Jeremiah 4:23
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
I beheld the earth, and, see, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
American King James Version (AKJV)
I beheld the earth, and, see, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
American Standard Version (ASV)
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
Looking at the earth, I saw that it was waste and without form; and to the heavens, that they had no light.
Webster's Revision
I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
World English Bible
I saw the earth, and, behold, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
English Revised Version (ERV)
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
Definitions for Jeremiah 4:23
Clarke's Jeremiah 4:23 Bible Commentary
I beheld the earth, (the land), and lo it was without form and void - תהו ובהו tohu vabohu; the very words used in Genesis to denote the formless state of the chaotic mass before God had brought it into order.
Barnes's Jeremiah 4:23 Bible Commentary
In four verses each beginning with "I beheld," the prophet sees in vision the desolate condition of Judaea during the Babylonian captivity.
Jeremiah 4:23
Without form, and void - Desolate and void (see Genesis 1:2 note). The land has returned to a state of chaos (marginal reference note).
And the heavens - And upward to the heavens. The imagery is that of the last day of judgment. To Jeremiah's vision all was as though the day of the Lord had come, and earth returned to the state in which it was before the first creative word (see 2 Peter 3:10).
Wesley's Jeremiah 4:23 Bible Commentary
4:23 I beheld - I Jeremiah saw this in a vision. It - The land was squalid, and ruined, like the first chaos, for which reason possibly he calls Judah the earth, in allusion to Genesis 1:2 .The heavens - He seems to proceed in his metaphor of the chaos.Every thing above and below seemed to be wrapped up in dismal blackness.
