Yirmeyah 4:18

18 Thy derech and thy deeds have brought these things upon thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is mar (bitter), for it hath touched upon thine lev.

Yirmeyah 4:18 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 4:18

Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee,
&c.] The way in which they walked, which was an evil one; and the actions which they committed; their idolatries, backslidings, and rebellions, before spoken of in this and the preceding chapter, were the cause of this siege, and those calamities coming upon them; they had none to blame but themselves; it was their own sinful ways and works which brought this ruin and destruction on them: this is thy wickedness;
the fruit of thy wickedness; or, "this thy calamity"; that is, is owing to these things; so the word is rendered in ( Psalms 141:5 ) : because it is bitter;
not sin, as in ( Jeremiah 2:19 ) , but the punishment of it; the calamity before mentioned; which was hard and heavy, and grievous to be borne, and yet very just; it was by way of retaliation; "they had bitterly provoked the Lord", as the word may be rendered in the preceding verse; and now he sends them a bitter calamity, and a heavy judgment: because it reacheth unto thine heart;
into the midst of them, and utterly destroyed them. The two last clauses may be rendered, "though it is bitter, though it reacheth unto thine heart" ^F4; though it is such a sore distress, and such an utter destruction, yet it was to be ascribed to nothing else but their own sins and transgressions.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 (egn yk rm yk) "quamvis amarum sit, quamvis pertigerit", Calvin.

Yirmeyah 4:18 In-Context

16 Tell the Goyim; hinei, spread the news to Yerushalayim, that notzrim (besiegers) come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Yehudah.

17 As shomrim of a sadeh, they are against her all around; because she hath been rebellious against Me, saith Hashem.

18 Thy derech and thy deeds have brought these things upon thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is mar (bitter), for it hath touched upon thine lev.

19 My innards, my innards! I am pained at my very lev; my lev is pounding in me; I cannot keep silent, because thou hast heard, O my nefesh, the kol shofar (sound of the shofar), the teru’at milchamah (battle alarm of war).

20 Shever (destruction) follows after shever; for the whole land lies in ruins; suddenly are my ohalim destroyed, and my canopies rega.