Jeremiah 14:6
in Jeremiah 14Wild donkeys stand on barren heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of pasture.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the wild asses stand on the bare heights, they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no herbage.
KJV
And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
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This verse in Jeremiah 14
Commentary
6 notes on this verseSnuffed up the wind like dragons - תנים tannim here probably means the hippopotamus, who, after feeding under the water, is obliged to come to the surface in order to take in fresh draughts of air; or it may mean the wild asses.
This site's exposition
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth
on Jeremiah 14:1-6
The oracle opens on a drought so complete that every rank of creature feels it: nobles sending servants to empty cisterns, plowmen covering their heads in shame at bare ground, the hind forsaking her newborn calf for want of grass, wild asses gasping like jackals on the high places. Henry reads the spread from noble to farmer to animal as the point, a judgment that respects no station because the sin behind it was Judah's as a whole. The drought is never explained here as ordinary weather; the chapter that follows makes plain it is the covenant's own curse for a broken covenant.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 5, 6.) For even the deer (or deer) in the field give birth (or gave birth) and abandon (or abandoned) because there is no grass. And the wild donkeys stood on the cliffs, they drew in the wind like dragons, their eyes failed, because there is no grass (or hay).
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Man's sin brings those judgments upon the earth which make even the inferior creatures groan: and the prophet takes notice of this as a plea with God for mercy. Judah and Jerusalem have sinned, but the hinds and the wild asses, what have they done?
And the wild asses did stand in the high places,.... To see where any grass was to be had, or where the wind blows more freely and cooly, to draw it in; as follows.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Like dragons - “Like jackals” Jer 9:11. No grass - The keen sight of the wild donkey is well known, but they look around in vain for herb.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּפְרָאִים֙ | uferaim | and wild donkeys | H6501 → | |
| עָמְד֣וּ | ʾamedu | they have stood | H5975 → | 521 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שְׁפָיִ֔ם | shefayim | [the] bare heights | H8205 → | 9 times |
| שָׁאֲפ֥וּ | shaafu | they have panted for | H7602 → | |
| ר֖וּחַ | ruach | breath | H7307 → | 378 times |
| כַּתַּנִּ֑ים | katanim | like <the> jackals | H8577 → | 28 times |
| כָּל֥וּ | kalu | they have failed | H3615 → | 208 times |
| עֵינֵיהֶ֖ם | ʾeineihem | eyes their | H5869 → | 887 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| עֵֽשֶׂב׃ | ʾesev | [is] vegetation | H6212 → |
וּפְרָאִים֙and wild donkeys
uferaimH6501 →
עָמְד֣וּthey have stood
ʾameduH5975 →521 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שְׁפָיִ֔ם[the] bare heights
shefayimH8205 →9 times
שָׁאֲפ֥וּthey have panted for
shaafuH7602 →
ר֖וּחַbreath
ruachH7307 →378 times
כַּתַּנִּ֑יםlike <the> jackals
katanimH8577 →28 times
כָּל֥וּthey have failed
kaluH3615 →208 times
עֵינֵיהֶ֖םeyes their
ʾeineihemH5869 →887 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֵ֥יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
עֵֽשֶׂב׃[is] vegetation
ʾesevH6212 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joel 1:18How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 12:4
How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said,…
- Hosea 4:3
Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.
- Jeremiah 12:4
Through
Lamentations 5:17Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim—
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:5
Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
- Psalms 6:7
My eyes fail from grief; they grow dim because of all my foes.
- Job 17:7
My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.
- Lamentations 2:11
My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of…
- Isaiah 38:14
I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”
- Isaiah 1:5
Through
1 Samuel 14:29“My father has brought trouble to the land,” Jonathan replied. “Just look at how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 18:18
“I have not troubled Israel,” Elijah replied, “but you and your father’s house have, for you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals.
- 1 Kings 18:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.