Jeremiah 4:17
in Jeremiah 4They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As keepers of a field are they against her round about, because she hath been rebellious against me, saith Jehovah.
KJV
As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord.
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This verse in Jeremiah 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Jeremiah compares the tents of the besiegers on guard round Jerusalem to the booths erected by shepherds or farmers for the protection of their flocks or produce.
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
like men guarding a field
Barnes compares the tents of the army around Jerusalem to the booths men built to guard a field of crops. They surround the city and keep her people in. The cause is named in one word, rebellion against the LORD.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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
Their enemies surrounded them as keepers of a field, because they had taken up arms against their rightful Lord and sovereign, and were to be seized as rebels. The Chaldeans were breaking in upon them, and it was sin that opened the gap at which they entered: Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
As keepers of a field, are they against her round about,....
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,
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,
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
As keepers of a field - In the eastern countries grain is often sown in the open country; and, when nearly ripe, guards are placed at different distances round about it to preserve it from being plundered. Jerusalem was watched, like one of these fields, by guards all round about it; so that none could enter to give assistance, and none who wished to escape were permitted to go out.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּשֹׁמְרֵ֣י | keshomerei | like [those who] guard | H8104 → | 468 times |
| שָׂדַ֔י | sadai | <of> a field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| הָי֥וּ | hayu | they are | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עָלֶ֖יהָ | ʾaleiha | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִסָּבִ֑יב | misaviv | from round about | H5439 → | 336 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֹתִ֥י | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מָרָ֖תָה | maratah | it has been rebellious against | H4784 → | |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
כְּשֹׁמְרֵ֣יlike [those who] guard
keshomereiH8104 →468 times
שָׂדַ֔י<of> a field
sadaiH7704 →334 times
הָי֥וּthey are
hayuH1961 →3559 times
עָלֶ֖יהָon it
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
מִסָּבִ֑יבfrom round about
misavivH5439 →336 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֹתִ֥י<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 times
מָרָ֖תָהit has been rebellious against
maratahH4784 →
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
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
Lamentations 1:18The LORD is righteous, for I have rebelled against His command. Listen, all you people; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into captivity.
it leads to
- Psalms 119:75
I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.
- 1 Samuel 12:14–15
If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and if you do not rebel against the command of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over…
- Zephaniah 3:5
The LORD within her is righteous; He does no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning; He does not fail at dawn, yet the unjust know no shame.
- Jeremiah 12:1
Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live…
- Lamentations 1:12
Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see! Is there any sorrow like mine, which was inflicted on me, which the LORD made me suffer on the day…
- Psalms 119:75
Through
Lamentations 1:8Jerusalem has sinned greatly; therefore she has become an object of scorn. All who honored her now despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns away.
it leads to
- Lamentations 1:20–22
See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.
- Isaiah 59:2–13
But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.
- Lamentations 1:20–22
Through
Jeremiah 5:23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 6:28
All are hardened rebels, walking around as slanderers. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt.
- Jeremiah 6:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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.