Bible Strands
Jeremiah 4:9
“In that day,” declares the LORD, “the king and officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be astounded.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to Judah immediately after a call to sackcloth and mourning for His unrelenting anger. The declaration addresses the nation’s political and religious leadership at the moment of impending national collapse.
The words — The text uses יֹאבַד (yo.Vad), meaning it will perish, to describe the destruction of the king’s heart. It anchors the event with בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא (ba.yom ha.Hu), literally on that day, marking a fixed point of divine utterance.
The thread — The collapse of leadership and prophetic astonishment reappear in Isaiah 22:3, where rulers flee and are captured, and Isaiah 29:9, which commands the audience to stop and be astonished. Ezekiel 13:9 similarly records divine judgment against prophets who deliver false visions.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to acknowledge that political power and religious office offer no immunity when divine judgment executes. It demands a clear-eyed assessment of reality rather than reliance on human assurance.
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
And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 22:3 All your rulers have fled together, captured without a bow. All your fugitives were captured together, having fled to a distant place.
- Isaiah 29:9 Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.
- Ezekiel 13:9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.
- 1 Samuel 25:37 In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him, and he became like a stone.
- 2 Kings 25:4 Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,
- Psalms 102:4 My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass; I even forget to eat my bread.
- Isaiah 19:3 Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.
- Isaiah 19:11 The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?
- Isaiah 19:16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of the LORD of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them.
- Isaiah 21:3 Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.