Jeremiah 15:3

3 “I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” says the LORD . “I will send the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, the vultures to devour, and the wild animals to finish up what is left.

Jeremiah 15:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 15:3

And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord
Or four families ^F24, and these very devouring ones; that is, four sorts of punishment; and so the Targum,

``four evil punishments;''

which are after mentioned. These are represented as under God, and at his beck and command; servants of his, that go and come at his pleasure, and do his will; and as being over men, and having power and authority to kill and to destroy by a divine commission: the sword to slay:
the first and chief of the four families or punishments, which had a commission from the Lord to sheath itself in his people, the Jews; even the sword of the enemy, the Chaldeans, drawn against them by a divine order and appointment: and the dogs to tear;
the carcasses of those that are slain with the sword: or "to draw" ^F25; as the word signifies; it being the usual way of dogs to draw and drag the flesh about they are feeding on; this is another of the four families, and a very voracious one it is: and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and
destroy;
or "to eat, and to corrupt", the bodies of those that are slain by the sword. The meaning is, that such should not have a burial, but should be the food of fowls and wild beasts: these are the other two destroying families, which have their commission from the Lord for such service.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (twxpvm ebra) "quatuor familias, [sive] cognationes", Vatablus, Tigurine version, Calvin.
F25 (bwxol) "ad trahendum", Calvin, Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt; so Ben Melech,

Jeremiah 15:3 In-Context

1 Then the LORD said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I wouldn’t help them. Away with them! Get them out of my sight!

2 And if they say to you, ‘But where can we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the LORD says: “‘Those who are destined for death, to death; those who are destined for war, to war; those who are destined for famine, to famine; those who are destined for captivity, to captivity.’

3 “I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” says the LORD . “I will send the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, the vultures to devour, and the wild animals to finish up what is left.

4 Because of the wicked things Manasseh son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem, I will make my people an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

5 “Who will feel sorry for you, Jerusalem? Who will weep for you? Who will even bother to ask how you are?