Bible Strands
Jeremiah 49:4
Why do you boast of your valleys—your valleys so fruitful, O faithless daughter? You trust in your riches and say, ‘Who can come against me?’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Lord speaks through Jeremiah to the Ammonite nation, addressed as the "faithless daughter," during a prophetic judgment oracle against her fortified cities. This declaration occurs between calls for Rabbah to mourn and warnings of imminent divine terror and scattering.
The words — The verb תִּתְהַֽלְלִי (tit.ha.Li) literally commands "do you boast," targeting the nation's pride in its agricultural abundance. The noun שׁוֹבֵבָה (shoe.Vah) translates to "apostate" or "faithless," directly naming her spiritual rebellion.
The thread — This condemnation of trusting in geography and wealth runs through Jeremiah 9:23 and 21:13, where boasting in strength or dwelling in a valley is met with divine opposition. The New Testament echoes this pattern in 1 Timothy 6:17 by warning against placing hope in uncertain riches.
Why it lands — The text states that fortified locations and accumulated wealth offer no protection against God's judgment. It requires the reader to abandon self-reliance and acknowledge that human advantage cannot withstand divine intervention.
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
Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?
Cross-references
- 1 Timothy 6:17 Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
- Jeremiah 9:23 This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
- Jeremiah 21:13 Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
- Psalms 49:6 They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.
- Psalms 52:7 “Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- Psalms 62:10 Place no trust in extortion or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.
- Jeremiah 3:14 “Return, O faithless children,” declares the LORD, “for I am your master, and I will take you—one from a city and two from a family—and bring you to Zion.
- Jeremiah 48:7 Because you trust in your works and treasures, you too will be captured, and Chemosh will go into exile with his priests and officials.
- Proverbs 10:15 The wealth of the rich man is his fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.
- Isaiah 28:1 Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine.