Jeremiah 8:21

21 For my dear broken people, I'm heartbroken. I weep, seized by grief.

Jeremiah 8:21 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 8:21

For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt
These are the words, not of God, as Jerom; nor of Jerusalem, as the Targum; but of the prophet, as Kimchi observes, expressing his sympathy with the people in their affliction: and they may be rendered, "for the breach of the daughter of my people" F15, which was made when the city was broken up and destroyed, ( Jeremiah 52:7 ) . I am broken;
in heart and spirit: I am black;
with grief and sorrow. The Targum is,

``my face is covered with blackness, black as a pot.''
Astonishment hath taken hold on me; at the miseries that were come upon his people; and there was no remedy for them, which occasion the following words.
FOOTNOTES:

F15 (rbv le) "super contritione", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; "super confractione", Schmidt; "ob fractionem", Cocceius.

Jeremiah 8:21 In-Context

19 Oh, listen! Please listen! It's the cry of my dear people reverberating through the country. Is God no longer in Zion? Has the King gone away? Can you tell me why they flaunt their plaything-gods, their silly, imported no-gods before me?
20 The crops are in, the summer is over, but for us nothing's changed. We're still waiting to be rescued.
21 For my dear broken people, I'm heartbroken. I weep, seized by grief.
22 Are there no healing ointments in Gilead? Isn't there a doctor in the house? So why can't something be done to heal and save my dear, dear people?
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.