Jeremiah 5:4 kjv
Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
Jeremiah 5:4 nkjv
Therefore I said, "Surely these are poor. They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD, The judgment of their God.
Jeremiah 5:4 niv
I thought, "These are only the poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the requirements of their God.
Jeremiah 5:4 esv
Then I said, "These are only the poor; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.
Jeremiah 5:4 nlt
Then I said, "But what can we expect from the poor?
They are ignorant.
They don't know the ways of the LORD.
They don't understand God's laws.
Jeremiah 5 4 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Jeremiah 5:3 | O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them, but they felt no pain; you have consumed them, but they refused to learn. | Chapter Context |
| Isaiah 6:9-10 | And he said, "Go, and say to this people: "'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' | Spiritual blindness |
| Jeremiah 6:13-15 | "For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain, and from prophet to priest, everyone practices deception. | Greed and deception |
| Hosea 4:6 | My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being priest to me. | Lack of knowledge |
| Matthew 15:14 | Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit. | Blindness of leaders |
| Romans 1:21-22 | For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. claiming to be wise, they became fools, | Foolish hearts |
| Proverbs 1:7 | The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. | Despising wisdom |
| Psalm 53:4 | Have the workers of evil no knowledge? They consume my people as they consume bread; they do not call upon the LORD. | Workers of evil |
| 1 Corinthians 1:20 | Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? | Worldly wisdom |
| Jeremiah 8:11 | They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace. | False peace |
| Ezekiel 13:10 | Because they have misled my people, saying, 'Peace,' when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a flimsy wall, these builders cover it with whitewash, | False prophets' lies |
| Zechariah 7:11-12 | "But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears so that they might not hear. They made their hearts like adamant lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. | Stubbornness and refusal |
| Hebrews 3:8 | Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion on the day of the desert, | Harden hearts |
| John 3:19 | And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. | Loving darkness |
| Acts 17:11 | Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica, they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. | Eagerness to learn |
| 2 Timothy 4:3-4 | For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers, to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. | Enduring false teaching |
| Galatians 5:9 | A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. | Influence of corruption |
| 1 Corinthians 5:6 | Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? | Leaven of corruption |
| Revelation 18:7 | So far will she exalt herself and indulge herself in debauchery. To the same degree give her the torment and mourning, for she says in her heart, 'I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and I shall never see mourning.' | Self-exaltation and deception |
| Psalm 73:7 | Their iniquity comes from their own fatness; they superabound in the things that they are allowed. | Fatness and self-indulgence |
| Isaiah 30:10 | Who say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right, but speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions. | Rejecting truth for ease |
| Jeremiah 9:3-5 | They have completely bent their tongues like a bow to shoot lies. They are emboldened in the land, not for truth, for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the LORD. | Tongues shoot lies |
| Proverbs 17:16 | What good is a price in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to buy? | Fool's lack of desire |
| 1 Peter 1:18-19 | knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not withperishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. | Redemption from futility |
Jeremiah 5 verses
Jeremiah 5 4 Meaning
The verse declares that despite observing the people's actions, it is futile to seek the Lord because their societal structure and inherent nature are corrupted. They are depicted as utterly lacking in understanding and discernment, clinging to deception.
Jeremiah 5 4 Context
This verse appears in the middle of Jeremiah's powerful indictment against Judah. The prophet has been commissioned to warn the people of impending judgment due to their persistent sin and apostasy. The preceding verses (Jeremiah 5:1-3) depict Jeremiah searching Jerusalem for any righteous individual, but finding none. This verse follows that bleak assessment, explaining why their outward appearance of normality doesn't reflect God's favor: their fundamental understanding and moral compass are broken, leading them to embrace lies rather than truth. The historical context is that of Judah under the threat of Babylonian invasion, a consequence of their disobedience to God's covenant.
Jeremiah 5 4 Word Analysis
And (וְ, ve): A conjunction, linking the previous observation to this conclusion.
it is (הִנֵּה, hinneh): An interjection, drawing attention to the following statement, conveying "behold," "lo," or "indeed." It emphasizes the seriousness of the observation.
there is (אֵין, ein): A negation, "there is not" or "is not."
not (לֹא, lo): Another negation, strengthening the absence of something.
to teach (לְלַמֵּד, lelamed): Infinitive of "to teach" or "to instruct." The absence of teaching here signifies a lack of foundational understanding and divine wisdom.
their (אוֹתָם, otam): Pronoun referring back to the people of Judah.
how (כִּי, ki): Often translated as "for" or "because," but here it functions similarly to "how" in expressing a manner or cause.
the soul (נֶפֶשׁ, nephesh): Hebrew for "soul," "life," "mind," or "person." It refers to the inner self, their being.
is (לֹא, lo): "Is not" or "not."
understanding (בִינָה, binah): Comprehension, discernment, insight.
perish (אָבַד, avad): To perish, be lost, destroyed, vanish. The soul has not perished in the sense of ceasing to exist, but in the sense of losing its capacity for true understanding.
seek (דָרַשׁ, darash): To seek, inquire, consult, demand. The emphasis is on the lack of even initiating such a quest for truth.
the Lord (יהוה, YHWH): The covenant name of God.
Words Group Analysis:
- "it is not to teach their soul" (הִנֵּה אֵין לְלַמֵּד נַפְשׁוֹ, hinneh ein lelamed nephesh otam): This phrase is idiomatic. It means "Behold, there is no teaching for their soul," signifying that their inner beings are unreceptive and beyond the ability to be taught divine truth. It implies a complete lack of internal capacity for instruction.
- "how the soul is not understanding" (כִּי אֵין בִינָה לַנֶּפֶשׁ, ki ein binah lanephesh): This highlights the internal condition of the people. Their very "soul" or core being lacks the faculty of understanding or discernment.
- "perish seek the Lord" (אָבַד דִּרְשׁ יְהוָה, avad dirsh YHWH): This is a challenging word order in Hebrew. Some scholars interpret "avad" (perish) here not as a past action, but as part of a consequence or a strong negative. It could be understood as "It has perverted the seeking of the Lord," or "The seeking of the Lord has perished," or even "He perishes who seeks the Lord" (though less likely given the context). A more direct rendering considering the context is that the people, by their lack of understanding, have made seeking the Lord as if it were a perishing or futile act, or their ability to truly seek has been lost. The phrase captures the essence of a people estranged from God's way.
Jeremiah 5 4 Bonus Section
This verse powerfully illustrates the concept of "spiritual adultery" or "backsliding" described throughout the Old Testament. The inability to understand and seek the Lord is presented as a judgment consequence of prior rebellion and turning away from God. It aligns with the prophetic theme that disobedience hardens the heart, making it resistant to God's truth, much like Pharaoh's heart hardened after God's intervention in Exodus. The mention of "soul" (nephesh) highlights that this spiritual affliction affects the entire person, their core identity and inner life. This inability to seek God effectively contrasts sharply with the passionate seeking of God described in passages like Psalm 42:1-2, where the soul longs for God.
Jeremiah 5 4 Commentary
Jeremiah 5:4 describes a profound spiritual condition. It's not merely about ignorance of facts, but a deeper impairment of the mind and spirit that prevents genuine comprehension. The people are described as having a corrupted inner nature ("soul" or nephesh), rendering them incapable of being taught divine truth or seeking the Lord effectively. They have abandoned wisdom, embracing lies and self-deception, making it impossible for God's words to penetrate. This pervasive lack of understanding leads to actions that further alienate them from God, perpetuating a cycle of sin and judgment. The consequence of this deep-seated spiritual decay is that their attempts to seek God, or God's own efforts to reach them, become perverted and ultimately fruitless, because the very organ of spiritual apprehension is broken.