Jeremiah 6:26

26 O daughter of my people, ¹put on sackcloth And ²roll in ashes; ³Mourn as for an only son, A lamentation most bitter. 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 are limp. Anguish has seized us, Pain as of a woman in childbirth.

25 Do not go out into the field And do not walk on the road, For the enemy has a sword, Terror is on every side.

26 O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth And roll in ashes; Mourn as for an only son, A lamentation most bitter. For suddenly the destroyer Will come upon us.

27 "I have made you an assayer and a tester among My people, That you may know and assay their way."

28 All of them are stubbornly rebellious, Going about as a talebearer. They are bronze and iron; They, all of them, are corrupt.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 4:8
• 2. Jeremiah 25:34; Micah 1:10
• 3. Amos 8:10; Zechariah 12:10

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "Make for yourself mourning"