Bible Strands
Jeremiah 4:27
For this is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not finish its destruction.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to Judah during a prophetic vision of impending national judgment. He announces the ruin of the land immediately following the destruction of its cities by His fierce anger.
The words — The noun שְׁמָמָה (she.ma.Mah) translates literally to "a desolation," coupled with the verb תִּהְיֶה (tih.Yeh) for "it will be," to declare the certainty of the land's ruin. This is immediately bounded by the LORD's explicit statement that He will not complete the destruction.
The thread — The motif of restrained judgment runs through Jeremiah 5:10, where the command is to ravage but not finish off the vineyards, and Jeremiah 5:18, where God declares He will not make a full end of His people. It stands in contrast to the complete destruction noted in Jeremiah 46:28, establishing a consistent pattern of measured discipline.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that divine punishment operates within fixed boundaries rather than absolute annihilation. It demands recognition that the speaker retains sovereign control over the extent of the ruin, even while executing severe judgment.
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
For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 5:10 Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.
- Jeremiah 5:18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.
- Jeremiah 46:28 And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, for I am with you. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have banished you, I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”
- Jeremiah 30:11 For I am with you to save you, declares the LORD. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have scattered you, I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”
- Leviticus 26:44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or despise them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God.
- Ezekiel 11:13 Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh, Lord GOD, will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”
- Romans 9:27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
- Romans 11:1 I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
- 2 Chronicles 36:21 So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah.
- Isaiah 6:11 Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,