Jeremiah 6:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

We will get ready for the conflict, rising and moving toward it around midday. Observe how the Lord instills dread in them, as He brings forth the words of their foes encouraging one another. Although no battle may take place at noon, this indicates their intention to engage in a straightforward confrontation, showing their immense audacity. Alas for us, for the day will come to an end. For those besieged, each moment is laden with fear and suspicion, especially as night descends. During daylight, it is possible to stand tall, confer, navigate, and gauge the situation; but as darkness falls, the warfare intensifies. Instead of acknowledging, "Alas for us, for we have provoked the Lord," they mourn the arrival of judgment. Rise, let us venture up to the conflict around midday. This resonates with the voice of the courageous. Alas for us, for we have bent down the day. This reflects being ensnared throughout the day by adversaries and finding no escape as night approaches.

Alas, for the day is fading and the shadows of evening grow longer. Let us rise and move by night to tear down his strongholds. Some propose to rise and confront him at noon in the bright daylight, but the response is filled with despair: alas, for the shadows of evening have indeed lengthened, as the familiar lines from Virgil suggest: and the smoke hovering in the distance already blankets the peaks on the mountains, and longer shadows stretch from the towering heights. The implication here is clear: if we can endure suffering by day, how much more formidable will the struggle be in the dark?

The prophet articulates that the current existence is likened to morning (Psalm 89:6), not merely as a contrast to the life to come, but because the end of this life brings forth the obscurity of death. This understanding is echoed by Jeremiah who laments, ‘Woe unto us! The day is already declining, the evening shadows are spreading,’ where he associates the day with our present existence and the shadows with the fleeting activities within it.