Jeremiah 6:26

26 My dear^[a] people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in the dust.^[b] Mourn [as you would for] an only son,^[c] a bitter lament, for suddenly the destroyer will come on 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 about it, and we are discouraged. Distress has seized us- pain like a woman in labor.

25 Don't go out to the fields; don't walk on the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.

26 My dear people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in the dust. Mourn [as you would for] an only son, a bitter lament, for suddenly the destroyer will come on us.

27 I have appointed you to be an assayer among My people- a refiner- so you may know and assay their way of life.

28 All are stubborn rebels spreading slander. [They are] bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt.

Footnotes

• [a] Lit Daughter of My
• [b] Jr 25:34; Ezk 27:30; Mc 1:10
• [c] Am 8:10