Jeremiah 4:10
in Jeremiah 4Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, how completely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ while a sword is at our throats.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then said I, Ah, Lord Jehovah! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the life.
KJV
Then said I, Ah, Lord God! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
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This verse in Jeremiah 4
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAh, Lord God! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people - The Targum paraphrases this verse thus: “And I said, Receive my supplication, O Lord God; for, behold, the false prophets deceive this people and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace.” The prophet could not reconcile this devastation of the country with the promises already made; and he appears to ask the question, Hast thou not then deceived this people in saying there shall be peace, i.e., prosperity? Whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul - That is, the life; the people being generally destroyed.
This site's exposition
how completely You have deceived this people
on Jeremiah 4:10-12
Jeremiah cries that the LORD has deceived the people “by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ while a sword is at our throats”. The promise of peace was the word of prophets speaking in the LORD's name without warrant. 1 Kings 22 shows the LORD letting lying prophets speak.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 10) And I said: Alas, alas, alas: O Lord God (which the LXX translated: O Lord God), have you deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: There will be peace for you? And behold the sword has reached to the soul.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Herein the Lord was righteous; but the prophet complains of it as the sorest judgment of all, for by this means they had been hardened in their sins. It may be read with an interrogation, " Hast thou indeed thus deceived this people?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Deceived - Hast suffered them to be deceived by their false prophets. Whereas - To persuade them it should be well with them, when the sword is at the door, not only ready to take away the comforts of life, but even life itself.
Then said I, ah, Lord God!.... Expressing great sorrow and concern: this "ah" is by way of lamentation. The Targum interprets it as a petition, "and I said, receive my prayer, O Lord God:'' surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem: what the false prophets did, that God is said to do, because he suffered them to deceive the people; see 1Ki 22:
"And by this thou mayest see what is thy wickedness, that it is a bitter thing, a root of bitterness, that bears gall and wormwood, and that it has reached to the heart; it is the corruption of the soul, of the imagination of the thought of the heart. " If the heart were not polluted with sin, it would not be disturbed and disquieted as it is with trouble.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
thou hast . . . deceived--God, having even the false prophets in His hands, is here said to do that which for inscrutable purposes He permits them to do (Ex 9:12;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Ah, Lord God! - Alas! my Lord Yahweh: an expression of disapproval on Jeremiah’s part. Jeremiah had constantly to struggle against the misgivings of his own melancholy nature, but he never let them prevent him from doing his duty. See the introduction of Jeremiah. Ye shall have peace - These words are generally referred to the false prophets; they rather refer to real prophecies of future blessedness promised to the Jews. Jeremiah could not reconcile the doom he was now commanded to pronounce, either with his previous prophecy, or with what he read in the writings of his predecessors. Time only could solve the difficulty. Upon the struggles of the prophets to understand their own predictions see 1Pe 1:10-11. Unto the soul - The sword has reached the life. i. e., has inflicted a mortal wound.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
of this people Concerning this people when they are all exiled.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֹמַ֞ר | vaomar | and I said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲהָ֣הּ׀ | ʾahah | alas! | H162 → | 15 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| אָכֵן֩ | ʾakhen | truly | H403 → | 18 times |
| הַשֵּׁ֨א | hashe' | certainly <to deceive> | H5377 → | 16 times |
| הִשֵּׁ֜אתָ | hisheta | you have deceived | H5377 → | 16 times |
| לָעָ֤ם | laam | <to> the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּה֙ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וְלִירוּשָׁלִַ֣ם | velirushalim | and <to> Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שָׁל֖וֹם | shalom | peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
| יִהְיֶ֣ה | yihyeh | it will belong | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶ֑ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| וְנָגְעָ֥ה | venageah | and it will reach | H5060 → | 150 times |
| חֶ֖רֶב | cherev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַנָּֽפֶשׁ׃ | hanafesh | the throat | H5315 → | 754 times |
וָאֹמַ֞רand I said
vaomarH559 →5305 times
אֲהָ֣הּ׀alas!
ʾahahH162 →15 times
אֲדֹנָ֣יO Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
אָכֵן֩truly
ʾakhenH403 →18 times
הַשֵּׁ֨אcertainly <to deceive>
hashe'H5377 →16 times
הִשֵּׁ֜אתָyou have deceived
hishetaH5377 →16 times
לָעָ֤ם<to> the people
laamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּה֙<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
וְלִירוּשָׁלִַ֣םand <to> Jerusalem
velirushalimH3389 →643 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
שָׁל֖וֹםpeace
shalomH7965 →236 times
יִהְיֶ֣הit will belong
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶ֑םto <the> you
lakhem
וְנָגְעָ֥הand it will reach
venageahH5060 →150 times
חֶ֖רֶבa sword
cherevH2719 →413 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
הַנָּֽפֶשׁ׃the throat
hanafeshH5315 →754 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 32:17“Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
it leads to
- Luke 1:37
For no word from God will ever fail.”
- Jeremiah 32:27
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
- Genesis 18:14
Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”
- Job 42:2
“I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted.
- Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- Luke 1:37
Through
Isaiah 37:35‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
it leads to
- 2 Kings 20:6
I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for My sake and for…
- Isaiah 38:6
And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.
- Isaiah 31:5
Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.”
- 2 Kings 20:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.