Jeremiah 4:31

For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers. ANGUISH - namely, occasioned by the attack of the enemy. DAUGHTER OF ZION. There is special beauty in suppressing the name of the person trouble, until that trouble had been fully described (Henderson). BEWAILETH HERSELF - rather, 'draweth her breath short' (Horsley); panteth. SPREADETH HER HANDS - (). Remarks: (1) If we would have a "return" to blessing from the Lord we must "return" to reconciliation with the Lord (). Unt...

By these words Jeremiah confirms what the latter part of the preceding verse contains: nor was it for the sake of elucidating his subject that he enlarged on it; but when he saw his own nation so hard and almost like stones, he employed many words and set forth in various ways what he might have expressed in one sentence: and what he taught would have been often coldly received, had he not added exhortations and threatenings. It was on this account that he now expresses in other words what he had previously said, _I have heard, _he says, _the voice as of one in labor _This hearing, no doubt, is to be taken consistently with the representation which had been made to him; for Jeremiah could not hear in a way different from others; but he speaks according to the discovery made to him of the approaching judgment of God, which was then unheeded by the people; and he had this discovery, that h...

19-31 The prophet had no pleasure in delivering messages of wrath. He is shown in a vision the whole land in confusion. Compared with what it was, every thing is out of order; but the ruin of the Jewish nation would not be final. Every end of our comforts is not a full end. Though the Lord may correct his people very severely, yet he will not cast them off. Ornaments and false colouring would be of no avail. No outward privileges or profession, no contrivances would prevent destruction. How wretched the state of those who are like foolish children in the concerns of their souls! Whatever we are ignorant of, may the Lord make of good understanding in the ways of godliness. As sin will find out the sinner, so sorrow will, sooner or later, find out the secure....

Verse Jeremiah 4:31. _BRINGETH FORTH HER FIRST CHILD_] In such a case the fear, danger, and pain were naturally the greatest. _SPREADETH HER HANDS_] The gesture indicated by nature to signify distress, and implore help. We have met with this figure in other parts, and among the classic writers it is frequent....

For a cry have I heard as of one writhing in vain: Anguish as of one that bringeth forth her first-born: The cry of the daughter of Zion. She gasps for breath: she stretches out her palms: Woe is me! for my soul faints before the murderers....

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 I HAVE HEARD A VOICE AS OF A WOMAN IN TRAVAIL,.... So the distress of the Jews, at the time of their destruction, is compared to the sorrows of a woman in travail; and a word, that signifies that is used to express it, Matthew 24:8: AND THE ANGUISH AS OF HER THAT BRINGETH FORTH HER FIRST CHILD; whose time is more difficult, her pains sharper, her anguish greater, and, having less experience, the more impatient: THE VOICE OF THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, THAT BEWAILETH HERSELF; her unhappy condition, and miserable circumstances: THAT SPREADETH HER HANDS; as persons in distress do, and particularly women in travail: saying, WOE IS ME NOW, FOR MY SOUL IS WEARIED BECAUSE OF MURDERERS: these abounded: under the second temple, and was the reason, the Jews say: m, of the sanhedrim removing from their usual place in the templ

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

THE VISION OF DESOLATION (Jeremiah 4:23) 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._ Jeremiah 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 (Jeremiah 4:27), viz such an interpretation of its meaning as would subsequently come into the pr

Jeremiah 4:5-31. Impending judgements. National disaster This section and the two that follow it (viz. chs. 5 and 6) are somewhat later than the preceding, as presenting a more definite description of the punishment there threatened. They picture the excitement and dismay caused throughout the defenceless portions of the land by the approach of the enemy, and the hasty retreat to walled towns on the part of the country people. No doubt as originally uttered these sections referred to the threatened invasion of Palestine by the Scythian hordes. (See Introd. i. § 3 and on Jeremiah 1:13.) On being reproduced in the Roll of b.c. 604 (ch. 36), when the Chaldaeans had become the formidable enemy, the language may have been modified here and there to suit the new political aspect of affairs. Thus "l