Jeremiah 14:4

4 Because of the ground, [which] is cracked because there was no rain on the ground. [The] farmers are ashamed, they cover their heads.

Jeremiah 14:4 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 14:4

Because the ground is chapt
Through the violent heat of the sun, and want of rain; or, is broken ^F25; and crumbles into dust. The Targum is,

``because of sins, the inhabitants of the earth are broken:''

for there was no rain in the earth;
this was the reason of the dearth, and of the famine, and why there was no water in the pits, and the ground was parched. It is to be understood of the land of Judea only, not of the whole earth: the ploughmen were ashamed;
because they could not work the earth with their plough; were obliged to sit still, could do no work, or go on with their husbandry; nothing could be done for want of rain: they covered their heads; as before; (See Gill on Jeremiah 14:3).

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 (htx) "confracta", Schmidt; "attritam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Jeremiah 14:4 In-Context

2 "Judah mourns, and her gates languish, they are in mourning on the ground, and the cry of lament of Jerusalem goes up.

3 And their nobles send their servants for water. They come to [the] pits, they find no water. They return [with] their vessels {empty}. They are ashamed, and they are confounded, and they cover their heads.

4 Because of the ground, [which] is cracked because there was no rain on the ground. [The] farmers are ashamed, they cover their heads.

5 For even [the] doe in the field gives birth and forsakes [her young], because there is no green growth.

6 And wild asses stand on [the] barren heights, they gasp [for] breath like the jackals. Their eyes fail because there is no vegetation."

Footnotes

• [a] Hebrew "head"