John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 4:17

"As keepers of a field are they against her round about, because she hath been rebellious against me, saith Jehovah." — Jeremiah 4:17 (ASV)

He suggests here that there would be no escape for the Jews when God brought the Chaldeans, because every way out, all the paths, would be closed up, preventing them from migrating to another land. It is as if he had said that such a calamity was so near them that they could not escape it by exile.

Indeed, it is a sad thing when people flee naked, as from a fire, seeking refuge among strangers and living there in misery and want. But the Prophet declares here that the punishment prepared for the Jews was so grievous that it would be impossible for them to save themselves by leaving their country and fleeing, for God would close up every route and, as it were, set guards to prevent anyone from departing.

He afterwards assigns a reason for this: Because they have made me angry. The Prophet again shows that God did not deal cruelly with the Jews, nor were they afflicted by chance with so many and so grievous calamities; rather, they suffered justly, for they had provoked the wrath of God.

Indeed, it would have benefited the Jews little to dread an approaching evil unless they acknowledged that God was punishing them for their perverseness. Therefore, the reason is stated: it was mentioned so that the Jews might know that these calamities were brought on them by God’s hand.