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Jeremiah 25:34

in Jeremiah 25

Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For the days of your slaughter have come; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

Wail, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow in ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are fully come, and ye shall fall like a goodly vessel.

KJV

Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.

This verse in Jeremiah 25

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
Howl, ye shepherds, and cry,.... The Targum is, "howl, ye kings, and cry;'' and the rulers and governors of the nations before threatened with destruction are meant; who are here called upon to lamentation and mourning for the ruin and loss of their kingdoms; though Calvin thinks that this is an apostrophe to the Jewish nation, and the rulers of it.

This site's exposition

Howl, ye shepherds, and cry

on Jeremiah 25:34-36

The address turns to the kings and princes under the shepherd figure already used in chapter 23, howl, ye shepherds, and cry, and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock, rulers who fed themselves now facing the slaughter they permitted. Ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel pictures the leadership class as fine pottery about to be dropped, valuable and about to be worthless. Verse 35's flight with no way to escape and verse 36's cry heard because the Lord hath spoiled their pasture state that the shepherds' own provision, the throne and the land, is the thing being taken from under them.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Jeremiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 34, 35.) Howl (or rejoice) you shepherds, and shout, and sprinkle yourselves with ashes, you noble flock (or lament, you rams of the sheep); for your days are fulfilled that you may be slain, and your dispersions, and you shall fall like precious vessels (or like chosen rams). And flight shall perish from the shepherds, and salvation from the noble ones (or rams) of the flock.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

); so that we have here judgment beginning at the house of God, but not ending there. God's Remonstrances with the People. 1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

This is one of the direful effects of war, that even those who were most harmless and inoffensive suffer hard things. Blessed be God, there is a peaceable habitation above for all the sons of peace, which is out of the reach of fire and sword.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Multitudes shall fall by the sword of the merciless Chaldeans, so that the slain of the Lord shall be every where found: they are slain by commission from him, and are sacrificed to his justice. The slain for sin are the slain of the Lord.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Howl, ye shepherds - Ye kings and chiefs of the people. Ye shall fall like a pleasant tresses - As a fall will break and utterly ruin a precious vessel of crystal, agate, etc., so your overthrow will be to you irreparable ruin.
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Zec 10:3). days of your slaughter . . . of . . . dispersions--rather, "your days for slaughter (that is, the time of your being slain), and your dispersions (not 'of your dispersions'), are accomplished (are come)." pleasant vessel--Ye were once a precious vessel, but ye shall fall, and so be a broken vessel (see on Jer 22:28).

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

Principal of the flock - i. e., noble ones. Wallow yourselves in the ashes - Rather, roll yourselves on the ground. For ... - Read; “for your days for being slaughtered are accomplished, and I will scatter you” (or, (dash you in pieces). Fall like a pleasant vessel - The comparison suggests the idea of change from a thing of value into worthless fragments. Jer 25:36 Hath spoiled - Or, spoileth.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • הֵילִ֨ילוּwail

    heililuH321330 times

  • הָרֹעִ֜יםO shepherds

    haroimH7462177 times

  • וְזַעֲק֗וּand cry out

    vezaakuH219973 times

  • וְהִֽתְפַּלְּשׁוּ֙and roll in ashes

    vehitpaleshuH6428

  • אַדִּירֵ֣יO noble [ones] of

    ʾadireiH11727 times

  • הַצֹּ֔אןthe flock

    hatzonH6629274 times

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H35884482 times

  • מָלְא֥וּthey have been completed

    maluH4390249 times

  • יְמֵיכֶ֖םdays your

    yemeikhemH31172304 times

  • לִטְב֑וֹחַto slaughter

    litvoachH287311 times

  • וּתְפוֹצ֣וֹתִיכֶ֔םand dispersions your

    utefotzotikhemH8600

  • וּנְפַלְתֶּ֖םand you will fall

    unefaltemH5307435 times

  • כִּכְלִ֥יlike a vessel of

    kikhliH3627325 times

  • חֶמְדָּֽה׃desire

    chemdahH253221 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Isaiah 33:1

    Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 7:2

      For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

    • Isaiah 24:16

      From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.” But I said, “I am wasting away! I am wasting away! Woe is me.” The treacherous betray; the treacherous deal…

  • Through

    Jeremiah 6:26

    O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

    it leads to

    • Zechariah 12:10

      Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They…

    • Jeremiah 4:8

      So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.”

  • Through

    Jeremiah 27:7

    All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 52:31

      On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned…

    • Zechariah 2:8–9

      For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “After His Glory has sent Me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye—

  • Through

    Jeremiah 50:27

    Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time of their punishment.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 46:21

      Even the mercenaries among her are like fattened calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee, they will not stand their ground, for the day of calamity is coming upon them—the time…

    • Isaiah 34:7

      And the wild oxen will fall with them, the young bulls with the strong ones. Their land will be drenched with blood, and their soil will be soaked with fat.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Jeremiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.