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The Prophets · Old Testament

Jeremiah 9

Jeremiah 9: a fountain of tears, the mourning women and true glory

General context

The speaker wishes his head were waters and his eyes a fountain of tears to weep for the slain of the daughter of his people, and wishes for a lodging place in the wilderness to leave a people who are all adulterers. The Lord says they bend their tongues like a bow for lies and do not know him. No neighbour or brother is to be trusted, since every brother supplants and every neighbour slanders. The Lord of hosts will melt and try them, and asks whether he should not visit and be avenged on such a nation. He takes up weeping for the mountains and the burned habitations where no cattle, fowl or beast remain, and will make Jerusalem heaps and a den of dragons. The question of who is wise enough to understand why the land perishes is answered by the Lord: they forsook his law and walked after Baalim, so he will feed them wormwood, give them water of gall, scatter them among the heathen and send a sword after them. The Lord calls for the mourning women and the cunning women to take up a wailing, since a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion and death has come up into the windows to cut off children and young men. Carcases will fall like dung and like the handful after the harvestman. The wise, the mighty and the rich are told not to glory in wisdom, might or riches but in knowing the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness. The chapter ends with the days when the Lord punishes the circumcised with the uncircumcised, naming Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and the dwellers in the wilderness, because all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 9:1, Jeremiah 9:2, Jeremiah 9:3, Jeremiah 9:4, Jeremiah 9:5, Jeremiah 9:7, Jeremiah 9:9, Jeremiah 9:10, Jeremiah 9:11, Jeremiah 9:12, Jeremiah 9:13, Jeremiah 9:14, Jeremiah 9:15, Jeremiah 9:16, Jeremiah 9:17, Jeremiah 9:18, Jeremiah 9:19, Jeremiah 9:20, Jeremiah 9:21, Jeremiah 9:22, Jeremiah 9:23, Jeremiah 9:24, Jeremiah 9:25, Jeremiah 9:26

Jeremiah 9 (KJV)

1Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

2Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

3And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord.

4Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.

5And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.

6Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord.

7Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?

8Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.

9Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.

11And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

12Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?

13And the Lord saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

14But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:

15Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

16I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.

17Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:

18And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.

19For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.

20Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.

21For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.

22Speak, Thus saith the Lord, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.

23Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

24But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.

25Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;

26Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.

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Historical context

Verses 1 and 2 are a first-person wish to weep and to leave the people; the text does not label the speaker, and the words "saith the Lord" first appear in verse 3. The lament continues into the Lord's own voice in verse 10, "For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing," so grief is placed in the Lord's mouth as well as the prophet's. Verse 12 asks who is wise enough to declare why the land perishes, and verse 13 answers with "And the Lord saith," making the explanation the Lord's. The mourning women are described as professional: "cunning women" who are to be sent for and who are to teach their daughters wailing. Verse 19 quotes a wailing "out of Zion": "we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out." The nations listed in verse 26, Egypt, Judah, Edom, the children of Ammon, Moab and those in the utmost corners of the wilderness, are all called uncircumcised, and Israel is called uncircumcised in the heart, an image close to 4:4, "take away the foreskins of your heart." The scattering "among the heathen" is not tied to a named place or event. The text does not say who the slain of verse 1 are, or whether the deaths described have happened or are foretold; the chapter mixes present grief with future threat.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 9:1, Jeremiah 9:2, Jeremiah 9:3, Jeremiah 9:10, Jeremiah 9:12, Jeremiah 9:13, Jeremiah 9:16, Jeremiah 9:17, Jeremiah 9:19, Jeremiah 9:20, Jeremiah 9:25, Jeremiah 9:26

Literary context

The chapter moves from private weeping to public wailing. It opens with one voice wishing for a head of waters and closes with the professional mourners called to make many eyes run with tears, so that the wish of verse 1 is answered by the command of verse 18. The tongue is the chapter's chief image: bent like a bow for lies, taught to speak lies, an arrow shot out, speaking peaceably while the heart lays wait. The refrain from chapter 5, "Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" returns in verse 9. The wilderness appears twice with opposite value, first as the lodging place the speaker longs for, then as the burned habitations he laments. The wormwood and water of gall of verse 15 pick up 8:14. The saying about glory in verses 23 and 24 is built as three negatives, wisdom, might and riches, answered by one positive, knowing the Lord. The closing list of nations widens the judgment beyond Judah and then narrows again to the house of Israel with a single phrase, uncircumcised in the heart.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 9:1, Jeremiah 9:2, Jeremiah 9:3, Jeremiah 9:5, Jeremiah 9:8, Jeremiah 9:9, Jeremiah 9:10, Jeremiah 9:15, Jeremiah 9:18, Jeremiah 9:23, Jeremiah 9:24, Jeremiah 9:26

Key moments

  1. A fountain of tears (Jeremiah 9:1). The speaker wishes to weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of his people.
  2. Tongues bent like a bow (Jeremiah 9:3). The Lord says the people bend their tongues for lies and do not know him.
  3. Trust no brother (Jeremiah 9:4). Every brother supplants and every neighbour walks with slanders.
  4. Jerusalem made heaps (Jeremiah 9:11). The Lord will make Jerusalem a den of dragons and the cities of Judah desolate.
  5. Call for the mourning women (Jeremiah 9:17). The Lord of hosts sends for cunning women to take up a wailing.
  6. Death in the windows (Jeremiah 9:21). Death has entered the palaces to cut off children and young men.
  7. Glory in knowing the Lord (Jeremiah 9:24). The one who glories is to glory in knowing the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness.

For reflection

The chapter tells the wise, the mighty and the rich to glory only in understanding and knowing the Lord, after describing a people who taught their tongue to speak lies. What would it look like to know the Lord in the way verse 24 describes, in a place where no neighbour can be trusted?

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