Jeremiah 4:3

For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Transition to Judah. Supply mentally. All which (the foregoing declaration as to Israel) applies to Judah. AND JERUSALEM - i:e., and especially the men of Jerusalem, as being the most prominent in Judea. BREAK ... FALLOW GROUND - i:e., Repent of your idolatry and so be prepared to serve the Lord in truth (; ; ). The unhumbled heart is like ground which may be improved, being let out to us for that purpose; but which is as yet fallow, overgrown with weeds, its natural product....

The Prophet still pursues the same subject; for he reproves the hypocrisy of the Israelites, because they sought to discharge their duty towards God only by external ceremonies, while their hearts were full of deceits and of every kind of impiety and wickedness. Hence he says, that God required this from the Jews, — to _plough again the fallow, and not to sow among thorns. _ It is a most suitable comparison; for Scripture often compares us to a field, when it represents us as God’s heritage; and we have been chosen by God as a peculiar people for this end — that he may gather fruit from us, as a husbandman gathers produce from his fields. We can indeed add nothing to what God is; but there is a fruit which he demands; so that our whole life is to be devoted to his glory. God then would not have us to be idle and fruitless, but to bring forth some fruit. But what is done by hypocrites? Th...

3,4 An unhumbled heart is like ground untilled. It is ground which may be improved; it is our ground let out to us; but it is fallow; it is over-grown with thorns and weeds, the natural product of the corrupt heart. Let us entreat the Lord to create in us a clean heart, and to renew a right spirit within us; for except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven....

Verse Jeremiah 4:3. _BREAK UP YOUR FALLOW GROUND_] _Fallow_ ground is either that which, having been _once tilled_, has _lain long uncultivated_; or, _ground slightly ploughed_, in order to be ploughed again previously to its being sown. Ye have been long _uncultivated_ in righteousness; let true repentance _break up_ your fruitless and hardened hearts; and when the _seed_ of the _word of life_ is sown in them, take heed that worldly cares and concerns do not arise, and, like _thorns_, choke the good seed....

TO THE MEN - To each man “of Judah.” They are summoned individually to repentance. BREAK UP - literally, Fallow for you a fallow ground, i. e., do not sow the seeds of repentance in unfit soil, but just as the farmer prepares the ground, by clearing it of weeds, and exposing it to the sun and air, before entrusting to it the seed, so must you regard repentance as a serious matter, requiring forethought, and anxious labor. To sow in unfallowed ground was practically to sow on land full of thorns....

EXPOSITION JEREMIAH 4:1, JEREMIAH 4:2 The form and structure of the translation require a change. Render, _If thou wilt return_,_ O Israel_,_ saith Jehovah_,_ wilt return unto me_;_ and if thou wilt put away_,_ _etc; _and not wander_;_ and wilt swear_,_ As Jehovah liveth_,_ with good faith_,_ with justice_,_ and with righteousness_;_ then shall the nations bless themselves by him_,_ and in him shall they glory_. The clause, "and not wander," seems too short; the Septuagint had a choicer reading, "and put away, etc; from his [thy] mouth, and not wander from before me." It is the close of the prophecy which we have here. The prophet subjoins a p

FOR THUS SAITH THE LORD TO THE MEN OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM,.... The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were at the time of this prophecy in their own land; and so are distinguished from Israel the ten tribes, who were in captivity; unless the same persons should be meant, who were called by these several names, the people of the Jews; and it was in Judea that our Lord appeared in the flesh, and to the inhabitants thereof he ministered, he was the minister of the circumcision; and so to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, whom he called to repentance, and would have gathered, Matthew 23:37: BREAK UP YOUR FALLOW GROUND; this is ground that lies untilled, not ploughed, nor sown, on which nothing grows but the produce of nature, as weeds, thorns, briers, c. is common to men and beasts, and is trodden upon, and, so is hard and unsusceptible of seed which, if it accidentally fall

Jeremiah 4:1. _If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory._ So he sets before them life and death. First, he begins with these words of encouragement. He begs them to come, for God is willing to receive them notwithstanding all. Jeremiah 4:3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and bu

CHAPTER 4 _ 1. True repentance and what it means (Jeremiah 4:1) _ 2. The alarm sounded: judgment comes (Jeremiah 4:5) 3. The doom of the rebellious people (Jeremiah 4:14) 4. The desolation of Israel's land through judgment (Jeremiah 4:23) Jeremiah 4:1. A return must be a return unto Him, Jehovah; anything less is insufficient. Their abominations must be judged and put away. Every return of backsliders must be in the same way--a true return to the Lord with confession of sin, self-judgment, and abandonment

JEREMIAH 3:19 TO JEREMIAH 4:4. A DIALOGUE OF YAHWEH'S GRACE. This directly continues Jeremiah 3:5, the I of Jeremiah 3:19 being emphatically contrasted with the thou of Jeremiah 3:5. Yahweh expresses His desire (Jeremiah 3:19 _mg._) to give Judah, though a daughter, a son's portion in the best of lands (_mg._ 2)_,_ but Judah (here called Israel in narrower sense, Jeremiah 3:20