Jeremiah 4:30

Jeremiah 4:30 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)What are you doing, you devastated one? Why dress yourself in scarlet and put on jewels of gold? Why highlight your eyes with makeup? You adorn yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you; they want to kill you.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in scarlet, that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“And when you are plundered, What will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, Though you enlarge your eyes with paint, In vain you will make yourself fair; Your lovers will despise you; They will seek your life.

Context of Jeremiah 4:30

28The earth will mourn, and the sky will grow black. I have spoken, and I have planned it. I won’t change my plans, and I won’t turn back. 29All the people in the city will flee at the sound of riders and archers. They will go off into the thickets and climb among the rocks. The entire city will be abandoned, and no one will live in it. You are going to be destroyed! What are you going to do? Why do you dress in red and put on gold jewelry? Why do you wear eye shadow? You are making yourself beautiful for nothing. Your lovers reject you; they want to kill you. 31I hear a woman in labor. I hear the woman cry with anguish as she gives birth to her first child. My people Zion are gasping for breath. They are stretching out their hands, saying, “How horrible it is for us! We’re defenseless in the presence of murderers!”

Jeremiah 4:30 word by word

וְאַ֨תְּ שָׁד֜וּד מַֽה־תַּעֲשִׂ֗י כִּֽי־תִלְבְּשִׁ֨י שָׁנִ֜י כִּי־תַעְדִּ֣י עֲדִי־זָהָ֗ב כִּֽי־תִקְרְעִ֤י בַפּוּךְ֙ עֵינַ֔יִךְ לַשָּׁ֖וְא תִּתְיַפִּ֑י מָאֲסוּ־בָ֥ךְ עֹגְבִ֖ים נַפְשֵׁ֥ךְ יְבַקֵּֽשׁוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• spoiledשָׁדַדshâdad · to ruinH7703
• what wilt thou doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• Though thou clothestלָבֵשׁlâbash lâbêsh · to clotheH3847
• thyself with crimsonשָׁנִיshânîy · scarletH8144
• though thou deckestעָדָה‛âdâh · to adornH5710
• thee with ornamentsעֲדִי‛ădîy · ornamentH5716
• of goldזָהָבzâhâb · goldH2091
• though thou rentestקָרַעqâra‛ · to tearH7167
• thy faceעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• with paintingפּוּךְpûk · antimonyH6320
• in vainשָׁוְאshâv' shav · vanity: vainH7723
• shalt thou make thyself fairיָפָהyâphâh · be beautifulH3302
• loversעָגַב‛âgab · to lustH5689
• will despiseמָאַסmâ'as · to rejectH3988
• thee, they will seekבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
• thy lifeנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315

Cross-references for Jeremiah 4:30

• Jeremiah 5:31Prophets prophesy lies. Priests rule under the prophets’ directions, and my people love this. But what will you do in the end?”
• Jeremiah 13:21What will you say when God makes the people you thought were your friends your new masters? Won’t pain grip you like a woman in labor?
• Isaiah 10:3What will you do on the day you are called to account ⌞for these things⌟, when the disaster comes from far away? Where will you run for help? Where will you leave your wealth?
• Isaiah 20:6When that day comes, those who live on this coastland will say, ‘Look at what has happened to our hope. We ran ⌞to Egypt⌟ for help to be rescued from the king of Assyria. How can we escape?’ ”
• Isaiah 33:14The sinners in Zion are terrified. Trembling seizes the ungodly. Can any of us live through a fire that destroys? Can any of us live through a fire that burns forever?
• Hebrews 2:3So how will we escape punishment if we reject the important message, the message that God saved us? First, the Lord told this saving message. Then those who heard him confirmed that message.
• Ezekiel 23:40“They even sent messengers to invite men to come from far away. When the men arrived, they washed themselves for the men, painted their eyes, and put on their jewels.
• Ezekiel 28:9You will no longer say that you are a god when you face those who kill you. You will be a human, not a god, in the hands of those who kill you.
• Revelation 17:4The woman wore purple clothes, bright red clothes, gold jewelry, gems, and pearls. In her hand she was holding a gold cup filled with detestable and evil things from her sexual sins.
• 2 Kings 9:30When Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it. She put on eye shadow, fixed her hair, and looked out of a second-story window.
• Jeremiah 22:20“Go to Lebanon and cry! Raise your voice in Bashan! Cry out from Abarim, because all your lovers are defeated.”
• Lamentations 1:2Jerusalem cries bitterly at night with tears running down its cheeks. Out of all those who love the city, no one offers it comfort. All of Jerusalem’s friends have betrayed it and become its enemies.
• Lamentations 4:17“We are still straining our eyes, trying in vain to find help. We waited and waited for a nation that didn’t save us.
• Ezekiel 16:36This is what the Almighty Lord says: You exposed yourself and uncovered your naked body when you gave yourself to your lovers and to all your disgusting idols. You also killed your children and sacrificed their blood to these idols.
• Ezekiel 23:9“That is why I handed her over to her lovers, to the Assyrians whom she lusted after.
• Revelation 17:2The kings of the earth had sex with her, and those living on earth became drunk on the wine of her sexual sins.”

Commentaries on Jeremiah 4:30

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 30Though thou rentest thy face with painting - This probably refers to the custom of introducing stibium a preparation of antimony, between the eye and the lids, in order to produce a fine lustre, which occasions a distension of the eye-lid in the time of the operation. In order to heighten the effect from this some may have introduced a more than ordinary quantity, so as nearly to rend the eye-lid itself. Though thou make use of every means of address, of…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 30Translate, And thou, O plundered one, what effectest thou, that “thou clothest thyself with” scarlet, that “thou deckest” thyself “with ornaments of gold,” that thou enlargest thine eyes with antimony (2 Kings 9:30 note)? “In vain” dost thou beautify thyself; “thy lovers” despise” thee, they” seek “thy life.” Jerusalem is represented as a woman who puts on her best attire to gain favor in the eyes of her lovers, but in vain.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-31Verses 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 30Oddly, some people acted as if nothing serious was happening. They tried to ignore the enemy, but their future looked grim. The enemy would kill them (Jeremiah 22:20, 22; 2 Kings 9:30; Isaiah 22:13; Lamentations 1:2, 19; Ezekiel 23:9–10, 22, 40–42).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3030. when thou art spoiled--rather, "thou, O destroyed one" [Maurer]. rentest ... face with painting--Oriental women paint their eyes with stibium, or antimony, to make them look full and sparkling, the black margin causing the white of the eyes to appear the brighter by contrast (2Ki 9:30). He uses the term "distendest" in derision of their effort to make their eyes look large [Maurer]; or else, "rentest," that is, dost lacerate by puncturing the eyelid…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 4:30

• Condescension of God
• Cosmetics
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Painting
• War

In the dictionaries

• Bless
• Colour
• Dress
• Eye
• Fallow
• Pain
• Paint
• Wise
• Backslide
• Color; Colors

Commentaries on Jeremiah 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings