Jeremiah 4:3

Jeremiah 4:3

For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

 a. ASV: For thus saith Jehovah to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

b. YLT: For thus said Jehovah, To the man of Judah, and to Jerusalem: Till for yourselves tillage, And do not sow unto the thorns.

c. Classic Amplified: For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: Break up your ground left uncultivated for a season, so that you may not sow among thorns.

d. Septuagint: For thus saith the Lord to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Break up fresh ground for yourselves, and sow not among thorns.

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/ Writings: For thus said HASHEM to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:Plow for yourselves a furrow, and do not sow upon thornbushes.

1. “For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem…”

a. For [Strong: 3588 kiy kee a primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent; (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed:--and, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-)as, assured(-ly), + but, certainly, doubtless, + else, even, + except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, + nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, + (al- )though, + till, truly, + until, when, whether, while, whom, yea, yet.]

b. thus [Strong: 3541 koh ko from the prefix k and 1931; properly, like this, i.e. by implication, (of manner) thus (or so); also (of place) here (or hither); or (of time) now:--also, here, + hitherto, like, on the other side, so (and much), such, on that manner, (on) this (manner, side, way, way and that way), + mean while, yonder.]

c. saith [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.] 

d. [the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

e. [to the] men [Strong: 376 ʼîysh, eesh; contracted for H582 (or perhaps rather from an unused root meaning to be extant); a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation):—also, another, any (man), a certain, champion, consent, each, every (one), fellow, (foot-, husband-) man, (good-, great, mighty) man, he, high (degree), him (that is), husband, man(-kind), none, one, people, person, steward, what (man) soever, whoso(-ever), worthy.]

f. [of] Judah [Strong: 3063 Yᵉhûwdâh, yeh-hoo-daw'; from H3034; celebrated; Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territory:—Judah.]

g. [and] Jerusalem [Strong: 3389 Yᵉrûwshâlaim, yer-oo-shaw-lah'-im; rarely יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yᵉrûwshâlayim; a dual (in allusion to its two main hills (the true pointing, at least of the former reading, seems to be that of H3390)); probably from (the passive participle of) H3384 and H7999; founded peaceful; Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of Palestine:—Jerusalem.]

2. “...Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.”

a. Break up [Strong: 5214 nîyr, neer; a root probably identical with that of H5216, through the idea of the gleam of a fresh furrow; to till the soil:—break up.]

b. [your] fallow ground [Strong: 5215 nîyr, neer; or נִר nir; from H5214; properly, plowing, i.e. (concretely) freshly plowed land:—fallow ground, plowing, tillage.]

c. [and] sow [Strong: 2232 zâraʻ, zaw-rah'; a primitive root; to sow; figuratively, to disseminate, plant, fructify:—bear, conceive seed, set with sow(-er), yield.]

d. not [Strong: 408 'al al a negative particle (akin to 3808); not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative); once (Job 24:25) as a noun, nothing:--nay, neither, + never, no ,nor, not, nothing (worth), rather than.]

e. among [Strong: 413 'el ale (but only used in the shortened constructive form sel {el}); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:--about, according to ,after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, X hath, in(- to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).

f. thorns [Strong: 6975 qôwts, kotse; or קֹץ qôts; from H6972 (in the sense of pricking); a thorn:—thorn.]

1). When farmers sow in thornbushes, the thorns will over take the goodseed they have planted and choke it out. 

a).  Matthew 13:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

b). Mark 4:7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

c). Luke 8:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.

2). Spiritually and from a New Covenant perspective, when the word is sown in ground/hearts that have not removed the cares of the world and the influences that give false impressions. The word sown in their hearts will be choked out.

a). Matthew 13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

b). Mark 4:18, 19 “And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches  and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”

c). Luke 8:14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

3). Thorns are a result of Adam’s sin.

a). Genesis 3:17, 18 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

4). To have thorns in our lives and allow them to choke the word is laziness.

a). Proverbs 24:30-34 I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
24:31 And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
24:32 Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.
24:33 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
24:34 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.

5). God told Moses that if Israel left any of the original inhabitants of the land in the land they would be thorns in their sides.

a). Numbers 33:50-56 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,
33:51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
33:52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
33:53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.
33:54 And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man's inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.
33:55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
33:56 Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.

6). Joshua told Israel the same thing.

a). Joshua 23:11-13 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.
23:12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you:
23:13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.

b). Notice that God told Israel that if they allowed the inhabitants to remain in the land and to marry into them, that God would not drive them out.

c). These nations are a type of the sins and works of the flesh that God wants to get out of our lives, and just like Israel, if we fail to co-labor with God get these things out of our lives we will never get victory over them.

7). Institute of Creation Research Daily Devotional 10/29/12: Fallow ground is ground that has been plowed and readied for sowing, but then is withheld and allowed to lie useless and unproductive. God, through His prophet, had to rebuke His people, not only because they had left their prepared ground unused, but because they were actually sowing their seed on thorn-choked ground. That is, they were turning to idols and forsaking God.  The word "fallow" occurs one other time in the Bible and to the same effect: "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you" (Hosea 10:12). It is poor stewardship and a bad testimony, at best, for the people of God to ignore His righteousness and fail to cultivate His grace in their lives, choosing instead the philosophies and pleasures of the ungodly world around them.  Now, if the ancient Israelites had much unfruitful fallow ground in their lives, many modern Christians are still more blameworthy, for we have far greater opportunities and privileges than the people of ancient Israel. Most of all, we have the complete Word of God and the indwelling Holy Spirit, yet our lives are even more cluttered with the thorny ground of worldliness and paganism than theirs. We urgently need to break up our fallow ground, to sow righteousness, and reap mercy.  "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Galatians 6:7-8). HMM