Jeremiah 6:4
in Jeremiah 6‘Prepare for battle against her; rise up, let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the daylight is fading; the evening shadows grow long.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
KJV
Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
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This verse in Jeremiah 6
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 4, 5.) Woe to us, because the day has declined, because the shadows in the evening have become longer (or have failed). Arise and let us ascend in the night, and let us scatter its houses (or its foundations). They say: Arise, and let us ascend at noon, and let us fight in the clear light. Those respond: Woe to us, because the shadows in the evening have become longer. According to that line from Virgil (Eclogue I): And now the tops of the distant villas smoke: And the shadows of the mountains fall higher.
This site's exposition
Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa
on Jeremiah 6:1-5
Benjamin is told to “flee from Jerusalem”, so the order to leave comes from inside the city under threat. The enemy is pictured as “Shepherds and their flocks” pitching tents around Zion. The invaders set their own hour, “let us attack at noon” and then “let us attack by night”.
This site's exposition
Prepare for battle against her
The besiegers speak among themselves, eager to attack at noon in full light. The daylight fades before they are ready. Jerome set the lengthening evening shadows beside a line of Virgil on mountain shadows falling longer.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
); now here we have the havoc made by the war. How lamentable are the desolations here described! The enemy shall so long quarter among them, and be so insatiable in their thirst after blood and treasure, that they shall seize all they can meet with, and what escapes them at one time shall fall into their hands another (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Prepare ye war against her,.... Not only proclaim it, but prepare themselves for it; get everything ready for the siege, and begin it.
Secondly, They confidently expect to be very successful: " Let us go up, and let us destroy her palaces and make ourselves masters of the wealth that is in them." It was not that they might fulfill God's counsels, but that they might fill their own treasures, that they were thus eager; yet God thereby served his own purposes. The cause of this judgment assigned.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Prepare ye war against her - The words of the invaders exciting each other to the assault, and impatient lest any time should be lost; lest the besieged should have time to strengthen themselves, or get in supplies.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Prepare ye war - Rather, Sanctify ye war against her. War in ancient times was never undertaken without religions solemnities (see Deu 20:2 note). For some of these compare Eze 21:21-23. At noon - The mid-day heat is so great in the East as to be usually passed under shelter 2Sa 4:5; Son 1:7. The morning-march of an army was made fasting, and was usually over by eight or nine. But so great is the impatience of the Chaldeans for the assault that they cry, “we will make the assault at noon!” Woe unto us! - Or, Alas for us! “for the day” has turned For the evening shadows are lengthening!
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קַדְּשׁ֤וּ | kadeshu | consecrate | H6942 → | 171 times |
| עָלֶ֙יהָ֙ | ʾaleiha | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִלְחָמָ֔ה | milchamah | battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
| ק֖וּמוּ | kumu | arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| וְנַעֲלֶ֣ה | venaaleh | so we may go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| בַֽצָּהֳרָ֑יִם | vatzohorayim | at <the> noon<s> | H6672 → | 24 times |
| א֥וֹי | ʾo | woe! | H188 → | 24 times |
| לָ֙נוּ֙ | lanu | to <the> us | ||
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| פָנָ֣ה | fanah | it has turned | H6437 → | 135 times |
| הַיּ֔וֹם | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִנָּט֖וּ | yinatu | they are stretched out | H5186 → | 214 times |
| צִלְלֵי־ | tzilei- | [the] shadows of | H6752 → | |
| עָֽרֶב׃ | ʾarev | evening | H6153 → |
קַדְּשׁ֤וּconsecrate
kadeshuH6942 →171 times
עָלֶ֙יהָ֙on it
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
מִלְחָמָ֔הbattle
milchamahH4421 →320 times
ק֖וּמוּarise
kumuH6965 →628 times
וְנַעֲלֶ֣הso we may go up
venaalehH5927 →890 times
בַֽצָּהֳרָ֑יִםat <the> noon<s>
vatzohorayimH6672 →24 times
א֥וֹיwoe!
ʾoH188 →24 times
לָ֙נוּ֙to <the> us
lanu
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
פָנָ֣הit has turned
fanahH6437 →135 times
הַיּ֔וֹםthe day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
יִנָּט֖וּthey are stretched out
yinatuH5186 →214 times
צִלְלֵי־[the] shadows of
tzilei-H6752 →
עָֽרֶב׃evening
ʾarevH6153 →
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
Zephaniah 2:4For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.
it leads to
- Zechariah 9:5–7
Ashkelon will see and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, as will Ekron, for her hope will wither. There will cease to be a king in Gaza, and Ashkelon will be uninhabited.
- Amos 1:6–8
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Gaza, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they exiled a whole population, delivering them up to Edom.
- Jeremiah 47:1–7
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines before Pharaoh struck down Gaza.
- Zechariah 9:5–7
Through
Joel 3:9Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack!
it leads to
- Jeremiah 46:3–4
“Deploy your shields, small and large; advance for battle!
- Ezekiel 38:7
Get ready; prepare yourself, you and all your company gathered around you; you will be their guard.
- Jeremiah 46:3–4
Through
Jeremiah 8:20“The harvest has passed, the summer has ended, but we have not been saved.”
it leads to
- Matthew 25:1–12
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
- Proverbs 10:5
He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.
- Luke 13:25
After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where…
- Matthew 25:1–12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.