Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 4:30

"And thou, when thou art made desolate, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou enlargest thine eyes with paint, in vain dost thou make thyself fair; [thy] lovers despise thee, they seek thy life." — Jeremiah 4:30 (ASV)

And when you are spoiled ... —The sentence is clearer without the insertion of the words in italics: You spoiled one, what are you doing, that you clothe yourself ... that you adorn yourself ... that you enlarge your eyes ...? In vain do you beautify yourself.

The "clothing with crimson" and "ornaments of gold" are, as previously noted , an echo from 2 Samuel 1:24.

The "rending the face" is, literally, enlarging the eyes with kohl, or antimony, still used for this purpose in the East; the black powder is laid on horizontally with a small stylus, or pencil, drawn between the eyelashes.

The daughter of Zion is represented as a woman who puts on her costliest attire, as Jezebel had done (2 Kings 9:30), in the vain hope of fascinating her lovers.

The imagery points to the foreign alliances in which the statesmen and people of Jerusalem were trusting, and they are told that these alliances will be in vain. The lovers, i.e., the allies, will become her foes.