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Jeremiah 4:16

in Jeremiah 4

Warn the nations now! Proclaim to Jerusalem: “A besieging army comes from a distant land; they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

KJV

Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

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This verse in Jeremiah 4

Commentary

10 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

The neighboring foreign "nations" are summoned to witness Jehovah's judgments on His rebel people (Jer 6:18, 19). watchers--that is, besiegers (compare 2Sa 11:16); observed or watched, that is, besieged. their voice--the war shout.

This site's exposition

his chariots like the whirlwind

on Jeremiah 4:13-18

The invader is pictured by speed alone, clouds, whirlwind and horses “swifter than eagles”. The call “Wash the evil from your heart” answers verse 4. The besiegers “surround her like men guarding a field”, and the Hebrew verb for guarding is the one used of shepherds keeping a flock.

This site's exposition

Warn the nations now

The nations are summoned as witnesses of the LORD's judgment on his own people, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it. The besieging army is literally watchers, the word for men who keep guard around a city. Their raised voices are the war shout.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Jeremiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 16, 17.) Say to the nations: Behold, it has been heard in Jerusalem, the watchmen come from a distant land and they have given their voice over the cities of Judah: they have become like watchmen over it all around, because they have provoked me to anger, says the Lord. God wants all the nations around to know our judgment: and Jerusalem, being afflicted, to receive all discipline.

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Make mention - These words are a proclamation, summoning the nations by the Chaldeans. Watchers - Chaldean soldiers, who shall so carefully encompass Jerusalem, that none shall escape.
Make ye mention to the nations,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

To affect them the more with the greatness of the desolation that was coming, the prophet does himself bitterly lament it, and sympathize with his people in the calamities it brought upon them, and the plunge it brought them to, representing it as a reduction of the world to its first chaos,

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The lamentable cause of this judgment. How is it that Judah and Jerusalem come to be thus abandoned to ruin? They sinned against God; it was all owing to themselves: She has been rebellious against me, saith the Lord,
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Watchers come from a far country - Persons to besiege fortified places.
Proclaim ye to the pagan, “Behold!” Cry aloud concerning “Jerusalem, that watchers” are on their way “from a far country: and” will “give out their voice against the cities of Judah.” The pagan are summoned to witness the chastisement of Jerusalem, that they may take warning thereby. By “watchers” are meant besiegers, who will surround the city with a line of sentinels.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • הַזְכִּ֣ירוּmake known

    hazkiruH2142 →230 times

  • לַגּוֹיִ֗םto the nations

    lagoyimH1471 →561 times

  • הִנֵּה֙here!

    hinehH2009 →843 times

  • הַשְׁמִ֣יעוּproclaim

    hashmiuH8085 →1159 times

  • עַל־to

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • יְרוּשָׁלִַ֔םJerusalem

    yerushalimH3389 →643 times

  • נֹצְרִ֥יםbesiegers

    notzerimH5341 →

  • בָּאִ֖ים[are] coming

    baimH935 →2568 times

  • מֵאֶ֣רֶץfrom [the] land of

    meeretzH776 →2504 times

  • הַמֶּרְחָ֑ק<the> distance

    hamerchakH4801 →18 times

  • וַֽיִּתְּנ֛וּand they have given forth

    vaiyitenuH5414 →2011 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • עָרֵ֥י[the] cities of

    ʾareiH5892 →1090 times

  • יְהוּדָ֖הJudah

    yehudahH3063 →819 times

  • קוֹלָֽם׃voice their

    kolamH6963 →506 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

15 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Jeremiah 5:15Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.7 worksEzekiel 21:22In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.4 worksJeremiah 1:15For I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD. “Their kings will come and set up their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all her surrounding walls and all the other cities of Judah.4 worksIsaiah 39:3Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” “They came to me from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”3 worksJeremiah 39:1In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to the city.2 worksJeremiah 50:2“Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced, her idols are broken in pieces.’2 works
The other 9 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 34:1Come near, O nations, to listen; pay attention, O peoples. Let the earth hear, and all that fills it, the world and all that springs from it.2 worksJeremiah 5:6Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.2 worksJeremiah 31:10Hear, O nations, the word of the LORD, and proclaim it in distant coastlands: “The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock.2 worksJeremiah 6:18Therefore hear, O nations, and learn, O congregations, what will happen to them.2 worksJeremiah 16:6“Both great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.2 worksDeuteronomy 28:49–52The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,2 worksJeremiah 4:17They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.2 worksJeremiah 2:15The young lions have roared at him; they have growled with a loud voice. They have laid waste his land; his cities lie in ruins, without inhabitant.2 worksJeremiah 15:8I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. I will bring a destroyer at noon against the mothers of young men. I will suddenly bring upon them anguish and dismay.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Jeremiah 5:15

    Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 28:49

      The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Isaiah 28:11

      Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues, He will speak to this people

    • Isaiah 33:19

      You will no longer see the insolent, a people whose speech is unintelligible, who stammer in a language you cannot understand.

    • Isaiah 5:26

      He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!

    • Jeremiah 25:9

      behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents,…

  • Through

    Ezekiel 21:22

    In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the…

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 4:2

      Then lay siege against it: Construct a siege wall, build a ramp to it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it on all sides.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 50:2

    “Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced,…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 46:1

      Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.

    • Isaiah 21:9

      Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”

Where this verse is studied

About Jeremiah

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah: the study guide →Read Jeremiah 4 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Jeremiah 4 →