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Selected Verse: Jeremiah 4:5 - Strong Concordance
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
Jer 4:5 |
Strong Concordance |
Declare [05046] ye in Judah [03063], and publish [08085] in Jerusalem [03389]; and say [0559], Blow [08628] ye the trumpet [07782] in the land [0776]: cry [07121], gather together [04390], and say [0559], Assemble [0622] yourselves, and let us go [0935] into the defenced [04013] cities [05892]. |
|
King James |
Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
cry, gather together--rather, "cry fully" that is, loudly. The Jews are warned to take measures against the impending Chaldean invasion (compare Jer 8:14). |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Rather, Make proclamation "in Judah, and in Jerusalem" bid them hear, "and say, Blow the trumpet" throughout "the land:" cry aloud "and say etc." The prophecy begins with a loud alarm of war. The verse sets forth well, in its numerous commands, the excitement and confusion of such a time. |
Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
From the north destruction approaches. - Jer 4:5. "Proclaim in Judah, and in Jerusalem let it be heard, and say, Blow the trumpet in the land; cry with a loud voice, and say, Assemble, and let us go into the defenced cities. Jer 4:6. Raise a standard toward Zion: save yourselves by flight, linger not; for from the north I bring evil and great destruction. Jer 4:7. A lion comes up from his thicket, and a destroyer of the nations is on his way, comes forth from his place, to make they land a waste, that thy cities be destroyed, without an inhabitant. Jer 4:8. For this gird you in sackcloth, lament and howl, for the heat of Jahveh's anger hath not turned itself from us. Jer 4:9. And it cometh to pass on that day, saith Jahveh, the heart of the king and the heart of the princes shall perish, and the priests shall be confounded and the prophets amazed." The invasion of a formidable foe is here represented with poetic animation; the inhabitants being called upon to publish the enemy's approach throughout the land, so that every one may hide himself in the fortified cities.
(Note: By this dreaded foe the older commentators understand the Chaldeans; but some of the moderns will have it that the Scythians are meant. Among the latter are Dahler, Hitz., Ew., Bertheau (z. Gesch. der Isr.), Movers, and others; and they have been preceded by Eichhorn (Hebr. Proph. ii. 96 f), Cramer (in the Comm. on Zephaniah, under the title Scythische Denkmler in Palstina, 1777). On the basis of their hypothesis, M. Duncker (Gesch. des Alterth. S. 751ff.) has sketched out a minute picture of the inundation of Palestine by hordes of Scythian horsemen in the year 626, according to the prophecies of Jeremiah and Zephaniah. For this there is absolutely no historical support, although Roesch in his archaeological investigations on Nabopolassar (Deutsch-morgld. Ztschr. xv. S. 502ff.), who, according to him, was a Scythian king, alleges that "pretty nearly all (?) exegetical authorities" understand these prophecies of the Scythians (S. 536). For this view can be neither justified exegetically nor made good historically, as has been admitted and proved by A. Kueper (Jerem. libr. ss. int. p. 13f.), and Ad. Strauss (Vaticin. Zeph. p. 18f.), and then by Tholuck (die Propheten u. ihre Weiss, S. 94ff.), Graf (Jer. S. 16ff.), Ng., and others. On exegetical grounds the theory is untenable; for in the descriptions of the northern foe, whose invasion of Judah Zephaniah and Jeremiah threaten, there is not the faintest hint that can be taken to point to the Scythian squadrons, and, on the contrary, there is much that cannot be suitable to these wandering hordes. The enemies approaching like clouds, their chariots like the whirlwind, with horses swifter than eagles (Jer 4:13), every city fleeing from the noise of the horsemen and of the bowmen (Jer 4:29), and the like, go to form a description obviously founded on Deu 28:49., and on the account of the Chaldeans ( כּשׂדּים) in Hab 1:7-11 - a fact which leads Roesch to suppose Habakkuk meant Scythian by כּשׂדּים. All the Asiatic world-powers had horsemen, war-chariots, and archers, and we do not know that the Scythians fought on chariots. Nor was it at all according to the plan of Scythian hordes to besiege cities and carry the vanquished people into exile, as Jeremiah prophesies of these enemies. Again, in Jer 25, where he expressly names Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babel as the fulfiller of judgment foretold, Jeremiah mentions the enemy in the same words as in Jer 1:15, ּכל־משׁפּחות צפון (Jer 25:9), and represents the accomplishment of judgment by Nebuchadnezzar as the fulfilment of all the words he had been prophesying since the 13th year of Josiah. This makes it as clear as possible that Jeremiah regarded the Chaldeans as the families of the peoples of the north who were to lay Judah waste, conquer Jerusalem, and scatter its inhabitants amongst the heathen. In a historical reference, also, the Scythian theory is quite unfounded. The account in Herod. i. 103-105 of the incursion of the Scythians into Media and of dominion exercised over Asia for 28 years by them, does say that they came to Syrian Palestine and advanced on Egypt, but by means of presents were induced by King Psammetichus to withdraw, that they marched back again without committing any violence, and that only ὀλίγοι τινὲς αὐτῶν plundered the temple of Venus Urania at Ascalon on the way back. But these accounts, taken at their strict historical value, tell us nothing more than that one swarm of the Scythian hordes, which overspread Media and Asia Minor, entered Palestine and penetrated to the borders of Egypt, passing by the ancient track of armies across the Jordan at Bethshan, and through the plain of Jezreel along the Philistine coast; that here they were bought off by Psammetichus and retired without even so much as touching on the kingdom of Judah on their way. The historical books of the Old Testament have no knowledge whatever of any incursion into Judah of Scythians or other northern nations during the reign of Josiah. On the other hand, we give no weight to the argument that the march of the Scythians through Syria against Egypt had taken place in the 7th or 8th year of Josiah, a few years before Jeremiah's public appearance, and so could be no subject for his prophecies (Thol., Graf, Ng.). For the chronological data of the ancients as to the Scythian invasion are not so definite that we can draw confident conclusions from them; cf. M. v. Niebuhr, Ges. Assurs u. Babels, S. 67ff.
All historical evidence for a Scythian inroad into Judah being thus entirely wanting, the supporters of this hypothesis can make nothing of any point save the Greek name Scythopolis for Bethshan, which Dunck. calls "a memorial for Judah of the Scythian raid." We find the name in Jdg 1:27 of the lxx, Βαιθσάν ἥ ἐστι Σκυθῶν πόλις, and from this come the Σκυθόπολις of Judith 3:10, 2 Macc. 12:29, and in Joseph. Antt. v. 1. 22, xii. 8. 5, etc. Even if we do not hold, as Reland, Pal. ill. p. 992, does, that the gloss, ἥ ἐστι Σκυθῶν πόλις, Jdg 1:27, has been interpolated late into the lxx; even if we admit that it originated with the translator, the fact that the author of the lxx, who lived 300 years after Josiah, interpreted Σκυθόπολις by Σκυθῶν πόλις, does by no means prove that the city had received this Greek name from a Scythian invasion of Palestine, or from a colony of those Scythians who had settled down there. The Greek derivation of the name shows that it could not have originated before the extension of Greek supremacy in Palestine - not before Alexander the Great. But there is no historical proof that Scythians dwelt in Bethshan. Duncker e.g., makes the inference simply from the name Σκυθῶν πόλις and Σκυθοπολίται, 2 Macc. 12:29f. His statement: "Josephus (Antt. xii. 5. 8) and Pliny (Hist. n. v. 16) affirm that Scythians had settled down there," is wholly unfounded. In Joseph. l.c. there is no word of it; nor will a critical historian accept as sufficient historical evidence of an ancient Scythian settlement in Bethshan, Pliny's l.c. aphoristic notice: Scythopolin (antea Nysam a Libero Patre, spulta nutrice ibi) Scythis deducts. The late Byzantine author, George Syncellus, is the first to derive the name Scythopolis from the incursion of the Scythians into Palestine; cf. Reland, p. 993. The origin of the name is obscure, but is not likely to be found, as by Reland, Gesen., etc., in the neighbouring Succoth. More probably it comes from a Jewish interpretation of the prophecy of Ezekiel, Eze 39:11, regarding the overthrow of Gog in the valley of the wanderers eastwards from the sea. This is Hvernick's view, suggested by Bochart.
Taking all into consideration, we see that the reference of our prophecy to the Scythians is founded neither on exegetical results nor on historical evidence, but wholly on the rationalistic prejudice that the prophecies of the biblical prophets are nothing more than either disguised descriptions of historical events or threatenings of results that lay immediately before the prophet's eyes, which is the view of Hitz., Ew., and others.)
The ו before תּקעוּ in the Chet. has evidently got into the text through an error in transcription, and the Keri, according to which all the old versions translate, is the only correct reading. "Blow the trumpet in the land," is that which is to be proclaimed or published, and the blast into the far-sounding שׁופר is the signal of alarm by which the people was made aware of the danger that threatened it; cf. Joe 2:1; Hos 5:8. The second clause expresses the same matter in an intensified form and with plainer words. Cry, make full (the crying), i.e., cry with a full clear voice; gather, and let us go into the fortified cities; cf. Jer 8:14. This was the meaning of the trumpet blast. Raise a banner pointing towards Zion, i.e., showing the fugitives the way to Zion as the safest stronghold in the kingdom. נס, a lofty pole with a waving flag (Isa 33:23; Eze 27:7), erected upon mountains, spread the alarm farther than even the sound of the pealing trumpet; see in Isa 5:26. העיזוּ, secure your possessions by flight; cf. Isa 10:31. The evil which Jahveh is bringing on the land is specified by שׁבר גּדול, after Zep 1:10, but very frequently used by Jeremiah; cf. Jer 6:1; Jer 48:3; Jer 50:22; Jer 51:54. שׁבר, breaking (of a limb), Lev 21:19, then the upbreaking of what exists, ruin, destruction. In Jer 4:7 the evil is yet more fully described. A lion is come up from his thicket (סבּכו with dag. forte dirim., from שׂובך[ סבך, Sa2 18:9], or from סבך, Psa 74:5; cf. Ew. 255, d, and Olsh. 155, b), going forth for prey. This lion is a destroyer of the nations (not merely of individual persons as the ordinary lion); he has started (נסע, or striking tents for the march), and is come out to waste the land and to destroy the cities. The infin. is continued by the temp. fin. תּצּינה, and the Kal of נצה is here used in a passive sense: to be destroyed by war. |
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
The trumpet - The Lord being now about to bring enemies upon them, speaks in martial language, warning them of the nature of their approaching judgment. |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
Blow ye the trumpet - Give full information to all parts of the land, that the people may assemble together and defend themselves against their invaders. |
14 Why do we sit still [03427]? assemble [0622] yourselves, and let us enter [0935] into the defenced [04013] cities [05892], and let us be silent [01826] there: for the LORD [03068] our God [0430] hath put us to silence [01826], and given us water [04325] of gall [07219] to drink [08248], because we have sinned [02398] against the LORD [03068].
5 A man was famous [03045] according as he had lifted up [0935] [04605] axes [07134] upon the thick [05442] trees [06086].
9 And Absalom [053] met [07122] the servants [06440] [05650] of David [01732]. And Absalom [053] rode [07392] upon a mule [06505], and the mule [06505] went [0935] under the thick boughs [07730] of a great [01419] oak [0424], and his head [07218] caught hold [02388] of the oak [0424], and he was taken up [05414] between the heaven [08064] and the earth [0776]; and the mule [06505] that was under him went away [05674].
7 The lion [0738] is come up [05927] from his thicket [05441], and the destroyer [07843] of the Gentiles [01471] is on his way [05265]; he is gone forth [03318] from his place [04725] to make [07760] thy land [0776] desolate [08047]; and thy cities [05892] shall be laid waste [05327], without an inhabitant [03427].
19 Or a man [0376] that is brokenfooted [07667] [07272], or brokenhanded [07667] [03027],
54 A sound [06963] of a cry [02201] cometh from Babylon [0894], and great [01419] destruction [07667] from the land [0776] of the Chaldeans [03778]:
22 A sound [06963] of battle [04421] is in the land [0776], and of great [01419] destruction [07667].
3 A voice [06963] of crying [06818] shall be from Horonaim [02773], spoiling [07701] and great [01419] destruction [07667].
1 O ye children [01121] of Benjamin [01144], gather yourselves to flee [05756] out of the midst [07130] of Jerusalem [03389], and blow [08628] the trumpet [07782] in Tekoa [08620], and set up [05375] a sign [04864] of fire in Bethhaccerem [01021]: for evil [07451] appeareth [08259] out of the north [06828], and great [01419] destruction [07667].
10 And it shall come to pass in that day [03117], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], that there shall be the noise [06963] of a cry [06818] from the fish [01709] gate [08179], and an howling [03215] from the second [04932], and a great [01419] crashing [07667] from the hills [01389].
31 Madmenah [04088] is removed [05074]; the inhabitants [03427] of Gebim [01374] gather themselves to flee [05756].
26 And he will lift up [05375] an ensign [05251] to the nations [01471] from far [07350], and will hiss [08319] unto them from the end [07097] of the earth [0776]: and, behold, they shall come [0935] with speed [04120] swiftly [07031]:
7 Fine linen [08336] with broidered work [07553] from Egypt [04714] was that which thou spreadest forth [04666] to be thy sail [05251]; blue [08504] and purple [0713] from the isles [0339] of Elishah [0473] was that which covered [04374] thee.
23 Thy tacklings [02256] are loosed [05203]; they could not well [03653] strengthen [02388] their mast [08650], they could not spread [06566] the sail [05251]: then is the prey [05706] of a great [04766] spoil [07998] divided [02505]; the lame [06455] take [0962] the prey [0957].
14 Why do we sit still [03427]? assemble [0622] yourselves, and let us enter [0935] into the defenced [04013] cities [05892], and let us be silent [01826] there: for the LORD [03068] our God [0430] hath put us to silence [01826], and given us water [04325] of gall [07219] to drink [08248], because we have sinned [02398] against the LORD [03068].
8 Blow [08628] ye the cornet [07782] in Gibeah [01390], and the trumpet [02689] in Ramah [07414]: cry aloud [07321] at Bethaven [01007], after [0310] thee, O Benjamin [01144].
1 Blow [08628] ye the trumpet [07782] in Zion [06726], and sound an alarm [07321] in my holy [06944] mountain [02022]: let all the inhabitants [03427] of the land [0776] tremble [07264]: for the day [03117] of the LORD [03068] cometh [0935], for it is nigh at hand [07138];
11 And it shall come to pass in that day [03117], that I will give [05414] unto Gog [01463] a place [04725] there of graves [06913] in Israel [03478], the valley [01516] of the passengers [05674] on the east [06926] of the sea [03220]: and it shall stop [02629] the noses of the passengers [05674]: and there shall they bury [06912] Gog [01463] and all his multitude [01995]: and they shall call [07121] it The valley [01516] of Hamongog [01996].
27 Neither did Manasseh [04519] drive out [03423] the inhabitants of Bethshean [01052] and her towns [01323], nor Taanach [08590] and her towns [01323], nor the inhabitants [03427] of Dor [01756] and her towns [01323], nor the inhabitants [03427] of Ibleam [02991] and her towns [01323], nor the inhabitants [03427] of Megiddo [04023] and her towns [01323]: but the Canaanites [03669] would [02974] dwell [03427] in that land [0776].
27 Neither did Manasseh [04519] drive out [03423] the inhabitants of Bethshean [01052] and her towns [01323], nor Taanach [08590] and her towns [01323], nor the inhabitants [03427] of Dor [01756] and her towns [01323], nor the inhabitants [03427] of Ibleam [02991] and her towns [01323], nor the inhabitants [03427] of Megiddo [04023] and her towns [01323]: but the Canaanites [03669] would [02974] dwell [03427] in that land [0776].
9 Behold, I will send [07971] and take [03947] all the families [04940] of the north [06828], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], and Nebuchadrezzar [05019] the king [04428] of Babylon [0894], my servant [05650], and will bring [0935] them against this land [0776], and against the inhabitants [03427] thereof, and against all these nations [01471] round about [05439], and will utterly destroy [02763] them, and make [07760] them an astonishment [08047], and an hissing [08322], and perpetual [05769] desolations [02723].
15 For, lo, I will call [07121] all the families [04940] of the kingdoms [04467] of the north [06828], saith [05002] the LORD [03068]; and they shall come [0935], and they shall set [05414] every one [0376] his throne [03678] at the entering [06607] of the gates [08179] of Jerusalem [03389], and against all the walls [02346] thereof round about [05439], and against all the cities [05892] of Judah [03063].
7 They are terrible [0366] and dreadful [03372]: their judgment [04941] and their dignity [07613] shall proceed [03318] of themselves.
8 Their horses [05483] also are swifter [07043] than the leopards [05246], and are more fierce [02300] than the evening [06153] wolves [02061]: and their horsemen [06571] shall spread [06335] themselves, and their horsemen [06571] shall come [0935] from far [07350]; they shall fly [05774] as the eagle [05404] that hasteth [02363] to eat [0398].
9 They shall come [0935] all for violence [02555]: their faces [06440] shall sup up [04041] as the east wind [06921], and they shall gather [0622] the captivity [07628] as the sand [02344].
10 And they shall scoff [07046] at the kings [04428], and the princes [07336] shall be a scorn [04890] unto them: they shall deride [07832] every strong hold [04013]; for they shall heap [06651] dust [06083], and take [03920] it.
11 Then shall his mind [07307] change [02498], and he shall pass over [05674], and offend [0816], imputing this [02098] his power [03581] unto his god [0433].
49 The LORD [03068] shall bring [05375] a nation [01471] against thee from far [07350], from the end [07097] of the earth [0776], as swift as the eagle [05404] flieth [01675]; a nation [01471] whose tongue [03956] thou shalt not understand [08085];
29 The whole city [05892] shall flee [01272] for the noise [06963] of the horsemen [06571] and bowmen [07198] [07411]; they shall go [0935] into thickets [05645], and climb up [05927] upon the rocks [03710]: every city [05892] shall be forsaken [05800], and not a man [0376] dwell [03427] therein [02004].
13 Behold, he shall come up [05927] as clouds [06051], and his chariots [04818] shall be as a whirlwind [05492]: his horses [05483] are swifter [07043] than eagles [05404]. Woe [0188] unto us! for we are spoiled [07703].
9 And it shall come to pass at that day [03117], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], that the heart [03820] of the king [04428] shall perish [06], and the heart [03820] of the princes [08269]; and the priests [03548] shall be astonished [08074], and the prophets [05030] shall wonder [08539].
8 For this gird [02296] you with sackcloth [08242], lament [05594] and howl [03213]: for the fierce [02740] anger [0639] of the LORD [03068] is not turned back [07725] from us.
7 The lion [0738] is come up [05927] from his thicket [05441], and the destroyer [07843] of the Gentiles [01471] is on his way [05265]; he is gone forth [03318] from his place [04725] to make [07760] thy land [0776] desolate [08047]; and thy cities [05892] shall be laid waste [05327], without an inhabitant [03427].
6 Set up [05375] the standard [05251] toward Zion [06726]: retire [05756], stay [05975] not: for I will bring [0935] evil [07451] from the north [06828], and a great [01419] destruction [07667].
5 Declare [05046] ye in Judah [03063], and publish [08085] in Jerusalem [03389]; and say [0559], Blow [08628] ye the trumpet [07782] in the land [0776]: cry [07121], gather together [04390], and say [0559], Assemble [0622] yourselves, and let us go [0935] into the defenced [04013] cities [05892].