Jeremiah 4:26
in Jeremiah 4I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert. All its cities were torn down before the LORD, before His fierce anger.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of Jehovah, and before his fierce anger.
KJV
I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger.
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This verse in Jeremiah 4
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
fruitful place--Hebrew, Carmel. a wilderness--Hebrew, "the wilderness," in contrast to "the fruitful place"; the great desert, where Carmel was, there is now the desert of Arabia [MAURER]. cities--in contrast to the fruitful place or field.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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
the fruitful land was a desert
The fruitful land is Carmel in Hebrew, and the desert is the wilderness, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note. The garden land has become the great desert. Its cities fall before the fierce anger of the LORD.
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 Awakening3 voices
I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness,....
"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 cities also and their gates and walls are broken down and levelled with the ground. Those that look no further than second causes impute it to the policy and fury of the invaders; but the prophet, who looks to the first cause, says that it is at the presence of the Lord, at his face (that is, the anger of his countenance), even by his fierce anger, that this was done.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רָאִ֕יתִי | raiti | I looked | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֥ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| הַכַּרְמֶ֖ל | hakarmel | the garden-land | H3759 → | 17 times |
| הַמִּדְבָּ֑ר | hamidbar | [was] <the> wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עָרָ֗יו | ʾarav | cities its | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| נִתְּצוּ֙ | nitetzu | they had been pulled down | H5422 → | 42 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֣י | mipenei | from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֖י | mipenei | from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| חֲר֥וֹן | charon | [the] burning of | H2740 → | 41 times |
| אַפּֽוֹ׃ ס | ʾapo | anger his | H639 → | 276 times |
רָאִ֕יתִיI looked
raitiH7200 →1300 times
וְהִנֵּ֥הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
הַכַּרְמֶ֖לthe garden-land
hakarmelH3759 →17 times
הַמִּדְבָּ֑ר[was] <the> wilderness
hamidbarH4057 →270 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
עָרָ֗יוcities its
ʾaravH5892 →1090 times
נִתְּצוּ֙they had been pulled down
nitetzuH5422 →42 times
מִפְּנֵ֣יfrom before
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִפְּנֵ֖יfrom before
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
חֲר֥וֹן[the] burning of
charonH2740 →41 times
אַפּֽוֹ׃ סanger his
ʾapoH639 →276 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
Psalms 76:7You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?
it leads to
- 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.
- Nahum 1:6
Through
Micah 3:12Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 26:18
“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a…
- Psalms 79:1
The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
- Jeremiah 26:18
Through
Jeremiah 12:4How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said,…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:10
I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not…
- Psalms 107:34
and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
- Hosea 4:3
Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.
- Jeremiah 4:25
I looked, and no man was left; all the birds of the air had fled.
- Jeremiah 9:10
Through
Psalms 107:34and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
it leads to
- Genesis 14:3
The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
- Genesis 14:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.