Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 4:23
I beheld the earth, and, lo, [it was] without form, and void; and the heavens, and they [had] no light.
23. waste ] formless, unsubstantial. Cp. Gen 1:2. “And void” is not rendered by LXX either here or in Is., and is therefore probably a gloss from Genesis.
no light ] as though a return to chaos before the creation of light. Cp. Gen. l.c.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
23 28. In vision he beholds the earth a void waste, the hills reeling at the blast of God’s anger, the heavens black, all bird life fled, cities in ruins. Jehovah’s resolve is an abiding one.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
23 28. See summary at commencement of section. In these vv. the inah rhythm changes to another of a more diffuse kind. Hence, and because of alleged lack of connexion with the neighbouring sections, Du. and Gi. (2nd ed.) consider the passage to be later than Jeremiah’s time; but without necessity. The prophet in this singularly powerful description rises to a sublime height. The state of things described in the History of the Creation has returned. All is chaotic. Cp. for Jer 4:23 Isa 34:11.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
In four verses each beginning with I beheld, the prophet sees in vision the desolate condition of Judaea during the Babylonian captivity.
Jer 4:23
Without form, and void – Desolate and void (see Gen 1:2 note). The land has returned to a state of chaos (marginal reference note).
And the heavens – And upward to the heavens. The imagery is that of the last day of judgment. To Jeremiahs vision all was as though the day of the Lord had come, and earth returned to the state in which it was before the first creative word (see 2Pe 3:10).
Jer 4:24
Moved lightly – Reeled to and fro, from the violence of the earthquake.
Jer 4:26
The fruitful place – The Carmel Jer 2:7, where the population had been most dense, and the labors of the farmer most richly rewarded, has become the wilderness.
At the presence – i. e., because of, at the command of Yahweh, and because of His anger.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 23. I beheld the earth, (the land,) and lo it was without form and void] tohu vabohu; the very words used in Genesis to denote the formless state of the chaotic mass before God had brought it into order.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I beheld; either I Jeremiah saw all this in a vision, or I fancied and framed such an
idea of it in my mind; it seems to be impressed upon my thoughts graphically, as in a map, in such a rueful manner; for in this and the three following verses he doth, as one transported with sorrow, elegantly and hyperbolically describe the phaenomenon, face or appearance of it.
It was without form and void; the land was so squalid and so ruined, that he fancieth it to be like the first chaos, for which reason possibly he calls Judea the earth, in allusion to Gen 1:2; and herein implying that Judahs sins were such, that they had even overturned the course of nature, being laid waste and desolate, not of inhabitants only, but of all things that might tend either to ornament or use, without men, without houses, without fruits, without beasts or birds for food or service, Jer 4:25,26.
They had no light; some say being obnubilated and darkened by the abundance of smoke that would ascend from the desolating fires of towns and cities, Isa 9:18,19, of which you may read in the history of this breaking in of the Chaldeans. But he seems to proceed rather in his metaphor of the chaos, it being an expression whereby the Scripture doth set forth the saddest desolations, Isa 13:9, &c.; Eze 32:7, &c.; Joe 2:10,30,31; every thing above and below seemed to be in a mournful posture, wrapt up in dismal blackness.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. Graphic picture of the utterdesolation about to visit Palestine. “I beheld, and lo!”four times solemnly repeated, heightens the awful effect of the scene(compare Isa 24:19; Isa 34:11).
without form and voidreducedto the primeval chaos (Ge 1:2).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I beheld the earth,…. The land of Judea, not the whole world; and this the prophet says, either in spirit, as Jerom; or in prophecy, as Kimchi; or in a visionary way; for these are not the words of God continued, as Cocceius, but of the prophet; who, by a prophetic spirit, describes the dreadful destruction of the Jewish nation, as follows:
and, lo, it was without form, and void; as the first earth or chaos was, before it was brought into form and order; the same words, “tohu” and “bohu”, are used here, as in Ge 1:2, the land of Judea now was, in the prophet’s view of it, like the first earth, when darkness covered it; no grass sprung out of it, not a tree to be seen in it, and neither man nor beast as yet upon it, but all an undigested mass, and in the utmost wild disorder and confusion; and this may denote not only the natural, but the political, and ecclesiastical, disorder of the Jewish nation and state:
and the heavens, and they had no light; that were over the land of Judea;
“their lights did not shine,”
as the Targum paraphrases it; that is, the sun, moon, and stars, which were darkened by the smoke of the burning of Jerusalem; or which withdrew their light, as blushing at, and being ashamed of, the iniquities of his people, and who were unworthy of enjoying the light of them; and which this phrase may denote.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Vs. 23-28: A JUDGMENT OF SUPER-ATOMIC PROPORTION
1. Let it, first, be recognized that this prophecy – though announcing imminent judgment upon Judah – reaches far beyond Judah, to describe (in symbolic form) the ultimate judgment of Jehovah upon apolitical universe.
a. The “heavens” (sun, moon, stars, etc.) symbolizes heights of political power and glory (kings, queens, princes, etc.; comp. Isa 13:10-13; Isa 14:12-15; Isa 34:4-5; Eze 32:7; Joe 2:10; Hag 2:6-7); yet, it also includes in some contexts, wicked spiritual powers in the heavenlies, (Eph 6:11-12; comp. Mat 24:29; Heb 12:26).
b. “Earth” denotes the multitudes of people under the rule of the heavens – the strength and power whereby they are supported, (Gen 6:11; Rev 12:16; etc.).
c. Political unrest, commotion and revolution are, figuratively represented by a shaking of the earth, or an earthquake, (Hab 2:6; Rev 11:13).
2. The language used by the prophet (vs. 23a) is identical to that found in Gen 1:2; Isa 34:11 – suggesting the dissolution of “order” and return to utter “chaos”!
3. Here is a powerful portrayal of the instability of civil authority, (vs. 24); the dissolution of civil order, (vs. 25); and the desolation of the land under the fierce anger of the Lord, who is as faithful to His warnings of judgment as to His promises of blessing, (vs. 27-28).
4. Yet, a ray of hope is held out to Judah: “Yet will I NOT make a full end,” (vs. 27b) – suggesting the idea of a “remnant,” as set forth by other prophets, (Jer 6:9; comp. Jer 23:3; Jer 42:19; Amo 5:15; Mic 2:12; Zep 2:9; Hag 1:12).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The Prophet in this passage enlarges in a language highly metaphorical on the terror of God’s vengeance, that he might rouse the Jews, who were stupid and careless: nor is the repetition in vain, when he says four times, that he looked. He might have spoken of the earth, heaven, men, and fertile places in one sentence: but it is the same as though he had turned his eyes to four different quarters, and said, that wherever he looked, there appeared to him dreadful tokens of God’s wrath, and which threatened the Jews with utter ruin. Nor is it a wonder that the Prophet is so vehement; for we know that men would have heedlessly received all threatenings, except they were violently roused. And this mode of teaching ought to be well known to us; for all in any degree acquainted with the writings of the prophets, must know that they especially pursued this course, in order to rouse hypocrites, and the despisers of God, who, with a stiff neck and a hardened heart, were not moved by any apprehension of punishment. But this passage is remarkable above most others: we ought therefore to consider the import of the Prophet’s words.
He says first, that he looked on the earth, and that it was תהו, teu, and בהו, beu. He employs the very words which Moses adopted in his history of the creation; for before any order was introduced, he says that the earth was תהו, teu, and בהו, beu, that is, waste and unformed chaos; and it had no beauty pleasing to the eye. (119) It is the same as though He had said, that the order, which had been so beautifully arranged, had now disappeared through God’s wrath, and that there was nothing but confusion everywhere. Thus he amplifies the atrocity of their sins; as though he had said, that men had become so fallen, that they had changed the whole form of the world, and blended heaven and earth together, so that now there was no distinction between things. As to the heavens, he says, that there was no light in them: he intimates that the light of the sun, moon, and stars, was in a manner extinguished, because men were unworthy to enjoy such a kindness from God; and as though the sun and moon were ashamed to be witnesses of so many sins and vices.
We now then apprehend what Jeremiah chiefly means in the first verse: He says, that he looked on the earth, and that nothing appeared in it but dreadful chaos and waste, there being no form nor beauty; for the Jews had by their sins subverted the order of nature and the creation of God. And he says, that he looked on the heavens, and that they had no light; for the Jews had deserved to be deprived of that benefit which God had designed the sun and the moon to convey: and it is indeed a singular instance of God’s kindness, that he has made such noble objects to be of such service to us. The Prophet, in short, means that such awful tokens of God’s wrath appeared in heaven and on earth, as though the whole world had been thrown into confusion. This mode of speaking often occurs in the other prophets, especially in Joe 2:2. Though the words are hyperbolical, yet they do not exceed what is suitable, if we take to the account the extreme insensibility of men: for except God arms heaven and earth, and shews himself ready to take away all the blessings with which he favors mankind, they will, as we have lately said, laugh to scorn all his threatenings.
(119) These two words are viewed as synonymous by some, and the versions render them often by the same terms. As to the first, תהו, there can be no doubt as to its meaning, for it occurs about twenty times, and in all these places the idea of emptiness is chiefly conveyed: hence it is most commonly rendered in our version, vain, vanity, in vain, nought, etc., 1Sa 12:21; Isa 40:17; Isa 45:18; Isa 49:4. It is improperly rendered “without form,“ in Gen 1:2, and “confusion” in Isa 34:11. When applied to the earth, as in Gen 1:2, it imports emptiness, as it was then unfurnished either with productions or with any inhabitants. This appears evident from Isa 45:18, “He created it not in vain,“ rather, “not empty did he create it — לא-תהו בראה;” “he formed it to be inhabited,“ or more literally, “for a habitation he formed it.” As to the other word, בוו, it only occurs three times, Gen 1:2; Isa 34:11; and here. As the former evidently means emptiness, this may be taken to mean confusion or chaos, according to Symmachus, “ συγκεχυμένη, — confused.” Then the right rendering here would be, —
23. I looked on the land, And behold emptiness and confusion; And towards the heavens, And they were without their light.
It is not the earth, but the land of Judea is what is meant. The whole passage being so striking, shall be here given, —
24. I looked at the mountains, And, behold, they were shaking, And all the hills made quick motions:
25. I looked, and, behold, there was no man; And every bird of heaven had fled away:
26. I looked, and, behold, Carmel a desert; And all its cities had been demolished By the presence of Jehovah, By the indignation of his wrath.
The whole is represented as already done. The Prophet speaks of what he had seen in the vision. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
2. Devastating judgment (Jer. 4:23-26)
TRANSLATION
(23) I looked at the land, and behold, it was waste and void; and unto the heavens, but there was no light. (24) I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were shaking; and all the hills shook themselves. (25) I looked, and behold, there was no man and all the birds of the heaven had fled. (26) I looked, and behold, Carmel was a wilderness and all his cities were pulled down because of the presence of the LORD and His fierce anger.
COMMENTS
Jeremiah regains his composure after the emotional outburst of Jer. 4:19-21. Gods explanation of the forthcoming destruction in Jer. 4:22 seems to have satisfied the reluctant preacher. He takes up anew the description of the divine judgment by picturing the desolate condition of Judah during the years of the exile. Four times in Jer. 4:23-26 he declares that he saw what he describes to his hearers. What he saw was not a pretty picture. He saw waste and void. The same two words are used in combination in the second verse of Genesis to describe the state of primeval matter before the spirit of God molded it into order and form. He sees darkness prevailing over the land as the heavens refuse to give forth light (Jer. 4:23). The mountains and hills, despite their massive weight, are shaking (lit., to be light or move lightly), swaying, tossing and heaving (Jer. 4:24). Not a man could he see! Not even a bird remained in the land (Jer. 4:25). When birds flee a land the desolation is complete. Carmel, the fruitful field, had become a wilderness. All the cities of the land are in ruins. All had been laid waste and destroyed by the wrath of the God of judgment.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(23) I beheld the earth.In words of terrible grandeur the prophet speaks, as if he had already seen the consummated destruction; and repeating the words I beheld, as if he had passed through four distinct visions, describes its completeness.
Without form, and void.An obvious quotation from the tohu va-bohu of Gen. 1:2. The goodly land of Israel was thrown back, as it were, into a formless chaos, before the words Let there be light had brought it into order.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23-26. I beheld, etc. Resuming the general course of thought, another group of images is brought forward to show the fearfulness of the destruction impending. And this time they are the most terrible which nature furnishes; the same which, in other passages, are employed to set forth God’s great judgment days. See Isa 13:10; Joe 2:10, etc., etc. The established order by which time is both created and measured here gives place to a kind of primeval chaos. The earth again becomes desolation and emptiness without form, and void. The lights in the heavens go out in darkness. The mountains tremble to their bases, and the hills totter to their fall. All life of man, and even of birds, has fled away; only darkness, solitude, and death remain. The fruitful place (Carmel) is a wilderness, and all the cities are destroyed. Though Jeremiah has sometimes been set down as wanting in force and finish of style, yet there is no similar passage in the Bible which surpasses this.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jeremiah’s Vision Of The Aftermath Of The Invasion ( Jer 4:23-31 ).
In chilling tones Jeremiah now pictures the land after its destruction, as he, as it were, looks around and sees all the devastation wrought by it. It would be as though the whole of the heavens and earth were affected, the earth waste and void (tohu wa bohu) as it had been before God worked on it after the initial creation (Gen 1:2), the heavens devoid of light. It would be as though God’s fashioning of the world after creation had never happened. The mountains and hills would be unstable, the land would be devoid of human life, and even the birds would sing there no more. There would just be empty silence. What had once been fruitful land would now be a desert, and all the cities would be ghost towns, crumbling, empty reminders of what had been. And all this ‘at the presence of YHWH and before His fierce anger’.
And it would be YHWH Who would have done it because of His antipathy to their sin. Nevertheless it was not really to be the end of all things, for it was not YHWH’s intention to make a full end. The indication is that one day the land would rise again. But before that happened the invasion must take place and there would be the blackness of deep mourning, experienced even by the earth and the heavens themselves. Before the advancing armies the people would flee, hiding in thickets and in the mountains and deserting their cities, and there would be no avoiding it. All attempts to tart themselves up and make themselves presentable once this had happened would fail. Their anguish would be like that of a woman bearing her first child who, gasping for breath, discovers that she has to endure unbelievable pain. And as they endured they would cry, ‘Woe is me now, for my soul faints before the murderers.’ They would be looking death in the eyes.
In order to gain the full impact, before commenting on the detail we present the poem as a whole:
‘I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void,
And the heavens, and they had no light.’
I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled,
And all the hills moved to and fro.
I beheld, and, lo, there was no man,
And all the birds of the heavens were fled.
I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness,
And all its cities thereof were ruins,
At the presence of YHWH,
And before his fierce anger.
Jer 4:23
‘I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void,
And the heavens, and they had no light.’
The picture is of creation in Gen 1:2 before God had brought it into shape. There ‘waste and void’ (tohu wa bohu) had indicated total formlessness and emptiness, and it would be the same again. And just as then there had been no light, so it would be again. It is not, of course, to be taken literally, but as indicating how the land would have been emptied of all that gave it shape, remaining like an empty mass bathed in total darkness with no light at all penetrating through.
Jer 4:24
‘I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled,
And all the hills moved to and fro.’
The thought here is that even the mountains and hills, those permanent reminders of the solidity of the earth, would instead of being solid, be shaking and moving. An earthquake may be partly in mind, but the idea is more basic than that. It is an indication that the very foundations of creation would be being shaken.
Jer 4:25
‘I beheld, and, lo, there was no man,
And all the birds of the heavens were fled.
The land is pictured as devoid of all life, as it had indeed been at the beginning before the birds were created and man had come on the scene. Now also the landscape would be deserted, harbouring neither man nor bird. There would be the unearthly stillness of total lifelessness.
Jer 4:26
‘I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness,
And all its cities were broken down (were empty ruins),’
What had once been a fruitful land which had delighted the eye of man, would now be an empty desert, devoid of cultivation. And what had once been proud cities filled with life, would have become empty ruins, their crumbling stones testifying both to what had been, and to what was now because of man’s sinfulness.
Jer 4:26
‘At the presence of YHWH, and before his fierce anger.’
And all this would be because the One Whom they had despised and forsaken would have come there and demonstrated His presence, and His antipathy against sin. Speaking of God’s ‘fierce anger’ is, of course anthropomorphic language. It is seeing God in man’s terms. What is really in mind is His antipathy against sin, the fact that He, as it were, recoils in horror before it because He knows it for what it really is, and will necessarily deal with it accordingly. It is only we who treat sin lightly. But when we do we would do well to consider the picture just described which brings out the consequences of sin and the reality of God’s hatred of it.
Jer 4:27
‘For thus says YHWH, “The whole land will be a desolation, yet will I not make a full end.”
Yet even in the midst of the picture of desolation YHWH offers hope. He promises that He will not make a full end. Out of the devastation and the ruins Israel would rise again, and, even though Jeremiah did not at the time know it, one day on that very ground would walk the Son of God Himself bringing salvation to all who trust in Him.
This promise that He would not make a full end will be repeated again in one way or another (e.g. Jer 5:1; Jer 5:18; Jer 30:11; Jer 46:28; compare Lev 26:44; Amo 9:8; Isa 6:13; Isa 10:21), and it firmly emphasises hope for the future once the severe chastisement is over in accordance with Lev 26:44-45; Deu 30:1-10. It is an assurance that while His judgment will be severe it will not be terminal.
Jer 4:28
“For this will the earth mourn,
And the heavens above be black,
Because I have spoken it,
I have purposed it,
And I have not repented,
Neither will I turn back from it.
But let them not therefore be in doubt of God’s intentions, or think that He would be slack concerning them. All that He had warned of would come about, so that even the earth and the heavens themselves would be steeped in mourning. The earth would mourn at what was to happen, and the heavens would be black, like the black worn by mourners, because YHWH had declared that it would happen, and because He had purposed it. Thus it was sure and certain. Nor would He change His mind or turn back from it. It is a reminder that the purposes of God, both good and bad, are sure, so that nothing will prevent their occurrence, and that while there are times when men wish it were otherwise, in the end it is for the good of His people.
The blackness of the heavens may have in mind its being covered with a shroud of clouds in the midst of a severe storm, compare 1 Kings 19:45, thus making the earth dark even while it was still day, but the main thought behind these words is of the deep mourning of the earth and the heavens at the awfulness of what was to happen.
Jer 4:29
‘Every city flees,
For the noise of the horsemen and bowmen,
They go into the thickets,
And clamber up on the rocks,
Every city is forsaken,
And not a man dwells in them.’
Jeremiah now takes over the commentary, declaring what will happen in more prosaic terms. At the sound of the approaching horsemen and bowmen the people in the cities will flee (such horsemen and bowmen were regularly depicted on inscriptions). They will seek to hide in the thickets, they will clamber desperately up the rocks seeking for hiding places (compare 1Sa 13:6, ‘the people hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in holds, and in pits’). Every city will be forsaken. Not a man will dwell in them. This will not be just an invasion by an invading army seeking tribute. It has in mind a full end for the time being because of Judah’s treachery (even though God will not finally allow it to be so).
Jer 4:30
‘And you, when you are made desolate,
What will you do?
Though you clothe yourself with scarlet,
Though you deck yourself with ornaments of gold,
Though you enlarge your eyes with antimony,
In vain do you make yourself fair,
Your lovers despise you,
They seek your life.’
He then asks them to consider the true position. He pictures Judah and Jerusalem as seeking to make themselves acceptable to their ‘lovers’, those whom they had ‘courted’ among the nations. In the wreck of what has happened to them they are seen as seeking desperately to beautify themselves with gorgeous clothing (possibly to be seen as that of expensive prostitutes, but compare 2Sa 1:24), and covering themselves with their cosmetics and jewellery and make up, in a fervent attempt to make themselves ‘loved’, but it is an attempt which will fail because their lovers no longer want them, they only seek their lives. All their political manoeuvrings will have proved to have been in vain. All attempts to ingratiate themselves will have failed.
Even today the world will go to all kinds of desperate measures in order to make themselves acceptable, but in the end it is all a sham and in vain. They need to recognise that there is only one love that is worth seeking, and can be relied on, and that is the sure and certain love of God, and that there is only one way to come to Him, and that is with total openness of heart, trusting in the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation.
The blackening or enlarging of the eyes with antimony has been a feature of many centuries and is still practised in the Middle East today.
Jer 4:31
‘For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labour,
The anguish as of her who brings forth her first child,
The voice of the daughter of Zion, who gasps for breath,
Who spreads her hands, saying, Woe is me now!
For my soul faints before the murderers.
Jeremiah closes this description of God’s judgment by picturing Jerusalem (the daughter of Zion) as being like a woman in labour who is producing her first child, with the knowledge that it will be murdered as soon as it is born. The emphasis is thus not on the gladness of the event, but on the suffering that she has to endure (only ever appreciated by women who have endured it), and her desperation in view of the situation lying ahead. She is seen as gasping for breath, and desperately stretching out her hands in a plea for help while crying ‘woe is me’, because in spite of all that she has had to endure she knows that it has all been in vain. And her soul is fainting within her because her murderers, and the murderers of her child, are approaching whilst she herself, though wracked with pain, spreads out her hands in despair but can do nothing about it. It is a picture of Jerusalem’s hopelessness and suffering in the face of what is to come.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 4:23-26. I beheld the earth, &c. The images, under which the prophet represents the approaching desolation as foreseen by him, are such as are familiar to the Hebrew poets on the like occasions. (See Lowth De Sac. Poesi Heb. Prael. 9: and his note on Isaiah, ch. Jer 13:10.) But the assemblage is finely made, so as to delineate all together a most striking and interesting picture of a ruined country, and to show the author’s happy talent for pathetic description. The earth is brought back, as it were, to its primitive state of chaos and confusion; the chearful light of the heavens is withdrawn, and succeeded by a dismal gloom; the mountains tremble and the hills shake, under dreadful apprehensions of the Almighty’s displeasure; a frightful solitude reigns around; not a vestige is to be seen of any of the human race; even the birds themselves have deserted the fields, unable to find any longer in them their usual food. The face of the country in the once most fertile parts of it, now overgrown with briars and thorns, assumes the dreary wildness of the desart. The cities and villages are either thrown down and demolished by the hand of the enemy, or crumble into ruins of their own accord for want of being inhabited.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
There is somewhat uncommonly solemn and striking, when the Lord by his servants, as in many parts of scripture, calls upon the heavenly bodies, and the inanimate parts of nature, to lament by their appearances, the degeneracy and rebellion of his people. The weeping of the clouds, and the blushing of the sun, are strong figures to this amount. Isa 1:2 ; Deu 32:1 . What a gracious and affectionate appeal, the Lord makes in the close of this Chapter. When thou art spoiled what wilt thou do? Oh! for grace, that sinners in the present hour would lay this question of the Lord’s to the heart, until the same cry as the man of Tarsus issued from the heart; Lord! what wouldst thou have me to do? Act 9:6 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, [it was] without form, and void; and the heavens, and they [had] no light.
Ver. 23. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void. ] Tohu vabohit as Gen 1:2 sightless and shapeless. Sermo est hyperbolicus, all was in a confusion. What shall it, then, be at the last day?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 4:23-26
23I looked on the earth, and behold, it was formless and void;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
24I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
And all the hills moved to and fro.
25I looked, and behold, there was no man,
And all the birds of the heavens had fled.
26I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were pulled down
Before the LORD, before His fierce anger.
Jer 4:23-26 This strophe uses original creation in its chaotic state (i.e., formless and void, cf. Gen 1:2; the heavens, and they had no light before Gen 1:3) with the destruction caused by foreign (Mesopotamian) invasion.
As creation was originally without human habitation, so now the Promised Land is without human habitation. This is not to be taken literally; there were always some Israelites and Judeans not taken captive, but the land looked/seemed empty! (cf. Jer 4:27).
Also notice the literary structure of I looked. . . (BDB 55, KB 65, Qal PERFECT) used four times.
Jer 4:25 all the birds of the heavens had fled This may refer to the fact that even the carnivorous birds have left because there is no more food (i.e., those killed in battle or invasion).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
I beheld. Note the Figure of speech Anaphora (App-6), commencing this and the three following verses.
lo. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.
without form, and void. Hebrew. tohu va-bohu. Reference to Pentateuch (Gen 1:2). Occurs only here. App-92. In Isa 34:11, the two words are in another connection. Compare also Isa 45:18.
light = lights (pl). Compare Gen 1:14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jer 4:23-26
Jer 4:23-26
“I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. And I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved to and fro. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. And I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of Jehovah, and before his fierce anger.”
The terminology here clearly points to the final judgment. See Zep 1:1-4; Rev 6:12-17, etc. The lesson would appear to be that the judgment of God repeatedly executed throughout history upon rebellious cities and nations are all typical of the ultimate Judgment of the Final Day.
2. Devastating judgment (Jer 4:23-26)
Jeremiah regains his composure after the emotional outburst of Jer 4:19-21. Gods explanation of the forthcoming destruction in Jer 4:22 seems to have satisfied the reluctant preacher. He takes up anew the description of the divine judgment by picturing the desolate condition of Judah during the years of the exile. Four times in Jer 4:23-26 he declares that he saw what he describes to his hearers. What he saw was not a pretty picture. He saw waste and void. The same two words are used in combination in the second verse of Genesis to describe the state of primeval matter before the spirit of God molded it into order and form. He sees darkness prevailing over the land as the heavens refuse to give forth light (Jer 4:23). The mountains and hills, despite their massive weight, are shaking (lit., to be light or move lightly), swaying, tossing and heaving (Jer 4:24). Not a man could he see! Not even a bird remained in the land (Jer 4:25). When birds flee a land the desolation is complete. Carmel, the fruitful field, had become a wilderness. All the cities of the land are in ruins. All had been laid waste and destroyed by the wrath of the God of judgment.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
without form and void
Cf. Gen 1:2. “Without form and void” describes the condition of the earth as the result of judgment; Jer 4:24-26; Isa 24:1 which overthrew the primal order of Gen 1:1. SCOFIELD’S “GAP” THEORY!
For Another Point of View: See Topic 401495 (Gap Theory) For Another Point of View: See Topic 8756
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the earth: Jer 9:10, Gen 1:2, Isa 24:19-23, Rev 20:11
the heavens: Isa 5:30, Isa 13:10, Eze 32:7, Eze 32:8, Joe 2:10, Joe 2:30, Joe 2:31, Joe 3:15, Joe 3:16, Amo 8:9, Mat 24:29, Mat 24:35, Mar 13:24, Mar 13:25, Luk 21:25, Luk 21:26, Act 2:19, Act 2:20
Reciprocal: Gen 6:13 – the earth Psa 29:6 – Lebanon Psa 104:32 – looketh Psa 114:4 – General Isa 13:13 – the earth Isa 34:4 – all the Jer 4:28 – the earth Jer 7:20 – Behold Jer 13:16 – before Jer 18:11 – and devise Eze 12:20 – General Eze 38:20 – the fishes Nah 2:10 – empty Zep 1:3 – consume man Hag 2:6 – and I Rev 6:14 – and every Rev 8:12 – and the third part of the sun Rev 16:20 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 4:23. Figures of speech are based on literal truths, and when a writer selects any particular subject for his illustration he continues his discussion with the various terms of that subject. In this and several verses the prophet uses the realm of natural creation to illustrate the political and national institutions of the Lord’s people. As In the beginning there was darkness, so the prophet sees his beloved country darkened by the Inroads of the enemy.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 4:23-26. I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form and void The images under which the prophet here represents the approaching desolation, as foreseen by him, are such as are familiar to the Hebrew poets on the like occasions. See note on Isa 13:10, and Bishop Lowth, De Sac. Poesi Hebrews, Prl. 9. But the assemblage is finely made, so as to delineate altogether a most striking and interesting picture of a ruined country, and to justify what has been before observed of the authors happy talent for pathetic description. The earth is brought back, as it were, to its primitive state of chaos and confusion; the cheerful light of the heavens is withdrawn, and succeeded by a dismal gloom; the mountains tremble, and the hills shake under dreadful apprehensions of the Almightys displeasure; a frightful solitude reigns all around; not a vestige to be seen of any of the human race; even the birds themselves have deserted the fields, unable to find any longer in them their usual food. The face of the country, in the once most fertile parts of it, now overgrown with briers and thorns, assumes the dreary wilderness of the desert. The cities and villages are either thrown down and demolished by the hand of the enemy, or crumble into ruins of their own accord, for want of being inhabited. Blaney.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 4:23-31. The Vision of Desolation (Jer 4:23-26) most impressively describes the Divine visitation of Judah. The earth becomes like the chaos before creation (mg.) under a sky that has lost its lamps; the very mountains have no longer stability; the denizens of earth and air are gone; the garden-land is wilderness; the cities are overthrown (cf. Jer 1:10). Jeremiah has actually seen all this in some ecstatic state, just as George Fox saw its opposite, the paradise of God in which all things were new and all the creation gave another smell! (Journal, i. 28). There follows the application of the vision (Jer 4:27-29), viz such an interpretation of its meaning as would subsequently come into the prophets more normal consciousness. In Jer 4:30 and Jer 4:31 there is an effective contrast between the gaily-decked prostitute and the travailing woman, though both figures are used to express the same fact, i.e. Jerusalems helplessness before the invader, either to allure or to withstand.
Jer 4:28. Transpose, with LXX, I have purposed it, and I have not repented.
Jer 4:29. The first city should be land, with LXX.
Jer 4:30. paint, i.e. antimony, which was and is used in the East to darken the rims of the eyelids, that the eyes may appear larger; cf. 2Ki 9:30, Eze 23:40.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, [it was] without form, and {t} void; and the heavens, and they [had] no light.
(t) By this manner of speech he shows the horrible destruction that would come on the land and also condemns the obstinacy of the people who do not repent at the fear of these terrible kings, seeing that the insensible creatures are moved therewith, as if the order of nature would be changed, Isa 13:10; Isa 24:23, Eze 32:7, Joe 2:31; Joe 3:15 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
A vision of the coming destruction 4:23-26
"In one of the most magnificent lyrical passages in the entire prophecy [Jer 4:23-31], Jeremiah experiences a dramatic moment of insight concerning the outpouring of divine anger upon Judah." [Note: Harrison, Jeremiah and . . ., p. 72.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Jeremiah described the land of Judah, after the coming devastation, as appearing completely desolate: like the earth and heavens before God formed and filled them. He suggested that they would return to primeval chaos.