jeremiah 4:30

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Jeremiah 4:30

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”

— D.L. Moody
Jeremiah 4:30
Verse 30 of 31

Scripture focus

And [when] thou [art] spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; [thy] lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

Jeremiah 4:30KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Jeremiah 4:30

Theological / Devotional

When thou art spoiled. A rendering not requiring the italicized words “when” and “art” is “thou, O spoiled one.” The “thou” in Hebrew is feminine and refers to Jerusalem (see v. 31). The city is here personified as a woman who vainly adorns herself to please her admirers.

What wilt thou do? What course can “the daughter of Zion” (v. 31) take when she is besieged by the Babylonians? Her pride and confidence are ill-grounded, for her condition is desperate. Why does she keep on hoping against hope to save herself?

Rentest thy face. Literally, “enlargest thy eyes.” The reference is to the custom of Oriental women of putting a black mineral powder on the edges of the eyelids (see on 2 Kings 9:30). This black powder had a metallic glitter and made the eyes appear larger and more brilliant.

Thy lovers. The foreign powers to whom Jerusalem paid court. Judah constantly sought safety in foreign alliances (see on ch. 2:33, 36). But all these efforts to find security in these foreign “lovers” would be in vain.

By SdaBc