Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 4:6

Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

6. Set up a standard ] to guide those who were seeking to attain the shelter of the walls of Jerusalem.

flee ] rather, make ( your households) flee. Cp. mg. in Isa 10:31; and Exo 9:19 (“hasten in”).

from the north ] See introd. note to the section.

destruction ] For the alarm caused by the Scythians, see Introd. i. 3.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The standard – A flag or signal, to which the people were to rally.Retire, stay not – Rather, gather your goods together: linger not; for I (emphatic, Yahweh) am bringing at this very time etc.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 6. I will bring evil from the north] From the land of Chaldea.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Set up the standard, i.e. for them to resort to, as is usual in war; and it is therefore said to he towards Zion or Jerusalem, as being a signal to show them whither they should repair; see Jer 1:5; Jerusalem being their principal place of strength, and Zion the strongest part of it, 2Sa 5:6,7.

Retire; or, strengthen; fortify or strengthen yourselves for the fight. Or rather, make haste away, as men use to do in a great fight, viz. for your security: such a use there is of the word Isa 10:31; Jer 6:1, which sense is confirmed by the next words,

stay not, or, as some, stay not yourselves in sin, where you promise yourselves security.

I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction, i.e. I am about to bring a great destruction upon you from Chaldea, Jer 1:13-15. Some take this and the former verse to be spoken ironically.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

6. ZionThe standard towardZion intimated that the people of the surrounding country were to flyto it, as being the strongest of their fortresses.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Set up the standard toward Zion,…. Not on the tower of Zion, as Kimchi interprets it; but on some high place, pointing to Zion, and directing the country people to flee thither for safety; for the setting up of the standard here is not for enlisting of soldiers in order to fight, but as a sign of danger, and a direction where to flee from it:

retire; gather yourselves together in order to flee, as the word p is rendered in Isa 10:31, though some render it, “be ye strengthened” q; take heart, and play the man; but this does not seem so agreeable to the context:

stay not; or, “stand not”; stand not in the place ye are in, but move from it in all haste, because of present danger:

for I will bring evil from the north; from Babylon, as Kimchi interprets it; which lay north to the land of Israel; and so designs the captivity Judah should be brought into there:

and a great destruction or, “breach” r; which the Babylonians should make on the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem.

p “congregate vos, [sub.] ad fugiendum”, Vatablus; “confirmate vos [ad fugiendum]”, Piscator. q “Confortamini”, V. L. “corroboramiui”, Castalio; “agite viriliter”, Munster. r “contritionem”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “confractionem”, Cocceius.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The words אל-תעמדו, al-tomedu, may be explained in two ways, — “Stand not,” that is, “Hasten quickly,” as it is the case with those in extreme fear; or, “Ye shall not stand,” that is, “Though ye may seek a firm position on Mount Sion, ye shall not yet be able to continue there.” The first exposition appears to me the best, as it is more suitable to the context. (102)

(102) These two verses contain a very spirited address, in a style truly poetical, —

5. Announce ye in Judah, And in Jerusalem publish, and say, — Yea, sound the trumpet in the land, Proclaim, do it fully, and say, — “Be assembled, and let us enter into fortified cities;

6. Raise a banner towards Sion; Hasten ye, stay not:“ For an evil am I bringing from the north, And a great destruction.

The people of Judah were summoned to enter into fortified cities, and Mount Sion was to be the resort of the inhabitants of Jerusalem: “Hasten ye,“ σπεύσατε — hasten, Septuagint. This is the meaning of עז in Hiphil. See Exo 9:19; Isa 10:31. In Jer 6:1, it is translated “Gather yourselves to flee;” but “hasten,” or remove vigorously or quickly, would be the best rendering. — Ed

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(6) Set up the standard toward Zion.Still the language of alarm. The words are as a command, Raise the signal which shall point to Zion as a place of refuge from the foe, by whom the rest of the country is laid waste.

Retire.Withdraw, in the transitive sense, gather, with a view to removing (as in Exo. 9:19), and this is followed by stay not, linger not, be quick. The call to retreat was urgent.

I will bring.Literally, I am bringing.

From the north.The Chaldan, and possibly the Scythian, invasion, as in Jer. 1:14.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

6. Set up the standard Making it point toward Zion, to show the route to a place of safety.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Jer 4:6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

Ver. 6. Set up the standard towards Zion. ] All this seemeth to be ironically spoken. as Jer 4:5

For I will bring evil from the north, ] i.e., From Babylon. Ab aquilone nihil boni. There is also another Babylon spoken of in the Revelation, which to the true Church hath of long time been lerna malorum; and so the poor persecuted Protestants in Poland feel at this day. Roma radix omnium malorum.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)