Jeremiah 4:29
in Jeremiah 4Every city flees at the sound of the horseman and archer. They enter the thickets and climb among the rocks. Every city is abandoned; no inhabitant is left.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Every city fleeth for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city is forsaken, and not a man dwelleth therein.
KJV
The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
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This verse in Jeremiah 4
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Verse 29.) At the sound of the horseman, and of him who sends forth the arrow (or bends the bow), every city (or region) flees. They have entered the heights and climbed the rocks. And what follows: They have entered the thickets, or caves, which the Seventy have added. But the divine word describes the raging army of Babylon, how at its trembling the entire people have abandoned the city, and have climbed the heights; and yet they could not escape the wrath of the Lord.
This site's exposition
climb among the rocks
on Jeremiah 4:29-31
The chapter closes on the Daughter of Zion as a woman in labor with “her first child”. The scarlet, the gold jewelry and the painted eyes of verse 30 show Jerusalem dressed for lovers who turn on her. Her beauty and ornament cannot buy back a covenant she has broken.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The whole city shall flee,....
"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.
Rather than lie exposed to their fury, they shall go into the thickets, where they are in danger of being torn by briers, nay, to be torn in pieces by wild beasts; and they shall climb up upon the rocks, where their lodging will be hard and cold, and the precipice dangerous.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The whole city ... - Rather, Every city is fleeing. All the inhabitants of the tokens flee to Jerusalem for protection, or seek refuge in the woods and rocks. The horsemen and bowmen - The cavalry Jer 4:13 and bowmen formed the chief strength of the Assyrian armies. They shall go - They have gone.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
whole city--Jerusalem: to it the inhabitants of the country had fled for refuge; but when it, too, is likely to fall, they flee out of it to hide in the "thickets." HENDERSON translates, "every city." noise--The mere noise of the hostile horsemen shall put you to flight.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִקּ֨וֹל | mikol | from [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| פָּרָ֜שׁ | parash | a horseman | H6571 → | |
| וְרֹ֣מֵה | veromeh | and a shooter of | H7411 → | |
| קֶ֗שֶׁת | keshet | a bow | H7198 → | 76 times |
| בֹּרַ֙חַת֙ | borachat | [is] fleeing | H1272 → | 63 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעִ֔יר | hair | <the> city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| בָּ֚אוּ | bau | people will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בֶּעָבִ֔ים | beavim | in the thickets | H5645 → | |
| וּבַכֵּפִ֖ים | uvakefim | and on the rocks | H3710 → | |
| עָל֑וּ | ʾalu | people will go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעִ֣יר | hair | <the> city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| עֲזוּבָ֔ה | ʾazuvah | [is] abandoned | H5800 → | 215 times |
| וְאֵין־ | veein- | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| יוֹשֵׁ֥ב | yoshev | [is] dwelling | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בָּהֵ֖ן | bahen | in <the> them | ||
| אִֽישׁ׃ | ʾish | anyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
מִקּ֨וֹלfrom [the] sound of
mikolH6963 →506 times
פָּרָ֜שׁa horseman
parashH6571 →
וְרֹ֣מֵהand a shooter of
veromehH7411 →
קֶ֗שֶׁתa bow
keshetH7198 →76 times
בֹּרַ֙חַת֙[is] fleeing
borachatH1272 →63 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעִ֔יר<the> city
hairH5892 →1090 times
בָּ֚אוּpeople will go
bauH935 →2568 times
בֶּעָבִ֔יםin the thickets
beavimH5645 →
וּבַכֵּפִ֖יםand on the rocks
uvakefimH3710 →
עָל֑וּpeople will go up
ʾaluH5927 →890 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעִ֣יר<the> city
hairH5892 →1090 times
עֲזוּבָ֔ה[is] abandoned
ʾazuvahH5800 →215 times
וְאֵין־and there not
veein-H369 →789 times
יוֹשֵׁ֥ב[is] dwelling
yoshevH3427 →1079 times
בָּהֵ֖ןin <the> them
bahen
אִֽישׁ׃anyone
ʾishH376 →1663 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 4:7A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:15
The young lions have roared at him; they have growled with a loud voice. They have laid waste his land; his cities lie in ruins, without inhabitant.
- Ezekiel 26:7–10
For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with cavalry and a great company…
- Jeremiah 5:6
Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be…
- Isaiah 6:11
Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
- Isaiah 1:7
Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you—a desolation demolished by strangers.
- Jeremiah 2:15
Through
Amos 9:1I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will…
it leads to
- Psalms 68:21
Surely God will crush the heads of His enemies, the hairy crowns of those who persist in guilty ways.
- Isaiah 6:3–4
And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”
- Psalms 68:21
Through
1 Samuel 13:6Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.
it leads to
- Judges 6:2
and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.
- Judges 6:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 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 Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.