Bible Strands
Jeremiah 6:4
‘Prepare for battle against her; rise up, let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the daylight is fading; the evening shadows grow long.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet relays a divine command to invading forces, ordering them to mobilize against Jerusalem at midday as the daylight wanes.
The words — קַדְּשׁוּ (kaddešu) literally means to consecrate or set apart, here applied to preparing for war. בַּצֹּהֳרַיִם (baṣṣoharayim) denotes the exact time of noon, marking the appointed hour of assault before evening shadows arrive.
The thread — The summons to mobilize for war and the motif of noon judgment appear in Jeremiah 15:8, Joel 3:9, and Zephaniah 2:4. The immediate context of Jeremiah 6:3 and 6:5 frames the attack as a continuous encirclement that shifts from day to night.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that judgment follows a fixed schedule, leaving no margin for delay. It requires the reader to confront the inevitability of consequences when warning is ignored.
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
Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 15:8 I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. I will bring a destroyer at noon against the mothers of young men. I will suddenly bring upon them anguish and dismay.
- Joel 3:9 Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack!
- Zephaniah 2:4 For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.
- Jeremiah 8:20 “The harvest has passed, the summer has ended, but we have not been saved.”
- Song of Solomon 2:17 Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.
- Isaiah 5:26 He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!
- Isaiah 13:2 Raise a banner on a barren hilltop; call aloud to them. Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
- 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 51:27 “Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts.