Jeremiah 6:26

26 O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

Jeremiah 6:26 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 6:26

O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth
Either as a token of repentance for sin; so the king of Nineveh and his subjects did, to show their repentance, ( Jonah 3:6 Jonah 3:8 ) or as a sign of mourning, for the calamities coming on them, ( Genesis 37:34 ) and wallow thyself in ashes;
or roll thyself in them, as a token of the same. The Targum is,

``cover your heads with ashes.''

Make thee mourning as for an only son;
which of all is the most bitter: and therefore it is added, most bitter lamentation;
see ( Zechariah 12:10 ) . For the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us;
namely, Nebuchadnezzar, that would spoil their cities, towns, villages, and houses, and them of all their wealth and substance, and carry it away.

Jeremiah 6:26 In-Context

24 We have heard the report of it, our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in travail.

25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk on the road; for the enemy has a sword, terror is on every side.

26 O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

27 "I have made you an assayer and tester among my people, that you may know and assay their ways.

28 They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron, all of them act corruptly.