Jeremiah 17:4

4 You will have to give up the land I gave you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land you know nothing about, because my anger is like a fire, 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 Your people worship at the altars and the symbols that have been set up for the goddess Asherah by every green tree and on the hilltops

3 and on the mountains in the open country. I will have your enemies take away your wealth and your treasures because of all the sins you have committed throughout your land.

4 You will have to give up the land I gave you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land you know nothing about, because my anger is like a fire, and it will burn forever."

5 The Lord says, "I will condemn those who turn away from me and put their trust in human beings, in the strength of mortals.

6 He is like a bush in the desert, which grows in the dry wasteland, on salty ground where nothing else grows. Nothing good ever happens to him.

Footnotes

• [a]. [Probable text] You . . . give up; [Hebrew unclear.]