Shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch their tents against her all around; they shall feed everyone in his place.”
Parallel translations
- KJV The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.
- BSB Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents all around her, each tending his own portion:
- NKJV The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her all around. Each one shall pasture in his own place.”
- NASB “Shepherds and their flocks will come to her, They will pitch their tents around her, They will pasture, each in his place.
- NLT Enemies will surround you, like shepherds camped around the city. Each chooses a place for his troops to devour.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Enemy kings and armies are pictured as shepherds bringing flocks to graze Jerusalem bare. The siege will consume the city completely and methodically.
Overview
The pastoral image is grimly ironic: instead of shepherds protecting the flock, hostile rulers come to devour the land. Each commander stakes out his portion, depicting an orderly, total occupation. It conveys the thoroughness of the coming devastation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Luke 19:43For the days will come on you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, surround you, hem you in on every side,
- Jer 39:1–3When Jerusalem was taken, (in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it.
- 2 Kgs 25:1–4In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it around it.
- Jer 12:10Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard. They have trodden my portion under foot. They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
- 2 Kgs 24:10–12At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
- Jer 4:16–17“Tell the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, ‘Watchers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah.
- Nah 3:18Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria. Your nobles lie down. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.
- 2 Kgs 24:2Yahweh sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to Yahweh’s word, which he spoke by his servants the prophets.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 6:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.