Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 4:7
The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; [and] thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
7. A lion ] See introd. note above.
thy land ] We should perhaps read the land, and consider the rest of the v. as an insertion suggested by the parallels in Jer 2:15, Jer 9:11.
Du. proposes, but on insufficient grounds (viz. the use of the expression “at that day,” as though implying vagueness as to time, and a change in the character of the metre), to omit Jer 4:9-11 a ( Jerusalem).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Rather, A lion… a destroyer of nations: a metaphor descriptive of the impending calamity. A lion is just rousing himself from his lair, but no common one. It is destroyer, not of men, but of nations.
Is on his way – literally, has broken up his encampment. Jeremiah uses a military term strictly referring to the striking of tents in preparation for the march.
Without an inhabitant – The final stage of destruction, actually reached in the utter depopulation of Judaea consequent upon Gedaliahs murder.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. The lion is come up] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. “The king (Nebuchadnezzar) is come up from his tower.” – Targum.
The destroyer of the Gentiles] Of the nations: of all the people who resisted his authority. He destroyed them all.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The lion is come up from his thicket, i.e. Nebuchadnezzar, called here a lion from his fierceness and strength, Pro 30:30; a metaphor; especially in this expedition; see Isa 5:27-29 shall come up from Babylon, where his chief seat is, Dan 4:30; as lions are principally among the thickets of the forest, in coverts; this place being so remote and hid from them, that they least expected trouble to arise from thence.
The destroyer of the Gentiles; another description of the same person, of whose destroying armies the nations have had woeful experience, Isa 14:16,17, called the hammer of the whole earth, Jer 50:23: q.d. And how shall you think to escape him?
Is on his way, i.e. as it is expressed in the next clause, he is gone forth from his place, he is already upon his march.
To make thy land desolate, i.e. with a resolution so to do.
Shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant, i.e. as places uninhabited soon lie waste, and are overgrown with grass, as the notation of the word seems to import.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. lionNebuchadnezzar and theChaldeans (Jer 2:15; Jer 5:6;Dan 7:14).
his thicketlair;Babylon.
destroyer of theGentilesrather, “the nations” (Jer25:9).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The lion is come up from his thicket,…. Meaning Nebuchadnezzar s, from Babylon, who is compared to a lion for his strength, fierceness, and cruelty; see Jer 50:17 so the Roman emperor is called a lion, 2Ti 4:17, agreeably to this the Targum paraphrases it,
“a king is gone from his fortress;”
or tower; and the Syriac version,
“a certain most powerful king is about to go up as a lion out of his wood:”
and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he who had conquered and destroyed other nations not a few, and these mighty and strong; and therefore the Jews could not expect but to be destroyed by him. This tyrant was a type of antichrist, whose name is Apollyon, a destroyer of the nations of the earth, Re 9:11
he is gone forth from his place, to make thy land desolate; from Babylon, where his royal palace was, in order to lay waste the land of Judea; and he is represented as being come out, and on the road with this view, to strike the inhabitants of Judea with the greater terror, and to hasten their flight, their destruction being determined and certain:
and thy cities shall be laid waste without an inhabitant; they shall become so utterly desolate, that there should be none dwelling in them, partly by reason of the multitudes of the slain, and partly by reason of multitudes that should flee; and should be laid waste to such a degree, that they should be covered with grass growing upon them; which is the signification of the word t here used, according to R. Joseph Kimchi.
s So T. Bab. Megilia, fol. 11. 1. & Sanhedrin. fol 94. 2. t “gramine succrescente obducantur quidam” in Gataker.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Prophet more fully declares the import of the threatening which we briefly considered yesterday; for God said in the former verse, that he would bring an evil from the north; and the kind of evil it was to be he now describes, and compares the king of Babylon to a lion; and afterwards, without a figure, he calls him the destroyer of nations
By the similitude of lion he means that the Israelites would not be able to resist; and when he adds that he would be the desolator of nations, he intimates that they would perish with the rest: for if Nebuchadnezzar was sufficiently able to destroy many nations, how could the Jews escape a similar calamity? He shall come, he says, the desolator of nations But he uses the past tense throughout, in order to shew the certainty of the prediction, and thus to shake secure men with fear, who had become torpid in their hypocrisy; for they would have otherwise deemed all threatenings as nothing: for as long as God spared them, they despised his judgment, and promised themselves impunity in their sins. Hence the Prophet, in order to awake them, set the matter before them, as though Nebuchadnezzar had already come with a strong and powerful army to lay waste Judea; for he says, that a lion had ascended from his hiding — places: but the term for the last word means an entangled density, as when trees are entwined together, or when a place is filled with thorns. (103)
But the similitude is most suitable, because the Jews never thought that the king of Babylon would come forth from places so remote; for the passing through was difficult, and the expedition attended with great toil: yet the Prophet says, that the lion would come from his recesses, and that nothing would hinder him from breaking forth and coming to the open country. He at last concludes by saying, that the cities would be laid waste, (104) so as to be without an inhabitant It now follows —
(103) The word “thicket, “in our version, correctly expresses it; a tangled wood, where trees cross and entwine with each other. — Ed.
(104) “Laid waste” is the Chaldee sense; but the verb means in Hebrew to germinate, to produce grass, to grow over with grass as ruined cities do. The words which follow, “without an inhabitant,“ shew that this meaning suits here, —
Thy cities shall grow over with grass, without an inhabitant.
The Targum is,
Thy cities shall be desolate without an inhabitant.
—
Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) The lion is come up . . .The lion is, of course, the Chaldan invader, the destroyer, not of men only, but of nations. So in Dan. 7:4 the lion is the symbol of the Assyrian monarchy. The winged lions that are seen in the palaces of Mosul and Nimroud gave a special character to what was in any case a natural metaphor. The word Gentiles answers to the meaning, but there is no special reason why it should be used here, rather than nations.
Is on his way.Literally, has broken up his encampment, i.e., has started on his march.
Without an inhabitant.The language, like that of Isaiah (Isa. 6:11), was probably in some measure hyperbolical, but the depopulation caused by the Chaldan invasion (as seen in Jer. 39:9) must have been extreme.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. The lion Literally, a lion.
The destroyer of the Gentiles Rather, destroyer of nations; a vivid description of such beasts of prey as are figured by Assyria and Babylon.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 4:7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; [and] thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
Ver. 7. The lion is come up from his thicket, ] i.e., Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon, where he lieth safe, sicut leo in vepreto, and will shortly show himself for a mischief to many people, who shall feel his force and fierceness.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The lion = A lion. Figure of speech Hypocatastasis, not Simile or Metaphor. Put thus for the king of Babylon. Contrast Jer 49:19. See note there.
Gentiles = nations.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
lion: Jer 5:6, Jer 25:38, Jer 49:19, Jer 50:17, Jer 50:44, 2Ki 24:1, 2Ki 25:1, Dan 7:4
destroyer: Jer 25:9, Jer 27:8, Eze 21:19-21, Eze 26:7-10, Eze 30:10, Eze 30:11, Dan 5:19
to: Jer 2:15, Jer 9:11, Jer 26:9, Jer 33:10, Jer 34:22, Isa 1:7, Isa 5:9, Isa 6:11
Reciprocal: Lev 26:31 – And I will make Job 4:11 – old lion Psa 76:4 – mountains Psa 80:13 – The boar Isa 5:29 – roaring Isa 21:8 – General Isa 24:1 – maketh the Isa 44:1 – now Jer 4:27 – The Jer 5:17 – they shall impoverish Jer 22:7 – I Jer 44:2 – a desolation Jer 46:1 – against Eze 7:24 – I will bring Eze 12:20 – General Eze 12:28 – There shall Eze 15:6 – General Eze 21:31 – and skilful Eze 32:2 – Thou art like Mic 5:1 – gather Nah 2:11 – the dwelling Hab 1:9 – for Zep 1:13 – their goods
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 4:7. The lion is come up from his thicket is a figurative prediction of the roaring army ot Babylon coming up to invade the land of Palestine. There is an interesting explanation of this statement in secular history which is aa follows: “The propriety of this will appear, when it is known that in ancient times the river Jordan was particularly infested with lions, which concealed themselves among the thick reeds upon its banks. Let us then imagine one of these monarchs of the desert asleep among the thickets upon the banks of the river. Let us further suppose him to be suddenly awakened by the roaring, or dislodged by the overflowing ot the rapid, tumultuous torrent, and in his fury rushing into the upland country; and we shall perceive the admirable propriety’ and force of the prophets allusion. After having descended. says Maundrell, the outermost bank of Jordan, you go about a furlong upon a level strand before you come to the immediate bank of the river. This second bank is so beset with bushes and trees, such as tamarisks, willows, oleanders, etc., that you can see no water till you have made your way through them. In this thicket anciently, and the same is reported of it at this day. several sorts of wild beasts were wont to harbor themselves; whose being washed out of the covert by the overflowing river gave occasion to that allusion, he sliaii come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan. Horne, Introduction, vol. 1, p. 368, and note. This overflowing of Jordan took place at the season of harvest according to Jos 3:15, Gentiles is used in the general sense of nations, for the Babylonian Empire had subdued all other important nations in its grasp for power. The verse is a prediction of the invasion of the Babylonian army which was followed by tlie destruction of Jerusalem and other cities of Palestine. The Biblical fulfillment of this prediction is shown in 2Ki 24:10-16.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 4:7-8. The lion is come up from his thicket Nebuchadnezzar, so called from his fierceness and strength, shall come up from Babylon, where his chief seat is, as lions are principally among the thickets of the forests, in coverts. Babylon being remote and little known to the Jews, they did not expect trouble to arise from thence. The destroyer of the Gentiles Or, rather, the nations; is on his way Is already on his march: another description of the same person, who is so called, because God had given, not only Judea, but all the neighbouring countries, into his hands. To make thy lands desolate With a resolution to do so, and with power to effect his purpose. For this gird you with sackcloth Put on the habit of mourners. It is intended to express the dreadfulness of the approaching calamity. Lament and howl You will do so when the cry is made through the kingdom, Arm, arm. Then all will be seized with terror, and put to confusion. For the fierce anger of the Lord Which makes the army of the Chaldeans thus fierce and powerful; is not turned back from us Is not appeased, but still burns against us. The LXX., with whom the Syriac and Vulgate agree, read , from you.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4:7 The {f} lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
(f) Meaning Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 2Ki 24:1 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
A lion-like enemy had left its home to desolate Judah and its cities, and this enemy would succeed in driving out the inhabitants of these towns (cf. 1Pe 5:8). As noted previously, one of the symbols of Babylon was the lion. [Note: See Harrison, Jeremiah and . . ., p. 70, and see the discussions of the foe from the north in Thompson, pp. 86-87; Kidner, pp. 38-39; or Feinberg, p. 406.]