Jeremiah 17:4

4 The wonderful possession I have reserved for you will slip from your hands. I will tell your enemies to take you as captives to a foreign land. For my anger blazes like a fire that will burn forever.”

Jeremiah 17:4 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 17:4

And thou, even thyself
Or, "thou, and in thee" ^F12; that is, thou and those that are in thee, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea; or, "thou even through thyself" ^F13; through thine own fault, by reason of thy sins and iniquities: shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee;
be removed from it, and no longer enjoy it: or, "shalt intermit from thine heritage" {n}; shall not till the land, plough and sow, and reap, and gather the fruits of it: this was enjoined on every seventh year, when the land was to have its rest, or sabbath, ( Exodus 23:10 Exodus 23:11 ) , but this law they did not observe; and now, therefore, whether they would or not, the land should be intermitted, and not tilled and enjoyed by them. The Targum takes in the whole of the sense,

``and I will bring an enemy upon your land; and it shall be desolate as in the year of intermission: and I will take vengeance of judgment upon you, until I remove you from your inheritance which I have given unto you;''

the land of Canaan, which was given them for an inheritance: I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest
not;
the Babylonians in Chaldea; or, as Jerom thinks; the Romans. Of the different reading of these words, (See Gill on Jeremiah 15:13): for ye have I kindled a fire in mine anger;
or by their sins had caused the anger of the Lord to burn like fire: which shall burn for ever;
as it will in hell, and therefore called everlasting fire: here it only means until these people and their country were consumed by the enemy; perhaps some reference is had to the burning of the city and temple by the Babylonians, or Romans, or both. These first four verses are left out by the Septuagint interpreters, Jerom thinks, to spare their own people.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 (Kbw) "qui [sunt] apud te", Junius & Tremellius.
F13 "Per te", Piscator.
F14 (Kytlxnm htjmvw) "ita intermissionen facies", Junius & Tremellius; so Schmidt.

Jeremiah 17:4 In-Context

2 Even their children go to worship at their pagan altars and Asherah poles, beneath every green tree and on every high hill.

3 So I will hand over my holy mountain— along with all your wealth and treasures and your pagan shrines— as plunder to your enemies, for sin runs rampant in your land.

4 The wonderful possession I have reserved for you will slip from your hands. I will tell your enemies to take you as captives to a foreign land. For my anger blazes like a fire that will burn forever.”

5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD .

6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land.