill, dogs to drag off, and vultures and wild animals to devour and destroy.

4 Because of what Judah's King Manasseh, Hezekiah's son, has done in Jerusalem, I will make them an object of horror to all nations on earth.

5 Who will pity you, Jerusalem? Who will shed tears over you? Who will stop and ask how you're doing?

Footnotes

• [a] Or families