Jeremiah 14:4

Lexham English Bible

Contextual Overview

¹ That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah concerning the matter of the severe drought. ² "Judah mourns, and her gates languish, they are in mourning on the ground, and the cry of lament of Jerusalem goes up. ³ And their nobles send their servants for water. They come to the pits, they find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They are ashamed, and they are confounded, and they cover their heads. ⁴ Because of the ground, which is cracked because there was no rain on the ground. The farmers are ashamed, they cover their heads. ⁵ For even the doe in the field gives birth and forsakes her young, because there is no green growth. ⁶ And wild asses stand on the barren heights, they gasp for breath like the jackals. Their eyes fail because there is no vegetation." ⁷ Although our iniquities testify against us, O Yahweh, act for the sake of your name. Yes, our apostasies are many; we have sinned against you. ⁸ You are the hope of Israel, its savior in time of distress. Why should you be like an alien in the land, or like a traveler who spreads out his tent to spend the night? ⁹ Why should you be like a confused man, like a warrior who is not able to help? Yet you are in our midst, O Yahweh, and your name is called upon us. You must not leave us!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the ground: Leviticus 26:19, Leviticus 26:20, Deuteronomy 28:23, Deuteronomy 28:24, Deuteronomy 29:23, Joel 1:19, Joel 1:20

the plowmen: Joel 1:11, Joel 1:17

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 9:19 - the seer 2 Samuel 15:30 - his head covered Esther 6:12 - having Job 6:20 - confounded Job 9:24 - he covereth Job 36:33 - the cattle Isaiah 19:7 - every Jeremiah 3:3 - the showers Jeremiah 14:3 - covered Amos 4:7 - I have Haggai 1:6 - have Zechariah 14:17 - even

Cross-References

Ezekiel 17:15
But he rebelled against him by sending his messengers to Egypt to give to him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he escape doing these things, and can he break the covenant and escape?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Because the ground is chapt,.... Through the violent heat of the sun, and want of rain; or, is broken y; and crumbles into dust. The Targum is,

"because of sins, the inhabitants of the earth are broken:''

for there was no rain in the earth; this was the reason of the dearth, and of the famine, and why there was no water in the pits, and the ground was parched. It is to be understood of the land of Judea only, not of the whole earth:

the ploughmen were ashamed; because they could not work the earth with their plough; were obliged to sit still, could do no work, or go on with their husbandry; nothing could be done for want of rain: they covered their heads; as before; :-.

y חתה "confracta", Schmidt; "attritam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Is chapt - Rather, is dismayed. “The ground” is used metaphorically for the people who until the ground.

In the earth - i. e., “in the land.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 14:4. The ground is chapt — The cracks in the earth before the descent of the rains are in some places a cubit wide, and deep enough to receive the greater part of a human body.