Jeremiah 17:4

4 You will relinquish your hold on your heritage which I gave you. I will make you serve your enemies in a land you do not know. For you have kindled my fiery anger, and it will burn forever."

Jeremiah 17:4 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 17:4

And thou, even thyself
Or, "thou, and in thee" ^F12; that is, thou and those that are in thee, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea; or, "thou even through thyself" ^F13; through thine own fault, by reason of thy sins and iniquities: shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee;
be removed from it, and no longer enjoy it: or, "shalt intermit from thine heritage" {n}; shall not till the land, plough and sow, and reap, and gather the fruits of it: this was enjoined on every seventh year, when the land was to have its rest, or sabbath, ( Exodus 23:10 Exodus 23:11 ) , but this law they did not observe; and now, therefore, whether they would or not, the land should be intermitted, and not tilled and enjoyed by them. The Targum takes in the whole of the sense,

``and I will bring an enemy upon your land; and it shall be desolate as in the year of intermission: and I will take vengeance of judgment upon you, until I remove you from your inheritance which I have given unto you;''

the land of Canaan, which was given them for an inheritance: I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest
not;
the Babylonians in Chaldea; or, as Jerom thinks; the Romans. Of the different reading of these words, (See Gill on Jeremiah 15:13): for ye have I kindled a fire in mine anger;
or by their sins had caused the anger of the Lord to burn like fire: which shall burn for ever;
as it will in hell, and therefore called everlasting fire: here it only means until these people and their country were consumed by the enemy; perhaps some reference is had to the burning of the city and temple by the Babylonians, or Romans, or both. These first four verses are left out by the Septuagint interpreters, Jerom thinks, to spare their own people.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 (Kbw) "qui [sunt] apud te", Junius & Tremellius.
F13 "Per te", Piscator.
F14 (Kytlxnm htjmvw) "ita intermissionen facies", Junius & Tremellius; so Schmidt.

Jeremiah 17:4 In-Context

2 As they remember their children, so they remember their altars and their sacred poles by the green trees on the high hills.

3 My mountain in the field, your wealth and all your treasures will be plundered; because of the sin of your high places throughout your territory.

4 You will relinquish your hold on your heritage which I gave you. I will make you serve your enemies in a land you do not know. For you have kindled my fiery anger, and it will burn forever."

5 Here is what ADONAI says: "A curse on the person who trusts in humans, who relies on merely human strength, whose heart turns away from ADONAI.

6 He will be like a tamarisk in the 'Aravah - when relief comes, it is unaffected; for it lives in the sun-baked desert, in salty, uninhabited land.