Jeremiah 4:21

How long must I see the signal flag and hear the sound of the horn?

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The prophet Jeremiah speaks in the first person, addressing Judah during a period of imminent invasion and total land devastation. He voices the collective exhaustion of a people forced to repeatedly witness military warnings and watch their communities destroyed.

The words — The Hebrew מָתַ֖י (ma.Tai) means "when?" and עַד־ ('ad-) means "until," combining to form the desperate interrogative "How long?" that opens the verse. נֵּ֑ס (Nes) translates literally to "a standard" or signal flag, paired with שׁוֹפָֽר (sho.Far), meaning "trumpet," which together denote the urgent alarm signals of approaching war.

The thread — The text describes the repeated raising of standards and sounding of trumpets as markers of escalating national crisis. The supplied references in 2 Chronicles 35:25, 36:3, and 36:6 trace the historical progression from royal lament to Egyptian and Babylonian domination that fulfills this warning pattern.

Why it lands — The passage records the literal observation of military alarms and the auditory experience of trumpet blasts before disaster strikes. It requires the reader to acknowledge that prolonged exposure to divine warning without repentance results in inevitable destruction.

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The Hebrew words

עַד־'ad-until מָתַ֖יma.Taiwhen?אֶרְאֶה־'er.'eh-will I see נֵּ֑סNesa standard אֶשְׁמְעָ֖ה'esh.me.'Ahwill I hear ק֥וֹלKol[the] sound of שׁוֹפָֽר׃ סsho.Fara trumpet

King James Version

How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

Cross-references

2 Chronicles 35:25 Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers recite laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments.
2 Chronicles 36:3 And the king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
2 Chronicles 36:6 Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jehoiakim and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.
2 Chronicles 36:10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar summoned Jehoiachin and brought him to Babylon, along with the articles of value from the house of the LORD. And he made Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 36:17 So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,
Jeremiah 4:5 Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves and let us flee to the fortified cities.’
Jeremiah 6:1 “Run for cover, O sons of Benjamin; flee from Jerusalem! Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa; send up a signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms from the north, even great destruction.
Jeremiah 4:19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.