Jeremiah 5:17
in Jeremiah 5They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat; they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds; they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall beat down thy fortified cities, wherein thou trustest, with the sword.
KJV
And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.
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This verse in Jeremiah 5
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Or, It shall eat “thine harvest and thy bread:” They shall eat “thy sons and thy daughters.” It shall eat thy sheep and thy cattle: It shall eat “thy vines and thy fig-trees.” They shall impoverish ... - Or, It shall batter thy “fortified cities, wherein thou” trustest, with weapons of war. There is probably reference here to an instrument like a battering-ram, with which the Assyrians beat down the walls of their enemies.
This site's exposition
I will make My words a fire in your mouth
on Jeremiah 5:14-17
Because the people have spoken this word, the LORD makes His words “a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes”. The distant nation is drawn by what a hearer in Jerusalem cannot do, since its language is one “you do not know”.
This site's exposition
They will devour your harvest and food
Barnes renders all four verbs as eat: harvest and bread, sons and daughters, sheep and cattle, vines and fig trees. He hears a battering ram in the attack on the fortified cities. Matthew Henry reads it as the curse of Deuteronomy 28.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 15 and following) Behold, I will bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, says the Lord: a strong nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you will not understand, nor will you know what it speaks. Its quiver is like an open tomb, all mighty warriors. And it will devour your crops and your bread; it will devour your sons and daughters; it will devour your flocks and herds; it will devour your vineyards and fig trees; and it will crush your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But it is a grievous vexation to see it devoured by strangers and enemies, to see their camps victualled with our stores, while those that are dear to us are perishing for want of it: this also is according to the curse of the law, Deut. xxviii.
4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the L ORD , nor the judgment of their God. 5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the L ORD , and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:94%@v4-5
And they shall eat up thine harvest,....
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָכַ֨ל | veakhal | and it will devour | H398 → | 810 times |
| קְצִֽירְךָ֜ | ketzirecha | harvest your | H7105 → | 54 times |
| וְלַחְמֶ֗ךָ | velachmekha | and food your | H3899 → | 298 times |
| יֹאכְלוּ֙ | yokhelu | they will devour | H398 → | 810 times |
| בָּנֶ֣יךָ | baneikha | sons your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וּבְנוֹתֶ֔יךָ | uvenoteikha | and daughters your | H1323 → | 588 times |
| יֹאכַ֤ל | yokhal | it will devour | H398 → | 810 times |
| צֹאנְךָ֙ | tzonekha | flock[s] your | H6629 → | 274 times |
| וּבְקָרֶ֔ךָ | uvekarecha | and herd[s] your | H1241 → | 183 times |
| יֹאכַ֥ל | yokhal | it will devour | H398 → | 810 times |
| גַּפְנְךָ֖ | gafnekha | vine[s] your | H1612 → | 55 times |
| וּתְאֵנָתֶ֑ךָ | uteenatekha | and fig tree[s] your | H8384 → | 39 times |
| יְרֹשֵׁ֞שׁ | yeroshesh | it will shatter | H7567 → | |
| עָרֵ֣י | ʾarei | [the] cities of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| מִבְצָרֶ֗יךָ | mivtzareikha | fortifications your | H4013 → | 37 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אַתָּ֛ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| בּוֹטֵ֥חַ | boteach | [are] trusting | H982 → | 120 times |
| בָּהֵ֖נָּה | bahenah | in them | ||
| בֶּחָֽרֶב׃ | becharev | with the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
וְאָכַ֨לand it will devour
veakhalH398 →810 times
קְצִֽירְךָ֜harvest your
ketzirechaH7105 →54 times
וְלַחְמֶ֗ךָand food your
velachmekhaH3899 →298 times
יֹאכְלוּ֙they will devour
yokheluH398 →810 times
בָּנֶ֣יךָsons your
baneikhaH1121 →4930 times
וּבְנוֹתֶ֔יךָand daughters your
uvenoteikhaH1323 →588 times
יֹאכַ֤לit will devour
yokhalH398 →810 times
צֹאנְךָ֙flock[s] your
tzonekhaH6629 →274 times
וּבְקָרֶ֔ךָand herd[s] your
uvekarechaH1241 →183 times
יֹאכַ֥לit will devour
yokhalH398 →810 times
גַּפְנְךָ֖vine[s] your
gafnekhaH1612 →55 times
וּתְאֵנָתֶ֑ךָand fig tree[s] your
uteenatekhaH8384 →39 times
יְרֹשֵׁ֞שׁit will shatter
yerosheshH7567 →
עָרֵ֣י[the] cities of
ʾareiH5892 →1090 times
מִבְצָרֶ֗יךָfortifications your
mivtzareikhaH4013 →37 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אַתָּ֛הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
בּוֹטֵ֥חַ[are] trusting
boteachH982 →120 times
בָּהֵ֖נָּהin them
bahenah
בֶּחָֽרֶב׃with the sword
becharevH2719 →413 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
Leviticus 26:16then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed…
it leads to
- Job 31:8
then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.
- Micah 6:15
You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
- 1 Samuel 2:33
And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, your eyes will fail and your heart will grieve. All your descendants will die by the sword of men.
- Deuteronomy 28:21–22
The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land that you are entering to possess.
- Job 31:8
Through
Hosea 8:14Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has multiplied its fortified cities. But I will send fire upon their cities, and it will consume their citadels.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:18
You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
- Jeremiah 17:27
But if you do not listen to Me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an…
- Isaiah 17:10
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—
- Amos 2:5
So I will send fire upon Judah to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.”
- Deuteronomy 32:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.