Jeremiah 14:18
in Jeremiah 14If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If I go forth into the field, then, behold, the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then, behold, they that are sick with famine! for both the prophet and the priest go about in the land, and have no knowledge.
KJV
If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.
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This verse in Jeremiah 14
Commentary
10 notes on this verseIf I go forth into the field,.... Without the city, where was the camp of the enemy besieging it then behold the slain with the sword! the sword of the enemy; who by sallying out of the city upon them, or by endeavouring to make their escape into the country, fell into their hands, and were slain by them.
This site's exposition
My eyes overflow with tears
on Jeremiah 14:17-18
Jeremiah is commanded to speak his grief as part of the message, “My eyes overflow with tears”. The wound is named in tender terms, “the virgin daughter of my people”. Verse 18 closes every refuge, the slain by the sword in the country and the famished in the city.
This site's exposition
If I go out to the country
Gill reads the country as the land held by the enemy camp during the siege, where people died by the sword. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the travel of prophet and priest as the exile to Babylon. Theodoret names Daniel and Ezekiel among those who went.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
And blessed Daniel the prophet, the divine Ezekiel (who was both prophet and priest) and many other priests in addition to them shared in these misfortunes. For God provided for those profane exiles and sent along also prophets that could be pedagogues and teachers so …
(Verse 18) If I go out to the fields, behold the slain with the sword: and if I enter the city, behold those who are weakened by hunger (or by the pain of hunger). The prophet and the priest have also gone to a land they do not know. It is a just cause for mourning, because a virgin has been broken, a daughter has been struck, and the people have been destroyed.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
5 Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass. 6 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. 7 O L ORD , though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v5-7
Thus - Here begins the answer to the prophet's complaint and prayer in the nine first verses. The substance is, that for their manifold sins, he was resolved to punish them. They loved - They have been fond of their idols, and they have persisted in those sinful courses, notwithstanding all counsels.
Note, Because God, though he inflicts death on sinners, yet delights not in it, it becomes his ministers, though in his name they pronounce the death of sinners, yet sadly to lament it. He stands up to make intercession for them; for who knows but God will yet return and repent? While there is life there is hope, and room for prayer.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
2Pe 2:3), and take no knowledge" (that is, pay no regard to the miseries before their eyes) (Isa 1:3; If the literal sense of the Hebrew verb be retained, I would with English Version understand the words as referring to the exile to Babylon; thus, "the prophet and the priest shall have to go to a strange land to practise their religious traffic (Isa 56:11;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword - Every place presents frightful spectacles; the wounded, the dying, the starving, and the slain; none to bury the dead, none to commiserate the dying, none to bring either relief or consolation. Even the prophets and the priests are obliged to leave the cities, and wander about in unfrequented and unknown places, seeking for the necessaries of life.
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יָצָ֣אתִי | yatzati | I went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| הַשָּׂדֶ֗ה | hasadeh | the field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| וְהִנֵּה֙ | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| חַלְלֵי־ | chalei- | [those] slain of | H2491 → | 94 times |
| חֶ֔רֶב | cherev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| וְאִם֙ | veim | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| בָּ֣אתִי | bati | I went | H935 → | 2568 times |
| הָעִ֔יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֖ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| תַּחֲלוּאֵ֣י | tachaluei | diseases of | H8463 → | |
| רָעָ֑ב | raav | famine | H7458 → | 101 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גַם־ | gam- | both | H1571 → | 769 times |
| נָבִ֧יא | navi' | prophet | H5030 → | 314 times |
| גַם־ | gam- | as well as | H1571 → | 769 times |
| כֹּהֵ֛ן | kohen | priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| סָחֲר֥וּ | sacharu | they have gone about | H5503 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֶ֖רֶץ | ʾeretz | a land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָדָֽעוּ׃ ס | yadau | they know | H3045 → | 945 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יָצָ֣אתִיI went out
yatzatiH3318 →1067 times
הַשָּׂדֶ֗הthe field
hasadehH7704 →334 times
וְהִנֵּה֙and there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
חַלְלֵי־[those] slain of
chalei-H2491 →94 times
חֶ֔רֶבa sword
cherevH2719 →413 times
וְאִם֙and if
veimH518 →1069 times
בָּ֣אתִיI went
batiH935 →2568 times
הָעִ֔ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
וְהִנֵּ֖הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
תַּחֲלוּאֵ֣יdiseases of
tachalueiH8463 →
רָעָ֑בfamine
raavH7458 →101 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
גַם־both
gam-H1571 →769 times
נָבִ֧יאprophet
navi'H5030 →314 times
גַם־as well as
gam-H1571 →769 times
כֹּהֵ֛ןpriest
kohenH3548 →750 times
סָחֲר֥וּthey have gone about
sacharuH5503 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אֶ֖רֶץa land
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יָדָֽעוּ׃ סthey know
yadauH3045 →945 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
Jeremiah 6:13“For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 23:11
“For both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 8:10
Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all…
- Micah 3:11
Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster…
- Jeremiah 23:11
Through
Jeremiah 8:10Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 6:12–13
Their houses will be turned over to others, their fields and wives as well, for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 6:12–13
Through
Ezekiel 7:15The sword is outside; plague and famine are within. Those in the country will die by the sword, and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 5:12
A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every…
- Ezekiel 5:12
Through
Lamentations 1:20See, 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.
it leads to
- 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…
- Lamentations 2:11
Through
Deuteronomy 28:36The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:28
And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
- 2 Kings 25:11
Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the population.
- Deuteronomy 4:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 4:14.