Jeremiah 4:20 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 4:19-31

The prophet is here in an agony, and cries out like one upon the rack of pain with some acute distemper, or as a woman in travail. The expressions are very pathetic and moving, enough to melt a heart of stone into compassion: My bowels! my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; and yet well, and in health himself, and nothing ails him. Note, A good man, in such a bad world as this is, cannot but be a man of sorrows. My heart makes a noise in me, through the tumult of my spirits, and I cannot... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 4:20

Destruction upon destruction is cried ;.... Or, "breach upon breach" F7 שבר על שבר "contritio super contritionem", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius. ; as soon as one affliction is over, another comes on; and upon the news of one calamity, tidings are brought of another, as in Job's case: it signifies, that distress and troubles would come thick and fast, and that there would be no end of them, until there was an utter destruction, as this phrase signifies, and the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 4:20

Destruction upon destruction - Cities burnt, and their inhabitants destroyed. My tents spoiled - Even the solitary dwellings in the fields and open country do not escape. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 4:20

Verse 20 He pursues the same subject, but amplifies the dread by a new circumstance, — that God would heap evils on evils, so that the Jews would in vain hope for an immediate relief. By saying, A calamity upon a calamity, he means that the end of one evil would be the beginning of another. For it is what especially distresses miserable men, when they think that their evils will continue long. They indeed imagined that God would be satisfied with an evil that would be soon over, like a storm or... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 4:5-31

A revelation of grievous purport has suddenly reached the prophet. See how the foe draws nearer and nearer, and how alarm drives the scattered population to seek for refuge in the fortified cities. Can such be the issue of the promises of peace with which Jehovah has encouraged his people? Such are the contents of the first paragraph ( Jeremiah 4:5-10 ). Next,-in short, detached figures the prophet sets forth the sin of the people and its punishment. Like a scorching simoom is the former;... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 4:5-31

The proclamation of woe. Such is the character of this entire section, and we observe upon this proclamation— I. THAT , LIKE ALL SUCH , IT IS PROMPTED BY DIVINE LOVE . The most fearful judgments contained in the whole Bible are those denounced by our Lord Jesus Christ. The most awful words ever spoken are those which proceeded out of the mouth of him at whose graciousness all-men wondered. It is evident, therefore, that they were the utterances, as is this one here,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 4:19-30

The fellowship of Christ's sufferings. The extreme anguish of the prophet which is revealed in these verses justifies the affirmation that, like St. Paul, Jeremiah also knew "the fellowship of Christ's sufferings." Consider— I. THEIR NATURE . 1. The sight of the constant dishonor done to God. This was part of our Lord's suffering. Living amongst men at all involved it. It has been said truly that, if the Son of God became incarnate, he must be a "man of sorrows." But if it be a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 4:20

My tents . Jeremiah uses a similar phrase in Jeremiah 30:18 (comp. also 2 Samuel 20:1 ; 1 Kings 8:66 ; 1 Kings 12:16 ; Psalms 132:3 ; also Isaiah 29:1 , "city where David encamped, i . e . dwelt"). The expression is evidently a "survival" of the nomadic, tent-dwelling age. (Comp. the parallel phrase, "my curtains," i . e . my tent-curtains; comp. Jeremiah 10:20 ; Isaiah 54:2 ; Song of Solomon 1:5 .) read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 4:20-30

"Suddenly are my tents spoiled." "When thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?" A surely coming confession compelling a present serious question. Note the historic reference of the words to the people to whom the prophet spoke. Applying them in more general sense, let us observe— I. THE CONFESSION . "Suddenly," etc. This confession. 1. Not that of the child of God , for his tents cannot be spoiled. 2. The confession of the worldling and all those who are living without... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Jeremiah 4:20

Destruction ... - Or, breaking upon breaking Jeremiah 4:6. The news of one breaking, one violent calamity, follows close upon another.My curtains - The curtains of the tent, put here for the tents themselves. tents were the ordinary habitations of the Israelites. read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 4:19-31

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 4:20

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 4:20

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 4:20

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 4:5-31

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 4:5-31

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 4:19-30

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 4:20

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 4:20-30

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Jeremiah 4:20

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