to bear young · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
field
בַּשָּׂדֶ֔הba.sa.Deh
H7704
a field (as flat) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
forsook
וְעָז֑וֹבve.'a.Zov
H5800
to loosen · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive absolute
grass
דֶּֽשֶׁאDe.she'
H1877
a sprout · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 29:9 The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
Job 39:1-4 Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
Isaiah 15:6 For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 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 as brass, and distilled no dews, the earth was as iron, and produced no fruits; and then the grief and confusion were universal. 1. The people of the land were all in tears. Destroy their vines and their…
The brute creation is reduced to the utmost extremity for the want of food. The "hind," famed for her affection to her young, abandons them.
John Gill on Jeremiah 14:5
Yea, the hind also calved in the field,.... Or brought forth her young in the field; of which see Job 39:1, and which they sometimes did through fear, particularly when frightened with thunder and lightning; and which are common in a time of heat and drought, which is the case here; see Psalm 29:9 of these sort of creatures there were great plenty in Judea and the parts adjacent. Aelianus (z) says, the harts in Syria are bred on the highest mountains, Amanus, Lebanon, and Carmel; which were mountains on the borders of the land of Canaan; and the flesh of these was much used for food by the Jews; see Deuteronomy 12:15,
and forsook it; which, as it is a loving creature to its mate, so very ca…
Jeremiah 14:5-6
5. Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
5. Quin etiam cerva in agro peperit et deseruit (nempe, foetum suum,) quia non fuit herba.
6. And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
6. Et onagri steterunt super excelsa (diximus de hoc nomine, super labia, vel, eminentias, vel, rupes,) traxerunt (vel, hauserunt) ventum sicut serpentes; defecerunt oculi eorum, quia non fuit herba (utitur alio nomine, posuerat ds' prius, nunc ponit sv sed eodem sensu.)
Jeremiah now comes to animals: he said before, that men would be visited with thirst, and…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 5, 6.) For even the deer (or deer) in the field give birth (or gave birth) and abandon (or abandoned) because there is no grass. And the wild donkeys stood on the cliffs, they drew in the wind like dragons, their eyes failed, because there is no grass (or hay). Great sterility, when even the deer in the field give birth and abandon their offspring, because there is no grass or hay; just as serpents draw out venomous animals from caves with the smell of their nostrils and kill them, they do not use food as a means of gratitude. And also about the wild donkeys it is written in Job: Who has let the wild donkey go free into the wilderness? (Job 39:5) They wander about for food, seeking sustenance in the desert. They live among the rocks and make their home in the cliffs. They cannot run but drag themselves along like serpents. Their eyesight fails, and they cannot see. They survive on sparse vegetation. This drought often happens in the churches, when deer and wild donkeys are found among the people, and there is a scarcity of teachers: there are those who can learn, but there are not those who can teach. If our iniquities answer (or resist) against us, O Lord, do it for your name's sake, because our turnings away (or sins) are many. We have sinned against you, O expectation of Israel: the Savior thereof in time of trouble. If we doubt why the rains do not descend upon the earth, why all things wither with dryness, let us hear. Our iniquities have resisted against us; therefore, O Lord, not according to our works, but according to your holy name, overcome our many turnings away (or sins). For we have sinned against you, whom the secrets of the heart do not deceive, and we wait for you, who are the true hope and expectation of Israel: and you save them in the time of tribulation, according to what is written: I cried to the Lord in my trouble, and he heard me (Psalm 119:1). Let us also say in the time of drought and shortage of water: We have sinned against you, and we have done evil before you (Psalm 50:5), we await your coming, who save Israel, not by their own merit, but by your mercy.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Hind — Heb. ‘ayalah (2 Sam. 22:34; Ps. 18:33, etc.) and ‘ayeleth (Ps. 22, title), the female of the hart or stag. It is referred to as an emblem of activity (Gen. 49:21), gentleness (Prov. 5:19), feminine…
Deer · Coloring of — Coloring of
Drought · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Famine · Suffering of brute creation from — Suffering of brute creation from
Grass · Sufferings of cattle from failure of, described — Sufferings of cattle from failure of, described
Hart, The · Female of: Forsakes her young in famine — Female of: Forsakes her young in famine
Impenitence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Description of the distress arising from the drought. - Jer 14:2. Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, like mourning on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goeth up. Jer 14:3. Their nobles send their mean ones for water: they come to the wells, find no water, return with empty pitchers, are ashamed and confounded and cover their head. Jer 14:4. For the ground, which is confounded, because no rain is fallen upon the earth, the husbandmen are ashamed, cover their head. Jer 14:5. Yea, the hind also in the field, she beareth and forsaketh it, because there is no grass. Jer 14:6. And the wild asses stand on the bare-topped heights, gasp for air like the jackals; their eyes fail becaus…
Both people and animals were helpless in the drought. • The farmers would cover their heads with coarse burlap to express shame, humiliation, and mourning.
Rashi on Jeremiah 14:5
has borne and abandoned her offspring, to hunt for pastureland for herself.
