Jeremiah 7:29

29 “ ‘Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.

Jeremiah 7:29 in Other Translations

KJV
29 Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
ESV
29 "'Cut off your hair and cast it away; raise a lamentation on the bare heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.'
NLT
29 Shave your head in mourning, and weep alone on the mountains. For the LORD has rejected and forsaken this generation that has provoked his fury.’
MSG
29 "'So shave your heads. Go bald to the hills and lament, For God has rejected and left this generation that has made him so angry.'
CSB
29 Cut off the hair of your sacred vowand throw it away. Raise up a dirge on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation under His wrath.

Jeremiah 7:29 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 7:29

Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away
This supplement is made, because the word is feminine; and therefore cannot be directed to the prophet, but to Jerusalem, and its inhabitants; shaving the head is a sign of mourning, ( Job 1:20 ) and this is enjoined, to show that there would soon be a reason for it; wherefore it follows: and take up a lamentation on high places:
that it might be heard afar off; or because of the idolatry frequently committed in high places. The Targum is,

``pluck off the hair for thy great ones that are carried captive, and take up a lamentation for the princes:''
for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath;
a generation of men, deserving of the wrath of God, and appointed to it, on whom he determined to pour it out; of which his rejection and forsaking of them was a token: this was remarkably true of that generation in which Christ and his apostles lived, who disbelieved the Messiah, and had no faith in him, and spoke lying and blasphemous words concerning him; and therefore were rejected and forsaken by the Lord; and wrath came upon them to the uttermost.

Jeremiah 7:29 In-Context

27 “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.
28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.
29 “ ‘Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.
30 “ ‘The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the LORD. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it.
31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.

Cross References 3

  • 1. S Leviticus 21:5; S Job 1:20; Isaiah 15:2; Micah 1:16
  • 2. S Jeremiah 4:8; S Ezekiel 19:1
  • 3. S Jeremiah 6:30; Jeremiah 12:7; Hosea 11:8; Micah 5:3
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