New King James Version
Jeremiah 4:7
7The lion has come up from his thicket, And the destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone forth from his place To make your land desolate. Your cities will be laid waste, Without inhabitant.
Jeremiah 4:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
- New International Version (NIV)A lion has come out of his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to lay waste your land. Your towns will lie in ruins without inhabitant.
- English Standard Version (ESV)A lion has gone up from his thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant.
- New Living Translation (NLT)A lion stalks from its den, a destroyer of nations. It has left its lair and is headed your way. It’s going to devastate your land! Your towns will lie in ruins, with no one living in them anymore.
Context of Jeremiah 4:7
5Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the trumpet in the land; Cry, ‘Gather together,’ And say, ‘Assemble yourselves, And let us go into the fortified cities.’ 6Set up the standard toward Zion. Take refuge! Do not delay! For I will bring disaster from the north, And great destruction.” The lion has come up from his thicket, And the destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone forth from his place To make your land desolate. Your cities will be laid waste, Without inhabitant. 8For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, Lament and wail. For the fierce anger of the Lord Has not turned back from us. 9“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord, “That the heart of the king shall perish, And the heart of the princes; The priests shall be astonished, And the prophets shall wonder.”
Read all of Jeremiah 4Jeremiah 4:7 word by word
עָלָ֤ה אַרְיֵה֙ מִֽסֻּבְּכ֔וֹ וּמַשְׁחִ֣ית גּוֹיִ֔ם נָסַ֖ע יָצָ֣א מִמְּקֹמ֑וֹ לָשׂ֤וּם אַרְצֵךְ֙ לְשַׁמָּ֔ה עָרַ֥יִךְ תִּצֶּ֖ינָה מֵאֵ֥ין יוֹשֵֽׁב׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- The lionאַרְיֵה'ărîy 'aryêh · lionH738
- is come upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- from his thicketסְבֹךְsôbek · thicketH5441
- and the destroyerשָׁחַתshâchath · to ruinH7843
- of the Gentilesגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
- is on his wayנָסַעnâsa‛ · to set outH5265
- he is gone forthיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
- from his placeמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725
- to makeשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
- thy landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- desolateשַׁמָּהshammâh · horror: destroyedH8047
- thy citiesעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
- shall be laid wasteנָצָהnâtsâh · to desolateH5327
- without an inhabitantיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
Cross-references for Jeremiah 4:7
- Jeremiah 5:6Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them, A wolf of the deserts shall destroy them; A leopard will watch over their cities. Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces, Because their transgressions are many; Their backslidings have increased.
- Jeremiah 25:38He has left His lair like the lion; For their land is desolate Because of the fierceness of the Oppressor, And because of His fierce anger.”
- Jeremiah 49:19“Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the floodplain of the Jordan Against the dwelling place of the strong; But I will suddenly make him run away from her. And who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her? For who is like Me? Who will arraign Me? And who is that shepherd Who will withstand Me?”
- Jeremiah 50:17“Israel is like scattered sheep; The lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him; Now at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”
- 2 Kings 24:1In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.
- 2 Kings 25:1Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around.
- Daniel 7:4The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
- Jeremiah 25:9behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
- Jeremiah 27:8And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,’ says the Lord, ‘with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
- Ezekiel 21:19“And son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go; both of them shall go from the same land. Make a sign; put it at the head of the road to the city.
- Ezekiel 26:7“For thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, with chariots, and with horsemen, and an army with many people.
- Ezekiel 30:10‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will also make a multitude of Egypt to cease By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
- Daniel 5:19And because of the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down.
- Jeremiah 2:15The young lions roared at him, and growled; They made his land waste; His cities are burned, without inhabitant.
- Jeremiah 9:11“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.”
- Jeremiah 26:9Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without an inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 4:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7The lion is come up - Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. "The king (Nebuchadnezzar) is come up from his tower." - Targum. The destroyer of the Gentiles - Of the nations: of all the people who resisted his authority. He destroyed them all.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7Rather, A “lion” a “destroyer” of nations: a metaphor descriptive of the impending calamity. A lion is just rousing himself from his lair, but no common one. It is destroyer, not of men, but of nations. Is on his way - literally, “has broken up his encampment.” Jeremiah uses a military term strictly referring to the striking of tents in preparation for the march. Without an inhabitant - The final stage of destruction, actually reached in the utter…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-18Verses 5-18 The fierce conqueror of the neighbouring nations was to make Judah desolate. The prophet was afflicted to see the people lulled into security by false prophets. The approach of the enemy is described. Some attention was paid in Jerusalem to outward reformation; but it was necessary that their hearts should be washed, in the exercise of true repentance and faith, from the love and pollution of sin. When lesser calamities do not rouse sinners…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7The approaching Babylonian army was like a fierce and ruthless lion (see Jeremiah 2:15). With strength and brutality, it would destroy everything, leaving houses empty and in ruins (Jeremiah 25:9, 38; 50:17; 2 Kings 24:1; Isaiah 1:7; 6:11; Ezekiel 26:7–10; Daniel 7:4).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. lion--Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans (Jr 2:15; 5:6; Da 7:14). his thicket--lair; Babylon. destroyer of the Gentiles--rather, "the nations" (Jr 25:9).Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 4:7
In the dictionaries
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries