to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהֹוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
men
לְאִ֤ישׁle.'Ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Judah
יְהוּדָה֙ye.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
Jerusalem
וְלִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םve.li.Ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · conjunction + preposition + proper noun, a place name
up
נִ֥ירוּNi.ru
H5214
to till the soil · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
ground
נִ֑ירNir
H5215
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sow
תִּזְרְע֖וּtiz.re.'U
H2232
to sow · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine plural
thorns
קוֹצִֽיםko.Tzim
H6975
a thorn · noun, common masculine plural 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
Hosea 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain right…
Luke 8:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
Luke 8:14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this…
Galatians 6:7-8 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Matthew 13:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
Mark 4:18-19 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
Matthew 13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke…
Mark 4:7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 4:3-4
The prophet here turns his speech, in God's name, to the men of the place where he lived. We have heard what words he proclaimed towards the north (Jer 3:12), for the comfort of those that were now in captivity and were humbled under the hand of God; let us now see what he says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, who were now in prosperity, for their conviction and awakening. In these two verses he exhorts them to repentance and reformation, as the only way left them to prevent the desolating judgments that were ready to break in upon them. Observe,
I. The duties required of them, which they are concerned to do.
1. They must do by their hearts as they do by their ground that they expect any g…
Transition to Judah. Supply mentally. All which (the foregoing declaration as to Israel) applies to Judah.
and Jerusalem--that is, and especially the men of Jerusalem, as being the most prominent in Judea.
Break . . . fallow ground--that is, Repent of your idolatry, and so be prepared to serve the Lord in truth (Hos 10:12; Mat 13:7). The unhumbled heart is like ground which may be improved, being let out to us for that purpose, but which is as yet fallow, overgrown with weeds, its natural product.
John Gill on Jeremiah 4:3
For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem,.... The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were at the time of this prophecy in their own land; and so are distinguished from Israel the ten tribes, who were in captivity; unless the same persons should be meant, who were called by these several names, the people of the Jews; and it was in Judea that our Lord appeared in the flesh, and to the inhabitants thereof he ministered, he was the minister of the circumcision; and so to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, whom he called to repentance, and would have gathered, Matthew 23:37,
break up your fallow ground; this is ground that lies untilled, not ploughed, nor sown, on which nothing g…
Let us imitate the example of all these people, that there may be peace and righteousness in our days, and that what we read in another place may not happen to us: "Thorns and briars shall spring up on the soil of my people." Rather, let us clean the fallow ground for ourselves and not sow among thorns.
The departure from virtue gives place for the entrance of the unclean spirit. There is, moreover, the apostolic injunction, that the grace given us should not be unprofitable. Those things that he wrote particularly to his disciple, he enforces on us through him, saying, "Do not neglect the gift that is in you. For he who tills his land shall be satisfied with bread. But the paths of the slothful are strewn with thorns." The Spirit warns ahead of time not to fall into them, saying, "Break up your fallow ground. Do not sow among thorns."
In the last discourse we laid down clearly what sort of character the theologian ought to bear, what kind of subject he may philosophize about, and when and to what extent he may do so. We saw that he ought to be pure, as far as he can be, in order that light may be apprehended by light. He ought to associate with serious people in order that his word will not be fruitless by falling on an unfruitful soil and creating a climate of calm within from the whirl of outward distractions. Then we will not be like madmen constantly trying to catch our breath. This way, we can go as far as we have ourselves advanced or at least in the direction we are advancing. This is how it is when we have broken up for ourselves the fallows of Divinity, so as not to sow seed among thorns. We have plowed the ground, being molded and molding others by Holy Scripture.
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
Agriculture — Tilling the ground (Gen. 2:15; 4:2, 3, 12) and rearing cattle were the chief employments in ancient times. The Egyptians excelled in agriculture. And after the Israelites entered into the possession…
Fallow-ground — The expression, “Break up your fallow ground” (Hos. 10:12; Jer. 4:3) means, “Do not sow your seed among thorns”, i.e., break off all your evil habits; clear your hearts of weeds, in order that they…
Fast — The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement (q.v.), Lev. 23:26-32. It is called “the fast” (Acts 27:9). The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old…
Agriculture · .Fallow ground — .Fallow ground
Agriculture Or Husbandry · Illustrative of: Culture of the heart — Illustrative of: Culture of the heart
Condescension Of God · Expostulates with backsliding Israel — Expostulates with backsliding Israel
Ploughing · The breaking up or tilling of the earth — The breaking up or tilling of the earth
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).
John Calvin on Jeremiah 4:3
Jeremiah 4:3
3. For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
3. Quoniam sic dicit Jehova viro Jehudah (hoc est, Judaeis) et Jerosolymae, Novate vobis novale, et ne seminetis super spinas.
The Prophet still pursues the same subject; for he reproves the hypocrisy of the Israelites, because they sought to discharge their duty towards God only by external ceremonies, while their hearts were full of deceits and of every kind of impiety and wickedness. Hence he says, that God required this from the Jews, -- to plough again the fallow, and not to sow among thorns.
It is a most suitable comparison; for Scripture often compares…
Threatening of Judgment upon Jerusalem and Judah. - If Judah and Jerusalem do not reform, the wrath of God will be inevitably kindled against them (Jer 4:3, Jer 4:4). Already the prophet sees in spirit the judgment bursting in upon Judah from the north, to the dismay of all who were accounting themselves secure (Jer 4:5-10). Like a hot tempest-blast it rushes on, because of the wickedness of Jerusalem (Jer 4:11-18), bringing desolation and ruin on the besotted people, devastating the whole land, and not to be turned aside by any meretricious devices (Jer 4:19-31).
Jer 4:3-4
"For thus hath Jahveh spoken to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: Break up for yourselves new ground, and sow not amon…
These verses bring the kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, to center stage in God’s courtroom. The Lord decreed that he would judge Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians.
4:3 Sinners must intentionally face their rebellion and change their ways through confession and repentance (Hos 10:12; cp. Matt 13:1-9).
Rashi on Jeremiah 4:3
For so said the Lord, etc. Plow for yourself a furrow Learn from the tillers of the soil, who plow it in the summer to kill the roots of the grasses, that it should not grow thorns at the time of sowing in the winter. You, too, improve your deeds before the evil befalls you, so that your prayer should not be rejected when you cry out.
and do not sow upon thorns And let not your cry before Me be from amidst wickedness, but from amidst repentance, that you shall not resemble one sowing without plowing, and that turns into thorns (kardons in O.F., chardons in modern French).
