For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes evil from the hills of Ephraim:
Parallel Translations
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For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes evil from the hills of Ephraim:
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For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
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For hark! one declareth from Dan, and announceth calamity from the hills of Ephraim:
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 4:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 8:16 The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan. The whole land trembles at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they have come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it, the city and those who dwell therein.”
- Joshua 17:15 Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest, and clear land for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim; since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.”
- Joshua 20:7 They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
- Judges 18:29 They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; however the name of the city used to be Laish.
- Judges 20:1 Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, to Yahweh at Mizpah.
- Jeremiah 6:1 “Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the middle of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa and raise up a signal on Beth Haccherem, for evil looks out from the north with a great destruction.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet again repeats what he had said, —…
The Prophet again repeats what he had said, — that the Jews were given up, on account of their perverseness, to final ruin; for they had so often and for so long a time provoked God, and had not attended to pious admonitions, when God by his servants the prophets offered pardon to them on their repentance. But the whole passage, which I shall now explain, gives a lively representation of the ruin that was at hand; for we see that in this verse there is a scene presented to us, as the Prophet sets before our eyes what could not be fully expressed in words.
A voice, he says, declares from Daniel This was the extreme border on the north He had before said, that an evil was coming from that quarter, that is, from the north; for God had chosen the Chaldeans as the executors of his vengeance: hence he says, “a voice is heard from Dan;” not that there was an army already prepared to attack the Jews, but Jeremiah speaks here by the prophetic spirit; and he sets the event as present before the Jews, who thought not that so grievous an evil was nigh. For we said yesterday, that when God for a time spares hypocrites, they become more hardened, and with haughty contempt deride his prophets. When, therefore, Jeremiah saw that he had to do with blocks, he deemed it necessary to use figurative language, which exhibited to them more clearly that the judgment, which the Jews imagined they had no reason to fear, was near at hand: hence he says, a voice is heard from Dan
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And proclaims און, aun, that is, trouble, or punishment, or ruin. The other rendering, to which I have referred, is not suitable. The word און, aun, does indeed properly signify iniquity; but it is to be taken here for punishment. But whenever the Prophets use this term, they intimate that evil is not inflicted by God except for just causes; and they remind us that its source or fountain is to be found in the wickedness of men. Ruin then was coming from Mount Ephraim which was near the tribe of Judah and also Jerusalem. But it was the same as though Jeremiah had said, that God was now thundering from heaven, and that it would be of no avail to the Jews to close their ears: for though they were even deaf, yet God’s vengeance would soon come to light, accompanied with dreadful noise. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Which was in the mid-way between Dan and Jerusalem.
Which was in the mid-way between Dan and Jerusalem.
Which was a city in the utmost border of Israel Northward toward Babylon.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 4:15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and…
Jer 4:15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
Ver. 15. For a voice declareth from Dan.] Which was first called Laish, then Dan, and after that, in honour of Tiberius Caesar, Caesarea Philippi. {a} It was the utmost bound of Israel northward; and therehence came a rumour of the enemy entering and making his first impression into the land, and so, by Mount Ephraim, to the Jews of Jerusalem. This Jeremiah, by a spirit of prophecy, foretelleth long before, against their vain confidence of better.
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And publisheth affliction.] The same Hebrew word signifieth vanity or iniquity in the verse aforegoing. Sin is the mother of misery and molestation.
{a} Joseph. Antiq., lib. xviii.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain A voice, i.e. either the voice of the prophets,…
A voice, i.e. either the voice of the prophets, that is still sounding it in your ears, and declaring it unto you; or rather, the rumour and noise of this army is already come through your land; you have the heavy tidings of this great affliction, Jer 8:16, to note the near approach of it.
Declareth from Dan: this is said to come from Dan and Ephraim, because Dan was the first place these Chaldeans must come to, it being the utmost boundary of Canaan northward, and Ephraim the innermost border of Israel in the north of Judea, intimating the march of the Babylonians through all Israel toward Jerusalem.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For a voice declareth from Dan,.... The coming of…
For a voice declareth from Dan,.... The coming of the enemy, as Kimchi explains it, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Chaldeans; a messenger was come from Dan, which was on the border of the land of Israel to the north, on which side Babylon lay, and from whence the evil was to come predicted; who declared the enemy was approaching, just entering the land; not that this was now the case in fact, but this is represented in a prophetic manner, as what would be, in order to arouse and awaken the Jews to a sense of their sin and danger; see Jer 8:10.
and publisheth affliction from Mount Ephraim: which lay on the border of the tribe of Benjamin, and nearer to Jerusalem; and this publication represents the enemy as advancing nearer, and being just at hand. The word for "affliction" signifies "iniquity" (a); and it denotes, that the affliction spoken of, which is the destruction of the Jews, and their captivity in Babylon, were occasioned by their sins. Some think that Dan and Ephraim are mentioned, because of the calves that were worshipped in Dan, and in Bethel, which was in the tribe of Ephraim. The Targum favours this, which paraphrases the words thus,
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"for the voice of the prophets that prophesied against them that go into captivity, because they worshipped the calf, which is at Dan; and they that bring evil tidings, shall come upon them, because they served the image which Micah set up in the mount of the house of Ephraim;''
and the Vulgate Latin version is,
"the voice of him that declares from Dan, and that makes known the idol from Mount Ephraim.''
(a) "iniquitatem", Vatablus, Pagninus, Montanus, Schimdt; "vanitatem", Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain From Daniel - Daniel was the first place the…
From Daniel - Daniel was the first place the Chaldeans came to, being the utmost boundary of Canaan northward. Ephraim was the innermost border of Israel in the north of Judea, intimating the march of the Babylonians thro' all Israel.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. For a voice declareth from Dan] Dan…
Verse 15. For a voice declareth from Dan] Dan was a city in the tribe of Dan, north of Jerusalem; the first city in Palestine, which occurs in the way from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Affliction from Mount Ephraim.] Between Dan and Jerusalem are the mountains of Ephraim. These would be the first places attacked by the Chaldeans; and the rumour from thence would show that the land was invaded.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Dan - The border-town of Palestine on the north…
Dan - The border-town of Palestine on the north Deu 34:1.
Mount Ephraim - The northern boundary of Judaea itself. The invading army presses on so rapidly, that scarcely have the news arrived of its appearance at Dan, before fresh messengers announce that it has traversed the whole length of Galilee, and is now defiling through the mountains of Samaria.
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Affliction - The same word, aven, occurs in Jer 4:14, and apparently there is a play upon its double meaning: for from a root signifying worthlessness, it is used both for wickedness and for misery. Thus, the “iniquity” of Judah proves also, to be her “affliction,” as being the cause of the ruin inflicted by the enemy.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Ephraim. At Bethel and Dan the calves were adored.…
Ephraim. At Bethel and Dan the calves were adored. (Calmet) --- But they were now no more. (Haydock) --- The irruption of Nabuchodonosor is announced. He set himself up for a god.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain For . . . from Dan--The connection is: There…
For . . . from Dan--The connection is: There is danger in delay; for the voice of a messenger announces the approach of the Chaldean enemy from Dan, the northern frontier of Palestine (Jer 8:16; compare Jer 4:6; Jer 1:14).
Mount Ephraim--which borders closely on Judah; so that the foe is coming nearer and nearer. Dan and Beth-el in Ephraim were the two places where Jeroboam set up the idolatrous calves (Kg1 12:29); just retribution.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 15. A voice… from Dan… mount Ephraim — Indicating…
15. A voice… from Dan… mount Ephraim — Indicating the direction and marking the progress of the coming danger.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 15. The connexion is, It is high time to…
15. The connexion is, It is high time to amend, for, etc.
a voice] better, Hark! one declareth.
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Dan] on the northern border of Palestine. See Deu_34:1.
the hills of Ephraim] or, Mount Ephraim, the range dividing Ephraim from Judah, eight or ten miles at most from Jerusalem itself. The language thus intimates the rapid approach of the enemy. Cp. Isa_10:28 ff.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (15) Dan . . . Mount Ephraim.—The two places…
(15) Dan . . . Mount Ephraim.—The two places are chosen, not like Dan and Beer-sheba, as extreme limits, but as stages in the march of the invader: first Dan (as in Jer_8:16), the northernmost point (Deu_34:1; Jdg_20:1) of the whole land of Israel, then Mount Ephraim, as the northern boundary of Judaea. The verbs grow in strength with the imagined nearness, first announce, as of a rumour from a distance, then proclaim, as of a danger more imminent.
Affliction.—In the Hebrew the same word (aven) as in the “thoughts of vanity.” Playing on the two aspects of the word, the prophet says that aven comes as the penalty of aven—the “nothingness” of destruction as that of the “nothingness” of the idol.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For a voice declareth, etc. There is no time…
For a voice declareth, etc. There is no time to lose, for already news of the foe has arrived. He is now at Dan, the northern frontier-town, and is heard of almost as soon in the hill-country of Ephraim.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.