Jeremiah 4:11
in Jeremiah 4At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse;
KJV
At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
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This verse in Jeremiah 4
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
At that time - See Jer 4:7. Though the revelation of the certainty of Judah’s ruin wrings from Jeremiah a cry of despair, yet it is but for a moment; he immediately returns to the delivery of God’s message. A dry wind - literally, A clear wind. The Samum is probably meant, a dry parching east wind blowing from the Arabian desert, before which vegetation withers, and human life becomes intolerable. Not to fan ... - The Syrian farmers make great use of the wind for separating the chaff from the grain: but when the Samum blows labor becomes impossible.
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.
This site's exposition
A searing wind from the barren heights
The searing wind from the desert heights is the samum, as Barnes identifies it, a dry east wind that withers the land and stops work. Farmers winnow and sift grain in a gentle breeze. This wind pictures the invading Babylonian army.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 11, 12.) In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A burning wind (or dew) in the ways that are in the desert. The ways of my people's children: not for winnowing, and not for purifying. A spirit full of these will come to me.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
In the plain - Where there is no stop in the way to break its fury. Toward - Directly, and designedly, coming in the way leading to my people. Not - Not such a gentle wind, as is made choice of to separate the chaff from the wheat; but so boisterous and violent, that it shall sweep away, and lay waste, all together.
At that time shall it be said to this people, and to Jerusalem,.... The inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem, the people of the Jews; or "concerning" (x) them, as Jarchi interprets it: a dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people.
It is a wind of the high places in the wilderness, or plain, that beats upon the tops of the hills or that carries all before it in the plain, where there is no shelter, but the ground is all champaign.
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,
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)
Image of the invading Babylonian army (Ho 13:15). Babylon in its turn shall be visited by a similar "destroying wind" (Jer 51:1). of . . . high places--that is, that sweeps over the high places. daughter--that is, the children of my people. not to fan--a very different wind from those ordinary winds employed for fanning the grain in the open air.
A dry wind - a fall wind - as clouds - as a whirlwind - All these expressions appear to refer to the pestilential winds, suffocating vapors, and clouds and pillars of sand collected by whirlwinds, which are so common and destructive in the east, (see on Isa 21:1 (note)); and these images are employed here to show the overwhelming effect of the invasion of the land by the Chaldeans.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
of this people Concerning this people when they are all exiled.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
A full spirit of these retributions shall come to me. A full spirit A full spirit, that I will not retract and not repent. spirit (talant in O.F.)
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
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בָּעֵ֣ת | baet | at the time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| הַהִ֗יא | hahi' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יֵאָמֵ֤ר | yeamer | it will be said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָֽעָם־ | laom- | to the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּה֙ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וְלִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם | velirushalim | and to Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| ר֣וּחַ | ruach | a wind | H7307 → | 378 times |
| צַ֤ח | tzach | scorching | H6703 → | |
| שְׁפָיִים֙ | shefayim | bare heights | H8205 → | 9 times |
| בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר | bamidbar | in the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| דֶּ֖רֶךְ | derekh | [will be] [the] direction of | H1870 → | 707 times |
| בַּת־ | bat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| עַמִּ֑י | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| ל֥וֹא | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| לִזְר֖וֹת | lizrot | to winnow | H2219 → | 39 times |
| וְל֥וֹא | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| לְהָבַֽר׃ | lehavar | to cleanse | H1305 → |
בָּעֵ֣תat the time
baetH6256 →296 times
הַהִ֗יא<the> that
hahi'H1931 →1879 times
יֵאָמֵ֤רit will be said
yeamerH559 →5305 times
לָֽעָם־to the people
laom-H5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּה֙<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
וְלִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םand to Jerusalem
velirushalimH3389 →643 times
ר֣וּחַa wind
ruachH7307 →378 times
צַ֤חscorching
tzachH6703 →
שְׁפָיִים֙bare heights
shefayimH8205 →9 times
בַּמִּדְבָּ֔רin the wilderness
bamidbarH4057 →270 times
דֶּ֖רֶךְ[will be] [the] direction of
derekhH1870 →707 times
בַּת־[the] daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
עַמִּ֑יpeople my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
ל֥וֹאnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
לִזְר֖וֹתto winnow
lizrotH2219 →39 times
וְל֥וֹאand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
לְהָבַֽר׃to cleanse
lehavarH1305 →
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 14:17You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow,…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 8:21
For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.
- Lamentations 2:13
What can I say for you? To what can I compare you, O Daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may console you, O Virgin Daughter of Zion? For your…
- Jeremiah 9:1
Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
- Jeremiah 13:17
But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
- Lamentations 1:15–16
The Lord has rejected all the mighty men in my midst; He has summoned an army against me to crush my young warriors. Like grapes in a winepress, the Lord has trampled the Virgin…
- Jeremiah 8:21
Through
Ezekiel 17:10Even if it is transplanted, will it flourish? Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes? It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.’”
it leads to
- Hosea 13:15
Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder…
- Hosea 13:15
Through
Hosea 13:15Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 19:12
But it was uprooted in fury, cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were stripped off and they withered; the fire consumed them.
- Ezekiel 17:10
Even if it is transplanted, will it flourish? Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes? It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.’”
- Ezekiel 19:12
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.