Bible Strands
Jeremiah 4:11
At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift;
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah addresses Judah and Jerusalem at a moment of impending crisis, immediately after condemning the false assurance of peace while a sword threatens them.
The words — The Hebrew ruach tzach (ר֣וּחַ צַ֤ח) translates literally as "scorching wind," denoting a harsh, desert-driven force that brings heat and devastation.
The thread — This desert wind motif appears in Ezekiel 17:10 and Hosea 13:15 as a symbol of divine judgment that withers the people, contrasting with the winnowing wind of Isaiah 41:16.
Why it lands — The text declares that God’s coming judgment will not purify or separate the wicked from the righteous, but will instead bring unmitigated destruction to a people who trusted in false peace.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 17:10 Even if it is transplanted, will it flourish? Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes? It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.’”
- Hosea 13:15 Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article.
- Isaiah 41:16 You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
- Isaiah 22:4 Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
- Isaiah 27:8 By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows.
- Isaiah 64:6 Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
- Jeremiah 8:19 Listen to the cry of the daughter of my people from a land far away: “Is the LORD no longer in Zion? Is her King no longer there?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images, with their worthless foreign idols?”
- Jeremiah 9:1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
- Jeremiah 9:7 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of the daughter of My people?
- Jeremiah 14:17 You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a severely grievous wound.