The Meaning of Jeremiah 5:4 Explained

Jeremiah 5:4

KJV: Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

YLT: And I -- I said, 'Surely these are poor, They have been foolish, For they have not known the way of Jehovah, The judgment of their God.

Darby: And I said, Surely these are the wretched ones, they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God.

ASV: Then I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, nor the law of their God:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Therefore I said,  Surely these [are] poor;  they are foolish:  for they know  not the way  of the LORD,  [nor] the judgment  of their God. 

What does Jeremiah 5:4 Mean?

Context Summary

Jeremiah 5:1-6 - Widespread Corruption
Diogenes, the cynic, was discovered one day in Athens in broad daylight, lantern in hand, looking for something. When someone remonstrated with him, he said that he needed all the light possible to enable him to find an honest man. Something like that is in the prophet's thought. God was prepared to spare Jerusalem on lower terms than even Sodom, and yet He was driven to destroy her. Both poor and rich had alike "broken the yoke and burst the bonds." The description of the onset of the Chaldeans is very graphic. They settle down upon the land as a flock of locusts, but still the Chosen People refuse to connect their punishment with their sin. It never occurred to the Chosen People that the failure of the rain, the withering of their crops, and the assault of their foes, were all connected with their sin. There is nothing unusual in this obtuseness for as we read the history of our own times, men are equally inapt at connecting national disaster with national sin.
How good it would be if the national cry of today were that of Jeremiah 5:24 : Let us now fear before the Lord our God! Notice the delightful metaphor of Jeremiah 5:22. When God would stay the wild ocean wave a barrier of sand will suffice. The martyrs were as sand grains but wild persecutions were quenched by their heroic patience. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 5

1  The judgments of God upon the people, for their perverseness;
7  for their adultery;
10  for their impiety;
15  for their worship of idols;
19  for their contempt of God;
25  and for their great corruption in the civil state;
30  and ecclesiastical

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 5:4 mean?

Therefore I said surely poor those [are] they are foolish for not they do know the way of Yahweh the judgment of their God
וַאֲנִ֣י אָמַ֔רְתִּי אַךְ־ דַּלִּ֖ים הֵ֑ם נוֹאֲל֕וּ כִּ֣י לֹ֤א יָדְעוּ֙ דֶּ֣רֶךְ יְהוָ֔ה מִשְׁפַּ֖ט אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם

וַאֲנִ֣י  Therefore  I 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, first person common singular
Root: אֲנִי  
Sense: I (first pers.
אָמַ֔רְתִּי  said 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אַךְ־  surely 
Parse: Adverb
Root: אַךְ  
Sense: indeed, surely (emphatic).
דַּלִּ֖ים  poor 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural construct
Root: דַּל  
Sense: low, poor, weak, thin, one who is low.
הֵ֑ם  those  [are] 
Parse: Pronoun, third person masculine plural
Root: הֵם 
Sense: they, these, the same, who.
נוֹאֲל֕וּ  they  are  foolish 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: יָאַל  
Sense: to be foolish, become fools, act foolishly, show wicked folly.
יָדְעוּ֙  they  do  know 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
דֶּ֣רֶךְ  the  way 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct
Root: דֶּרֶךְ  
Sense: way, road, distance, journey, manner.
יְהוָ֔ה  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
מִשְׁפַּ֖ט  the  judgment 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מִשְׁפָּט  
Sense: judgment, justice, ordinance.
אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם  of  their  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).