Jeremiah 15:3
in Jeremiah 15I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith Jehovah: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy.
KJV
And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
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This verse in Jeremiah 15
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord,.... Or four families (x), and these very devouring ones; that is, four sorts of punishment; and so the Targum, "four evil punishments;'' which are after mentioned.
This site's exposition
Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me
on Jeremiah 15:1-4
The chapter answers the plea of 14:19-22: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people”. The LORD appoints “four kinds of destroyers” and lays the cause on Manasseh, whose sins recorded in 2 Kings 21 still bear fruit generations later.
This site's exposition
I will appoint over them four kinds
Barnes notes that the sword kills the living, and the dogs, birds and beasts devour and shame the dead. The word for the work of the dogs means to drag along the ground. The Targum, Gill reports, calls these four destroyers four evil punishments.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verses 2, 3.) But if they say to you: Where shall we go out? You shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: He who is for death, to death; and he who is for the sword, to the sword; and he who is for famine, to famine; and he who is for captivity, to captivity. And I will visit upon them four kinds, says the Lord: the sword for killing, and dogs for tearing, and birds of the sky and beasts of the earth for devouring and scattering.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
As those that escape the sword shall be cut off by pestilence, famine, or captivity, so those that fall by the sword shall be cut off by divine vengeance, which pursues sinners on the other side death; there shall be dogs to tear in the field to devour.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Kinds - literally, as the margin, i. e., classes of things. The first is to destroy the living, the other three to mutilate and consume the dead. To tear - literally, “to drag along the ground.” It forcibly expresses the contumely to which the bodies of the slain will be exposed.
I will appoint over them four kinds - There shall appear four instruments of my justice. 1. The sword to slay. 2. The dogs to tear what is slain. 3. The fowls of the heaven to feed on the dead carcasses. And, 4. The wild beasts to destroy all that the fowls have left.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּפָקַדְתִּ֨י | ufakadti | and I will appoint | H6485 → | 303 times |
| עֲלֵיהֶ֜ם | ʾaleihem | over them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַרְבַּ֤ע | ʾarba' | four | H702 → | 318 times |
| מִשְׁפָּחוֹת֙ | mishpachot | kinds | H4940 → | 303 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַחֶ֣רֶב | hacherev | the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| לַֽהֲרֹ֔ג | laharog | to kill | H2026 → | 167 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַכְּלָבִ֖ים | hakelavim | the dogs | H3611 → | |
| לִסְחֹ֑ב | lischo | to drag away | H5498 → | 5 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| ע֧וֹף | of | [the] bird[s] of | H5775 → | 71 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בֶּהֱמַ֥ת | behemat | [the] animal[s] of | H929 → | 190 times |
| הָאָ֖רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| לֶאֱכֹ֥ל | leekhol | to devour | H398 → | 810 times |
| וּלְהַשְׁחִֽית׃ | ulehashchit | and to destroy | H7843 → | 146 times |
וּפָקַדְתִּ֨יand I will appoint
ufakadtiH6485 →303 times
עֲלֵיהֶ֜םover them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
אַרְבַּ֤עfour
ʾarba'H702 →318 times
מִשְׁפָּחוֹת֙kinds
mishpachotH4940 →303 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַחֶ֣רֶבthe sword
hacherevH2719 →413 times
לַֽהֲרֹ֔גto kill
laharogH2026 →167 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַכְּלָבִ֖יםthe dogs
hakelavimH3611 →
לִסְחֹ֑בto drag away
lischoH5498 →5 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
ע֧וֹף[the] bird[s] of
ofH5775 →71 times
הַשָּׁמַ֛יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בֶּהֱמַ֥ת[the] animal[s] of
behematH929 →190 times
הָאָ֖רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
לֶאֱכֹ֥לto devour
leekholH398 →810 times
וּלְהַשְׁחִֽית׃and to destroy
ulehashchitH7843 →146 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
Ezekiel 14:21For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 5:17
I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, the LORD, have…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 33:27
Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I will give to be…
- Ezekiel 5:17
Through
Leviticus 26:22I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 14:15
Or if I send wild beasts through the land to leave it childless and desolate, with no man passing through it for fear of the beasts,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 32:24
They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.
- Ezekiel 14:15
Through
Leviticus 26:16then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed…
it leads to
- Job 31:8
then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.
- Job 31:8
Through
Deuteronomy 28:26Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 16:4
“They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will…
- Jeremiah 34:20
I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
- Jeremiah 7:33
The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away.
- Jeremiah 16:4
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 (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
