Jeremiah 14:5
in Jeremiah 14Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yea, the hind also in the field calveth, and forsaketh her young, because there is no grass.
KJV
Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
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This verse in Jeremiah 14
Commentary
5 notes on this verseYea, the hind also calved in the field,.... Or brought forth her young in the field; of which see Job 39:1, and which they sometimes did through fear, particularly when frightened with thunder and lightning; and which are common in a time of heat and drought, which is the case here; see Psa 29:9 of these sort of creatures there were great plenty in Judea and the parts adjacent.
This site's exposition
came to Jeremiah concerning the drought
on Jeremiah 14:1-6
The drought reaches every rank of creature, from nobles whose servants find the cisterns empty to farmers who “cover their heads” over cracked ground. Even “the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn”. The spread from noble to farmer to beast shows a judgment on Judah as a whole.
This site's exposition
Even the doe in the field deserts
Hunger drives even a mother deer to leave her newborn fawn. Matthew Henry hears the prophet laying the case of the animals before God as a plea for mercy. Judah had sinned, and the deer and the wild donkeys suffer with it.
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 Awakening1 voice
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?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גַם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אַיֶּ֙לֶת֙ | ʾaiyelet | a doe | H355 → | |
| בַּשָּׂדֶ֔ה | basadeh | in the field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| יָלְדָ֖ה | yaldah | it has given birth | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וְעָז֑וֹב | veazov | and it has abandoned | H5800 → | 215 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הָיָ֖ה | hayah | it is | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| דֶּֽשֶׁא׃ | deshe' | grass | H1877 → |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
גַם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
אַיֶּ֙לֶת֙a doe
ʾaiyeletH355 →
בַּשָּׂדֶ֔הin the field
basadehH7704 →334 times
יָלְדָ֖הit has given birth
yaldahH3205 →496 times
וְעָז֑וֹבand it has abandoned
veazovH5800 →215 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
הָיָ֖הit is
hayahH1961 →3559 times
דֶּֽשֶׁא׃grass
deshe'H1877 →
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
Psalms 29:9The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in His temple all cry, “Glory!”
it leads to
- Psalms 46:2–5
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas,
- Ezekiel 20:46–48
“Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against it, and prophesy against the forest of the Negev.
- Job 39:1–3
“Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?
- Psalms 48:9
Within Your temple, O God, we contemplate Your loving devotion.
- Psalms 26:8
O LORD, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.
- Psalms 46:2–5
Through
Isaiah 15:6The waters of Nimrim are dried up, and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone, and the greenery is no more.
it leads to
- Isaiah 19:5–7
The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty.
- Joel 1:10–12
The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.
- Numbers 32:36
Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and they built folds for their flocks.
- Isaiah 19:5–7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.