Jeremiah 4:24
in Jeremiah 4I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved to and fro.
KJV
I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
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This verse in Jeremiah 4
Commentary
7 notes on this verseI beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled,.... At the presence of God, at the tokens of his displeasure, and at his awful vengeance in the destruction of the Jews, as they are sometimes said to do, Psa 68:8, and all the hills moved lightly; so Kimchi's father says the word used has the signification of lightness; though Jarchi, from Menachem, explains it, they were plucked up, and thrown out of their place; and some render it, were pulled down and destroyed, so the Targum.
This site's exposition
it was formless and void
on Jeremiah 4:23-26
The vision borrows the Hebrew of the creation account, “formless and void”, the phrase Genesis uses for the earth before the first day. The heavens have no light, the mountains quake, no man is left, the birds have fled and the fruitful land is a desert.
This site's exposition
I looked at the mountains
The mountains are quaking, the hills swaying at the presence of the LORD, as Gill reads the verse with Psalm 68:8. Gill reports that Kimchi's father gave the word for swaying a sense of lightness. The hills rock as if weightless.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 23 and following) I looked at the earth, and behold, it was empty and void; and the heavens, and there was no light in them. I saw the mountains, and behold, they were moving; and all the hills were shaken. I looked, and there was no man, and every bird of the sky had fled. I looked, and behold, Carmel was a desert, and all its cities were destroyed before the Lord's face, and before the fierceness of his anger.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The mountains, those among them that seemed to the highest and strongest, and of the firmest resolution, trembled at the approach of the Chaldean army. The hills moved lightly, as being eased of the burden of a sinful nation, Isa. i. 24 . [4.] Not the earth only, but the air, was dispeopled, and left uninhabited (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
"Thou must utterly abandon all sin, and not retain any of the relics of idolatry: Put away thy abominations out of my sight, " that is, out of all places (for every place is under the eye of God), especially out of the temple, the house which he had in a particular manner his eye upon, to see that it was kept clean.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The mountains - hills - Princes, rulers, etc., were astonished and fled.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רָאִ֙יתִי֙ | raiti | I looked at | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| הֶֽהָרִ֔ים | heharim | the mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֖ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| רֹעֲשִׁ֑ים | roashim | [they were] quaking | H7493 → | 30 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַגְּבָע֖וֹת | hagevaot | the hills | H1389 → | 68 times |
| הִתְקַלְקָֽלוּ׃ | hitkalkalu | they shook to and fro | H7043 → | 82 times |
רָאִ֙יתִי֙I looked at
raitiH7200 →1300 times
הֶֽהָרִ֔יםthe mountains
heharimH2022 →546 times
וְהִנֵּ֖הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
רֹעֲשִׁ֑ים[they were] quaking
roashimH7493 →30 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
הַגְּבָע֖וֹתthe hills
hagevaotH1389 →68 times
הִתְקַלְקָֽלוּ׃they shook to and fro
hitkalkaluH7043 →82 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 10:10But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.
- Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,…
- Nahum 1:6
Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before Him.
- Psalms 76:7
You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?
- Psalms 18:7
Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
- Deuteronomy 32:4
Through
Isaiah 5:25Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all…
it leads to
- Isaiah 10:4
Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Isaiah 9:21
Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; together they turn against Judah. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Isaiah 9:17
Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men; He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For every one of them is godless and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. Despite…
- Isaiah 10:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.