Jeremiah 4:17

17 The enemy has surrounded Jerusalem as men guard a field, because Judah turned against me,'" says the Lord.

Jeremiah 4:17 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 4:17

As keepers of a field, are they against her round about
As those that are set to watch a field, in which are fruit and corn of any sort, that thieves and robbers, and wild beasts, may not enter to waste and destroy, and are placed on all sides for that purpose; so the Chaldeans were round about Jerusalem, that none could make their escape out of it; see ( 2 Kings 25:4 ) : because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord;
it was not without reason that the Lord suffered the Chaldeans to come against Jerusalem, besiege, and take it; the inhabitants of it had rebelled against him, their King and their God; and therefore he delivers them up into the hands of another lord, and a cruel one; they had provoked him to anger with their sins, and caused him to stir up his wrath against them in this way: rebellion against a prince, or against a parent, is a provoking sin; see ( 1 Samuel 15:23 ) ( Isaiah 1:2 ) .

Jeremiah 4:17 In-Context

15 A voice from Dan makes an announcement and brings bad news from the mountains of Ephraim.
16 "Report this to the nations. 'Invaders are coming from a faraway country, shouting words of war against the cities of Judah.
17 The enemy has surrounded Jerusalem as men guard a field, because Judah turned against me,'" says the Lord.
18 "The way you have lived and acted has brought this trouble to you. This is your punishment. How terrible it is! The pain stabs your heart!"
19 Oh, how I hurt! How I hurt! I am bent over in pain. Oh, the torture in my heart! My heart is pounding inside me. I cannot keep quiet, because I have heard the sound of the trumpet. I have heard the shouts of war.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.