Jeremiah 4:26

26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were broken down At the presence of the Lord, By His fierce anger.

Jeremiah 4:26 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 4:26

I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness
Or, "I beheld, and, lo, Carmel was a wilderness"; which was a particular part of the land of Israel, and was very fertile, and abounded in pastures and fruit trees, and yet this, as the rest, became desolate as a wilderness; see ( Isaiah 32:15 ) ( 35:2 ) though it may be put for the whole land, which was very fruitful; and so the Targum,

``I saw, and, lo, the land of Israel, which was planted as Carmel, was turned to be as a wilderness:''

and all the cities thereof;
not of Carmel only, but of the whole land: were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger;
for though this was done by the Chaldeans, yet it was by the will and appointment of God, and as a token of his fierce anger against the people of the Jews, for their sins and transgressions. Jarchi cites a Midrash Agadah, or an allegorical exposition of this place, which interprets the "mountains", the Jewish fathers; the "hills", the mothers, and their merits; "no man", the worthiness of Moses, who was meeker than any man; and "Carmel", Elijah; without any manner of foundation.

Jeremiah 4:26 In-Context

24 I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, And all the hills moved back and forth.

25 I beheld, and indeed there was no man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled.

26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were broken down At the presence of the Lord, By His fierce anger.

27 For thus says the Lord: "The whole land shall be desolate; Yet I will not make a full end.

28 For this shall the earth mourn, And the heavens above be black, Because I have spoken. I have purposed and will not relent, Nor will I turn back from it.