Jeremiah 6:25

25 Don't dare go outdoors! Don't leave the house! Death is on the prowl. Danger everywhere!

Jeremiah 6:25 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 6:25

Go not forth into the field
Either for pleasure, or for business; to take a walk in it for the air, or to till it, plough, sow, or reap; but keep within the city and its walls, there being danger: nor walk by the way;
in the high road from Jerusalem, to any town or village near it: for the sword of the enemy:
or, "because there is a sword for the enemy" ^F2; or, "the enemy has a sword"; and that drawn; the enemy is in the field, and in the ways, and there is no escaping him: and fear is on every side;
all round the city, being encompassed by the Assyrian army: or, the enemy's sword "is fear on every side" ^F3; causes fear in all parts round the city. The Targum is,

``because the sword of the enemy kills those who are gathered round about;''

or on every side.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (bwyal brx yk) "quoniam gladius est inimico", Munster, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius; "quia (ibi) gladius (qui) hosti", Schmidt.
F3 Gataker.

Jeremiah 6:25 In-Context

23 Armed to the teeth, vicious and pitiless, Booming like sea storm and thunder - tramp, tramp, tramp - riding hard on war horses, In battle formation against you, dear Daughter Zion!"

24 We've heard the news, and we're as limp as wet dishrags. We're paralyzed with fear. Terror has a death grip on our throats.

25 Don't dare go outdoors! Don't leave the house! Death is on the prowl. Danger everywhere!

26 "Dear Daughter Zion: Dress in black. Blacken your face with ashes. Weep most bitterly, as for an only child. The countdown has begun . . . six, five, four, three . . . The Terror is on us!"

27 God gave me this task: "I have made you the examiner of my people, to examine and weigh their lives.