Jeremiah 4:30

30 And you, [O] devastated one, what [do] you do, that you put on crimson, that you adorn yourself [with] ornaments of gold, that you make your eyes look bigger with the eye make-up? In vain you beautify yourself. [Your] lovers reject you; they seek your life.

Jeremiah 4:30 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 4:30

And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?
&c.] Or, "O thou spoiled" ^F11, wasted, and undone creature, how wilt thou help thyself? by what means dost thou think thou canst be delivered? it suggests that her ruin was inevitable; that she could not be recovered from it by herself, or any other: though thou clothest thyself with crimson;
and so look like some rich and noble person; hoping thereby to find mercy, and to have quarter given and kindness shown: though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold;
as a person of high and princely dignity: or rather all this is to be understood of the manner of harlots, who dress rich and grand, in order to allure men; since it follows, though thou rendest thy face with painting;
or, eyes ^F12; which painting dilates as Jezebel did, ( 2 Kings 9:30 ) , in vain shalt thou make thyself fair;
so as to be loved and admired: far from it: thy lovers will despise thee;
as an old harlot is despised by her former gallants, notwithstanding all her dressing and painting; yea, their love is often turned into hatred and abhorrence, as would be the case here, they will seek thy life;
to take it away; so far would there be from being any ground of expectations of help and deliverance from them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 (dwdv ytaw) "et tu vastata", Pagninus, Montanus "et tu, res vastata", Cocceius.
F12 (Kynye Kwpb yerqx) "scindes in fuco oculos tuos", Montanus; "rumpes stibio oculos tuos", Schmidt.

Jeremiah 4:30 In-Context

28 Because of this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above will become dark. Because I have spoken, I have planned, and I have not relented, and I will not turn back from it."

29 From the sound of a horseman and {an archer} every town flees, they enter in the thickets and among the rocks they climb. Every town [is] forsaken, and there is no person [who] lives in them.

30 And you, [O] devastated one, what [do] you do, that you put on crimson, that you adorn yourself [with] ornaments of gold, that you make your eyes look bigger with the eye make-up? In vain you beautify yourself. [Your] lovers reject you; they seek your life.

31 For I heard a voice like an ill woman, anxiety like [a woman who] bears her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion. She is gasping for breath, she is spreading out her hands: "Woe is me, for I am becoming tired before killers."