Jeremiah 14:2-4 WEB

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 14:1-9

The first verse is the title of the whole chapter: it does indeed all concern the dearth, but much of it consists of the prophet's prayers concerning it; yet these are not unfitly said to be, The word of the Lord which came to him concerning it, for every acceptable prayer is that which God puts into our hearts; nothing is our word that comes to him but what is first his word that comes from him. In these verses we have, I. The language of nature lamenting the calamity. When the heavens were... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 14:2

Judah mourneth ,.... That is, the inhabitants of Judah; those of the house of Judah, as the Targum; these mourned because of the drought and famine that were upon the land: and the gates thereof languish ; the cities of Judah, as the Targum; the inhabitants of them, which used to be supplied from the field, and out of the country; gates may be mentioned, because through the gates the provisions were brought into the city; but now none; and therefore are said to languish; or else those... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 14:3

And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters ,.... To places where water used to be; to the pools, the upper and the lower, particularly to the fountain of Shiloah, which, Jerom says, was the only one the city of Jerusalem used. The meaning either is, that the nobles in Jerusalem sent their own children to get water for them, they having no servants to attend them, these being put away because they could not support them, the famine being so sore; or rather that they sent their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 14:4

Because the ground is chapt ,.... Through the violent heat of the sun, and want of rain; or, is broken F25 חתה "confracta", Schmidt; "attritam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. ; and crumbles into dust. The Targum is, "because of sins, the inhabitants of the earth are broken:' for there was no rain in the earth ; this was the reason of the dearth, and of the famine, and why there was no water in the pits, and the ground was parched. It is to be understood of the land of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 14:2

The gates thereof languish - The gates being the places of public resort, they are put here for the people. They are black unto the ground - Covered from head to foot with a black garment, the emblem of sorrow and calamity. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 14:3

Their nobles have sent their little ones - So general was this calamity, that the servants no longer attended to their lords, but every one was interested alone for himself; and the nobles of the land were obliged to employ their own children to scour the land, to see if any water could be found in the tanks or the pits. In the dearth in the time of Elijah, Ahab the king, and Obadiah his counselor, were obliged to traverse the land themselves, in order to find out water to keep their cattle... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 14:4

The ground is chapt - The cracks in the earth before the descent of the rains are in some places a cubit wide, and deep enough to receive the greater part of a human body. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 14:2

Verse 2 The Prophet intimates in these words, that so great would be the scarcity as to appear to be a manifest and remarkable evidence of God’s vengeance; for when God punishes us in a common way, we for the most part refer the event to some fortuitous circumstances, and the devil also ever retains our minds in the consideration of secondary causes. Hence the Prophet declares here that an event so unusual could not be ascribed to natural causes, as that the earth should become so sterile, but... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 14:3

Verse 3 It is then added, Their chiefs will send the common people to the waters The Prophet’s object was again to point out something extraordinary, — that the great, possessing authority, would constrain and compel the common sort to draw water. They have sent them, he says, that is, by authority; they who could command others sent them to the waters. (106) They came, he says, to the cisterns By the word גבים gabim, he means deep ditches, or pits; but some render them cisterns. With regard to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 14:4

Verse 4 The Prophet had said, that though the whole common people were sent to the waters, yet none would be found. He now adds the same firing respecting the husbandmen. Ashamed, he says, shall be the husbandmen, for the ground shall be turned into dust, and God will pound it small. When the heavens supply moisture, the earth retains thus its solid character; but in a great heat we see the earth dissolving into dust, as though it was pounded in a mortar. So he says, On account of the chapt... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 14:1-9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 14:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 14:3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 14:4

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 14:2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 14:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 14:4

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 14:2

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 14:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 14:4

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