Jeremiah 4:22 · Bible study
Jeremiah 4:22 Commentary: The Wisdom of Fools
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Who are the ‘foolish children’? Study the Hebrew terms, the moral inversion of wisdom, and what it means to lack the knowledge of God.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God laments that His own people are morally and spiritually foolish, they lack true knowledge of Him and have become skillful at evil while being helpless to do good.
- Key words: אֱוִיל ('e.vil, fool), חָכָם (cha.kham, skilled/wise), יָדַע (yada, to know intimately).
- Main debate: Who is speaking? The grammar (“my people”) shows God Himself is the speaker (Gill, Calvin); the prophet is not cursing but delivering God’s own verdict.
- Theological theme: The knowledge of God is the foundation of all true wisdom; sin inverts our moral abilities so that we are clever in evil and dull to good.
- Best use: An exposé of the nature of sin, not just bad behavior but a corrupted mind and heart. Ideal for a sermon on repentance, spiritual blindness, or the tragedy of nominal religion.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
“For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
WEB World English Bible 2000
“For my people are foolish. They don’t know me. They are foolish children, and they have no understanding. They are skillful in doing evil, but they don’t know how to do good.”
KJV King James Version 1769
For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
For my people are foolish, they know me not; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
For my people are foolish, me they have not known, Foolish sons are they, yea, they are not intelligent, Wise are they to do evil, And to do good they have not known.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have no intelligence; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
For my foolish people have not known me: they are foolish and senseless children: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Porque mi pueblo es necio; no me conocieron los hijos ignorantes y los no entendidos; sabios para mal hacer, y para bien hacer no supieron.
De fato meu povo está louco, já não me conhecem; são filhos tolos, sem entendimento; são “sábios” para fazer o mal, mas para fazer o bem nada sabem.
Certainement mon peuple est fou, il ne me connaît pas;
Aber mein Volk ist toll, und sie glauben mir nicht; töricht sind sie und achten's nicht. Weise sind sie genug, Übles zu tun; aber wohltun wollen sie nicht lernen.
Zekerlijk, Mijn volk is dwaas, Mij kennen zij niet; het zijn zotte kinderen, en zij zijn niet verstandig; wijs zijn zij om kwaad te doen, maar goed te doen weten zij niet.
Veramente il mio popolo è stolto, non mi conosce; son de’ figliuoli insensati, e non hanno intelligenza; sono sapienti per fare il male; ma il bene non lo sanno fare.
Bo głupi lud mój nie zna mię, synowie niemądrzy i nierozumni są; mądrzy są do czynienia złego, ale dobrze czynić nie umieją.
Это оттого, что народ Мой глуп, не знает Меня: неразумные они дети, и нет у них смысла; они умны на зло, но добра делать не умеют.
耶和華說：我的百姓 愚頑，不 認識 我；他們是 愚昧 無 知 的兒女， 有智慧 行惡，沒有 知識 行善。
For my people are foolish, they have no knowledge of me; they are evil-minded children, without sense, all of them: they are wise in evil-doing, but have no knowledge of doing good.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Jeremiah 4:22
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree this verse is God’s own explanation for the impending judgment on Judah. The people are not just unlucky; they are foolish (אֱוִיל, 'e.vil), a term that in Proverbs describes someone who despises wisdom and mocks when guilty. Calvin stresses the disgrace: God’s chosen nation, who received the law and the prophets, should have been “lamps carrying the light of salvation,” yet they are demented. Gill underscores the irony in the word “wise” (חָכָם, cha.kham): the same root used for technical skill and moral prudence is here applied to doing evil, while they have no knowledge (יָדַע, ya.da) of good. The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary notes this reverses the apostolic command to be “wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil” (Romans 16:19). The core agreement is that sin corrupts the mind: to reject the knowledge of God is to lose the very ability to recognize good.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: God describes His covenant people as morally foolish because they lack the experiential knowledge of Him, and this inversion of wisdom (skill in evil, ignorance of good) is the cause of the judgment announced throughout the chapter.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Speaker identification | All commentators understand that God is the speaker here, answering the prophet's lament of vv. 19, 21. | None. The first-person plural 'my people' makes this clear; no tradition assigns the words to the prophet. |
| Nature of the people's foolishness | They are not intellectually deficient but morally and spiritually blind, having rejected the revelation God gave them. | Some (Calvin, Gill) emphasize the disgrace of God's chosen people acting this way; others (JFB, Keil & Delitzsch) focus on the reversal of wisdom and the ironic use of 'wise' for evil. |
| Meaning of 'knowledge' of God | It denotes covenant relationship, acknowledgment, and experiential intimacy, not mere intellectual awareness. | Reformed traditions often tie this to the noetic effects of sin (sin darkens the mind), while others (Wesley, early Methodists) focus on the will's refusal to respond to God's gracious overtures. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Jeremiah 4 belongs to a section of prophecies likely uttered during the reign of Josiah or shortly after, when the Scythian hordes threatened Palestine (Cambridge Bible). The language of “lion,” “destroyer of nations,” and “chariots” (Jer 4:7, 13) may have been updated when Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar became the real enemy. The chapter describes an invasion so devastating that Jeremiah cries out in agony (vv. 19, 21).
Into this chaos, God gives a reason. The people’s foolishness is not a lack of IQ; it is a willful rejection of their covenant Lord. Israel had been entrusted with God’s word (Deuteronomy 4:6, 7), yet they acted as if they had never heard it. Isaiah had already made a similar charge: “The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel doesn’t know” (Isaiah 1:3). The Hebrew verb yada means more than intellectual awareness, it includes intimate experience, acknowledgment, and loyal obedience. To “not know” God is to break covenant relationship.
The word for “fool” ('e.vil) appears in Psalm 14:1: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” That same moral vacuum is now attributed to God’s own people. They have become experts in evil, the Hebrew construction “skillful in doing evil” (חֲכָמִים לְהָרַע) is deliberately jarring: wisdom, which should serve God, has been hijacked for rebellion. Their “understanding” (from the root bin, H0995) is absent; they cannot discern right from wrong because they have abandoned the source of all discernment.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for Jeremiah 4:22. The verse is stable across manuscripts and versions. In the surrounding context, Keil & Delitzsch mention a textual variant in Jer 4:19 (אוחולה vs. אחולה), but that does not affect verse 22. The reading in all consulted editions and translations is consistent.
Reception History
In the early church, this verse was cited to illustrate the folly of those who have the law but not the heart, a theme later developed by Augustine in his debates with Pelagius. During the Reformation, Calvin used Jeremiah 4:22 to argue that human nature after the fall is not merely wounded but profoundly corrupted, the mind is blind to God and the will is bent toward evil. Matthew Henry, in his devotional commentary, read the verse as a warning to those who rest on outward profession: “It is sad to be the people of God, and yet to be foolish.” In modern evangelical preaching, the verse is often used to distinguish between saving knowledge and mere acquaintance with facts about God, and to call believers to examine whether they possess real skill in goodness.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Knowledge of God is the root of all true wisdom. The verse begins with what the people lack: “they don’t know me.” Without this foundational relationship, every other kind of knowing is twisted.
- Sin inverts moral competence. The people are “wise to do evil” but “have no knowledge” of good. Skill without a right orientation becomes a weapon against God and neighbor.
- Being God’s people by name does not guarantee that you know Him. God calls them “my people” even as He condemns them. Profession without possession leads to the deepest tragedy.
Five-point outline
- God’s lament over His own people
- The accusation: folly, not ignorance
- The root cause: no knowledge of God
- The symptom: skill in evil, ignorance of good
- The urgent call: return and be wise
Illustration hooks
- The expert surgeon who uses his skill for harm. A person can be brilliant at a destructive practice, a hacker who steals identities, a manipulator who always gets what he wants. Skill without goodness is dangerous.
- The smartphone that can answer any question except the one that matters. We have instant facts but often lack moral clarity. Knowing how to do something does not mean we know whether we should.
- A spouse who knows everything about the other but doesn’t know them. Intimacy is different from information. The people had the law but no living relationship with the Lawgiver.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why does God allow circumstances that feel like judgment? (This verse shows that judgment is grounded in truth: we reap what we sow.)
- How can I know if I truly know God as opposed to just knowing about Him?
- What does it mean to be “wise to do evil” today? Is there a way I am deft at sin but blind to what is good?
Leading a Discussion
Jeremiah 4:22 cuts to the heart. God looks at His own covenant people and sees not loyalty but folly. The same word for “fool” that appears in Psalm 14:1 is now applied to the nation chosen to bear His name. This passage invites us to examine what we really know, and what we are really good at.
Discussion questions
- Read Jeremiah 4:22 together. What words or phrases stand out to you? Why do you think God uses the term “my people” even while He condemns them?
- The Hebrew word translated “foolish” ('e.vil) carries the sense of despising wisdom and being quarrelsome. How does that match up with your understanding of sin?
- What does it mean to “know” God? How does the kind of knowledge described here differ from just having correct information about Him? (The verb yada includes experience, relationship, and acknowledgment.)
- How can a person be “skillful in doing evil” but “not know how to do good”? What does that reveal about the nature of sin as a force that reshapes our moral instincts?
- Isaiah 1:3 says a donkey knows its owner’s crib, but Israel does not know God. In what areas of life are we (as individuals or as a church) outdone by animals in simple recognition of our Provider?
- Think of a time when you were very good at something you later regretted. How did that skill feel “wise” in the moment? How did you realize it was actually foolish?
- This verse is God’s answer to the prophet’s anguish over coming disaster. How does the explanation, that the people are foolish and evil, bring comfort or challenge? Can we trust God even when we don’t fully understand His judgments?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Deuteronomy 32:6 | Is this the way you repay Yahweh, foolish and unwise people? Isn’t he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you. |
| Deuteronomy 32:28 | For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them. |
| II Samuel 13:3 | But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very subtle man. |
| II Samuel 16:21 | Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines that he has left to keep the house. Then all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.” |
| II Samuel 16:23 | The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the inner sanctuary of God. All the counsel of Ahithophel was like this both with David and with Absalom. |
| Psalms 14:1 | For the Chief Musician. By David. The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They have done abominable deeds. There is no one who does good. |
| Psalms 14:4 | Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and don’t call on Yahweh? |
| Isaiah 1:3 | The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel doesn’t know. My people don’t consider.” |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin stresses that the people's ruin came from themselves alone, not from any outside cause. God calls them "my people" only to intensify their disgrace: chosen and instructed by Him, they remain foolish because they did not know Him, making their folly inexcusable.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes highlight a tragic inversion: God's people are called foolish not for lacking intelligence but for failing to know Him. They are clever enough to do evil, yet completely ignorant when it comes to doing good. Their wisdom is twisted entirely toward the wrong end.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill explains that this verse is God's own answer to the prophet, justifying the harsh judgment by showing that even His chosen, professing people acted foolishly. They claimed to be His but did not truly know Him or have spiritual understanding. They were clever at evil but completely ignorant of how to do genuine good.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB notes God's reply exposes the people's tragic reversal: they are experts at evil but know nothing of doing good. This inverts Paul's command to be wise in good and innocent of evil. Their stubborn sin guarantees their misery, and the repeated phrasing
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch sees the prophet speaking both for himself and for the godly remnant, not the blinded masses. The lament’s agony and the vision of earth returning to waste and void, like pre-creation chaos, show that judgment reverses creation itself. The proper name Carmel represents all the land’s fruitful districts now destroyed.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange distinguishes a genuine return to the Lord from a merely external reformation. The people under Josiah put away outward idols but never turned their hearts to God, wavering between serving Him and their idols. True repentance, he insists, requires both breaking up the fallow ground of the heart and a positive, exclusive devotion to God.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley stresses the conditional nature of God's promise: the call to return is urgent and admits no delay. If Israel truly turns back, they will be spared exile and remain in their own land. The alternative is unthinkable, so he presses for immediate repentance.