The Meaning of Jeremiah 18:17 Explained

Jeremiah 18:17

KJV: I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

YLT: As an east wind I scatter them before an enemy, The neck, and not the face, I shew them, In the day of their calamity.'

Darby: As with an east wind will I scatter them before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

ASV: I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I will scatter  them as with an east  wind  before  the enemy;  I will shew  them the back,  and not the face,  in the day  of their calamity. 

What does Jeremiah 18:17 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Yahweh would scatter His people from their land before the enemy, as when the strong east wind (the sirocco, cf. Jeremiah 4:11; 13:34) blew the tumbleweeds in the windy months. Their enemy would also come from the east, specifically Babylon, though the soldiers would descend on them from the north. Yahweh would turn His back on His people when this calamity fell; He would offer them no help or favor (cf. Jeremiah 2:27; Numbers 6:24-26).

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 18

1  Under the type of a potter is shown God's absolute power in disposing of nations
11  Judgments threatened to Judah for her strange revolt
18  Jeremiah prays against his conspirators

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 18:17 mean?

As with wind an east I will scatter them before the enemy the back and not the face I will show them in the day of their calamity -
כְּרֽוּחַ־ קָדִ֥ים אֲפִיצֵ֖ם לִפְנֵ֣י אוֹיֵ֑ב עֹ֧רֶף וְלֹֽא־ פָנִ֛ים אֶרְאֵ֖ם בְּי֥וֹם אֵידָֽם ס

כְּרֽוּחַ־  As  with  wind 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, common singular construct
Root: רוּחַ  
Sense: wind, breath, mind, spirit.
קָדִ֥ים  an  east 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: קָדִים  
Sense: east, east wind.
אֲפִיצֵ֖ם  I  will  scatter  them 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, first person common singular, third person masculine plural
Root: פּוּץ 
Sense: to scatter, be dispersed, be scattered.
לִפְנֵ֣י  before 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
אוֹיֵ֑ב  the  enemy 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: אֹיֵב  
Sense: (Qal) enemy.
עֹ֧רֶף  the  back 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹרֶף  
Sense: neck, back of the neck, back.
וְלֹֽא־  and  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
פָנִ֛ים  the  face 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
אֶרְאֵ֖ם  I  will  show  them 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular, third person masculine plural
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
בְּי֥וֹם  in  the  day 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
אֵידָֽם  of  their  calamity 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אֵיד  
Sense: distress, burden, calamity.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation