Jeremiah 9:20
in Jeremiah 9Now, O women, hear the word of the LORD. Open your ears to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters to wail, and one another to lament.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbor lamentation.
KJV
Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.
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This verse in Jeremiah 9
Commentary
6 notes on this verseTeach your daughters - This is not a common dirge that shall last only till the body is consigned to the earth; it must last longer; teach it to your children, that it may be continued through every generation, till God turn again your captivity.
This site's exposition
summon the wailing women
on Jeremiah 9:17-22
The call to “summon the wailing women” and “send for the most skillful among them” names the professional mourners, whose trade was grief on command. Yet “the sound of wailing is heard from Zion” before they arrive, and the women are told “Teach your daughters to wail”.
This site's exposition
Teach your daughters to wail
The women are told to open their ears before they open their mouths. Matthew Henry notes that everyone will have grief of their own, so no one will be free to mourn for a neighbour. Clarke hears a lament meant to last until the captivity ends.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 20, 21.) Therefore, listen, women, to the word of the Lord, and let your ears receive the speech of His mouth, and teach your daughters lamentation, and each one her neighbor mourning. For death has entered through our windows, it has come into our houses: to destroy the children from outside, the young men from the streets.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
People shall not need to sympathize with their friends; they shall all have cause enough to mourn for themselves. Note, Those that are themselves affected with the terrors of the Lord should endeavour to affect others with them. The judgment here threatened is made to look terrible. [1.] Multitudes shall be slain,
Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women,....
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שְׁמַ֤עְנָה | shema'nah | hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| נָשִׁים֙ | nashim | O women | H802 → | 781 times |
| דְּבַר־ | devar- | [the] word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְתִקַּ֥ח | vetikach | so it may receive | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אָזְנְכֶ֖ם | ʾazenekhem | ear your | H241 → | 187 times |
| דְּבַר־ | devar- | [the] word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| פִּ֑יו | piv | mouth his | H6310 → | 498 times |
| וְלַמֵּ֤דְנָה | velamedenah | and teach | H3925 → | 85 times |
| בְנֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙ | venoteikhem | daughters your | H1323 → | 588 times |
| נֶ֔הִי | nehi | a mourning song | H5092 → | 7 times |
| וְאִשָּׁ֥ה | veishah | and every woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| רְעוּתָ֖הּ | reutah | neighbor her | H7468 → | |
| קִינָֽה׃ | kinah | a lamentation | H7015 → | 18 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
שְׁמַ֤עְנָהhear
shema'nahH8085 →1159 times
נָשִׁים֙O women
nashimH802 →781 times
דְּבַר־[the] word of
devar-H1697 →1440 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְתִקַּ֥חso it may receive
vetikachH3947 →966 times
אָזְנְכֶ֖םear your
ʾazenekhemH241 →187 times
דְּבַר־[the] word of
devar-H1697 →1440 times
פִּ֑יוmouth his
pivH6310 →498 times
וְלַמֵּ֤דְנָהand teach
velamedenahH3925 →85 times
בְנֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙daughters your
venoteikhemH1323 →588 times
נֶ֔הִיa mourning song
nehiH5092 →7 times
וְאִשָּׁ֥הand every woman
veishahH802 →781 times
רְעוּתָ֖הּneighbor her
reutahH7468 →
קִינָֽה׃a lamentation
kinahH7015 →18 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Job 22:22Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart.
it leads to
- Psalms 119:11
I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
- Job 23:12
I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.
- Deuteronomy 4:1–2
Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of…
- Deuteronomy 6:6–9
These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.
- Jeremiah 15:16
Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts.
- Psalms 119:11
Through
Isaiah 3:16The LORD also says: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty—walking with heads held high and wanton eyes, prancing and skipping as they go, jingling the bracelets on their ankles—
it leads to
- Isaiah 32:9–11
Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Give ear to my word, you overconfident daughters.
- Ezekiel 16:49–50
Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.
- Proverbs 30:13
There is a generation—how haughty are their eyes and pretentious are their glances—
- Isaiah 32:9–11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.