Jeremiah 4:15
in Jeremiah 4For a voice resounds from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth evil from the hills of Ephraim.
KJV
For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
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This verse in Jeremiah 4
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(Verse 15) The voice of the messenger from Dan, announcing the idol (or pain) from Mount Ephraim. Near the location of the land of Judah, the divine word now speaks. For Dan, a tribe near Mount Lebanon and the city now called Paneas, looks towards the north: from where Nebuchadnezzar will come. But the idol Bel, or pain or wickedness, is described as coming from Mount Ephraim. After the tribe of Dan, the land of Ephraim follows, through which one reaches Jerusalem. Then judgment is interpreted: Ephraim, abundance.
This site's exposition
his chariots like the whirlwind
on Jeremiah 4:13-18
The invader is pictured by speed alone, clouds, whirlwind and horses “swifter than eagles”. The call “Wash the evil from your heart” answers verse 4. The besiegers “surround her like men guarding a field”, and the Hebrew verb for guarding is the one used of shepherds keeping a flock.
This site's exposition
a voice resounds from Dan
Dan was the northern border town of the land, and the hills of Ephraim marked the northern edge of Judah itself. The army moves faster than the news. Barnes notes that the Hebrew word aven, disaster, also means wickedness, and verse 14 used it for the wicked thoughts.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
It was well if their sufferings put them in mind of their sins, the murders committed upon them of the murders committed by them; for God was now making inquisition for the innocent blood shed in Jerusalem, which the Lord would not pardon, 2 Kings xxiv. Note, As sin will find out the sinner, so sorrow will, sooner or later, find out the secure.
From Daniel - Daniel was the first place the Chaldeans came to, being the utmost boundary of Canaan northward. Ephraim was the innermost border of Israel in the north of Judea, intimating the march of the Babylonians thro' all Israel.
For a voice declareth from Dan,....
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 lamentable cause of this judgment. How is it that Judah and Jerusalem come to be thus abandoned to ruin? They sinned against God; it was all owing to themselves: She has been rebellious against me, saith the Lord,
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Dan - The border-town of Palestine on the north Deu 34:1. Mount Ephraim - The northern boundary of Judaea itself. The invading army presses on so rapidly, that scarcely have the news arrived of its appearance at Dan, before fresh messengers announce that it has traversed the whole length of Galilee, and is now defiling through the mountains of Samaria. Affliction - The same word, aven, occurs in Jer 4:14, and apparently there is a play upon its double meaning: for from a root signifying worthlessness, it is used both for wickedness and for misery.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
For . . . from Dan--The connection is: There is danger in delay; for the voice of a messenger announces the approach of the Chaldean enemy from Dan, the northern frontier of Palestine (Jer 8:16; compare Jer 4:6; Mount Ephraim--which borders closely on Judah; so that the foe is coming nearer and nearer.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For a voice declareth from Dan - Dan was a city in the tribe of Dan, north of Jerusalem; the first city in Palestine, which occurs in the way from Babylon to Jerusalem. Affliction from Mount Ephraim - Between Dan and Jerusalem are the mountains of Ephraim. These would be the first places attacked by the Chaldeans; and the rumor from thence would show that the land was invaded.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| ק֥וֹל | kol | a voice | H6963 → | 506 times |
| מַגִּ֖יד | magid | [is] declaring | H5046 → | 370 times |
| מִדָּ֑ן | midan | from Dan | H1835 → | |
| וּמַשְׁמִ֥יעַ | umashmia' | and [is] proclaiming | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אָ֖וֶן | ʾaven | trouble | H205 → | |
| מֵהַ֥ר | mehar | from [the] hill country of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| אֶפְרָֽיִם׃ | ʾefrayim | Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
ק֥וֹלa voice
kolH6963 →506 times
מַגִּ֖יד[is] declaring
magidH5046 →370 times
מִדָּ֑ןfrom Dan
midanH1835 →
וּמַשְׁמִ֥יעַand [is] proclaiming
umashmia'H8085 →1159 times
אָ֖וֶןtrouble
ʾavenH205 →
מֵהַ֥רfrom [the] hill country of
meharH2022 →546 times
אֶפְרָֽיִם׃Ephraim
ʾefrayimH669 →180 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
Judges 18:29They named it Dan, after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city was formerly named Laish.
it leads to
- Judges 20:1
Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 19:47
(Later, when the territory of the Danites was lost to them, they went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, and put it to the sword. So they took possession of Leshem, settled there,…
- Judges 20:1
Through
Joshua 20:7So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
it leads to
- Joshua 21:11
They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)
- Joshua 21:32
And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three cities, together with their pasturelands.
- 1 Chronicles 6:76
And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee, Hammon, and Kiriathaim, together with their pasturelands.
- Luke 1:39
In those days Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah,
- Joshua 21:11
Through
Judges 20:1Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.
it leads to
- Judges 11:11
So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. And Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.
- Judges 21:5
The Israelites asked, “Who among all the tribes of Israel did not come to the assembly before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to come up before…
- Judges 11:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceJudeaEphraimThe town near the wilderness where Jesus withdrew with His disciples before the last Passover (John 11:54).
- PlaceNorthern border, at the foot of HermonDanThe northern limit of the land, where the tribe of Dan settled after taking Laish and where Jeroboam set up one of his two golden…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.