Jeremiah 14:3
in Jeremiah 14The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the cisterns, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are put to shame and confounded, and cover their heads.
KJV
And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
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This verse in Jeremiah 14
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAnd their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters,.... To places where water used to be; to the pools, the upper and the lower, particularly to the fountain of Shiloah, which, Jerom says, was the only one the city of Jerusalem used.
This site's exposition
came to Jeremiah concerning the drought
on Jeremiah 14:1-6
The drought reaches every rank of creature, from nobles whose servants find the cisterns empty to farmers who “cover their heads” over cracked ground. Even “the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn”. The spread from noble to farmer to beast shows a judgment on Judah as a whole.
This site's exposition
The nobles send their servants for water
The cisterns were pits dug to catch rain in a land with few springs. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read those sent as household servants, and Gill names the pools and the spring of Shiloah where the city drew water. The covered head is the sign of grief, as Barnes notes.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 3) Its elders sent their young ones (or younger ones) to the water: they came to draw (or to the wells) and found no water, they brought back their empty vessels, they were confused and distressed (or ashamed), and they covered their heads. Moreover, those who should themselves go to fetch water send the younger ones, in whom there is no wisdom, and therefore they come to the wells and do not find water, which the history narrates that the patriarchs found (Genesis 26).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Let our reading the account of this calamity make us thankful for the mercy of water, that we may not by the feeling of the calamity be taught to value it. What is most needful is most plentiful.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Little ones - mean ones, the common people. The word is unique to Jeremiah Jer 48:4. The pits - i. e., tanks for holding water. Covered their heads - The sign of grief.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
little ones--rather, "their inferiors," that is, domestics. pits--cisterns for collecting rain water, often met with in the East where there are no springs. covered . . . heads-- (2Sa 15:30).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
IT is my heart's desire and earnest prayer that many in this house may this morning say with the Prophet, "O Lord our God, we will wait upon You." I shall not be satisfied to have delivered a discourse, nor for you to have heard it, and even approved of it, unless there shall come from it this delightful fruit, that those far off from God shall be drawn near to Him. And that they shall say, in very deed and of a truth, "Therefore we will wait upon You." In God alone can men live happily.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
IT is my heart's desire and earnest prayer that many in this house may this morning say with the Prophet, "O Lord our God, we will wait upon You." I shall not be satisfied to have delivered a discourse, nor for you to have heard it, and even approved of it, unless there shall come from it this delightful fruit, that those far off from God shall be drawn near to Him. And that they shall say, in very deed and of a truth, "Therefore we will wait upon You." In God alone can men live happily. And if they would be recovered from their fallen state, it is to the Lord their God that they must turn, Oh, that they would wait upon Him! In the last verse we have the word "therefore," which shows that the speakers had come to this conclusion by an argument. In truth, they had been forced to their resolution by a very painful and personal argument, which God had set before them in the order of His Providence. By their thirst and by their failure to find water anywhere, the Lord had driven them to say, "Therefore we will wait upon You." I trust it will not be needful to urge us to conversion by sufferings as terrible. "Be you not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding." Come willingly, since the argument for coming is clear and cogent. I should like you to go this morning mentally through the process by which the Israelites passed practically when they came to the gracious conclusion, "Therefore we will wait upon You." Let us begin at once with the argument, praying God to send it home to every heart by His good Spirit, that we may reach the desired conclusion. I. First, consider that MAN IS A VERY DEPENDENT CREATURE. He is, in some respects, the most dependent creature that God has made. For the range of his wants is very wide, and at a thousand points he is dependent upon something outside of himself. All creation exists by the will of the Lord.
Their nobles have sent their little ones - So general was this calamity, that the servants no longer attended to their lords, but every one was interested alone for himself; and the nobles of the land were obliged to employ their own children to scour the land, to see if any water could be found in the tanks or the pits. In the dearth in the time of Elijah, Ahab the king, and Obadiah his counselor, were obliged to traverse the land themselves, in order to find out water to keep their cattle alive. This and the three following verses give a lively but distressing picture of this dearth and its effects.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַדִּ֣רֵיהֶ֔ם | veadireihem | and noble [ones] their | H117 → | 27 times |
| שָׁלְח֥וּ | shalechu | they have sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| צְעִירֵיהֶ֖ם | tzeoreihem | servants their | H6810 → | 23 times |
| לַמָּ֑יִם | lamayim | for <the> water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| בָּ֣אוּ | bau | they have come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| גֵּבִ֞ים | gevim | [the] cisterns | H1356 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מָ֣צְאוּ | matzeu | they have found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| מַ֗יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| שָׁ֤בוּ | shavu | they have returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| כְלֵיהֶם֙ | kheleihem | vessels their | H3627 → | 325 times |
| רֵיקָ֔ם | reikam | empty | H7387 → | |
| בֹּ֥שׁוּ | boshu | they are ashamed | H954 → | 127 times |
| וְהָכְלְמ֖וּ | vehakhelemu | and they are humiliated | H3637 → | 38 times |
| וְחָפ֥וּ | vechafu | and they have covered | H2645 → | |
| רֹאשָֽׁם׃ | rosham | head their | H7218 → | 599 times |
וְאַדִּ֣רֵיהֶ֔םand noble [ones] their
veadireihemH117 →27 times
שָׁלְח֥וּthey have sent
shalechuH7971 →845 times
צְעִירֵיהֶ֖םservants their
tzeoreihemH6810 →23 times
לַמָּ֑יִםfor <the> water
lamayimH4325 →581 times
בָּ֣אוּthey have come
bauH935 →2568 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
גֵּבִ֞ים[the] cisterns
gevimH1356 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
מָ֣צְאוּthey have found
matzeuH4672 →455 times
מַ֗יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
שָׁ֤בוּthey have returned
shavuH7725 →1056 times
כְלֵיהֶם֙vessels their
kheleihemH3627 →325 times
רֵיקָ֔םempty
reikamH7387 →
בֹּ֥שׁוּthey are ashamed
boshuH954 →127 times
וְהָכְלְמ֖וּand they are humiliated
vehakhelemuH3637 →38 times
וְחָפ֥וּand they have covered
vechafuH2645 →
רֹאשָֽׁם׃head their
roshamH7218 →599 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
Jeremiah 2:13“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
it leads to
- John 4:14
But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
- John 7:37
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
- Revelation 21:6
And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.
- Jeremiah 17:13
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of…
- Psalms 36:9
For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.
- John 4:14
Through
2 Kings 18:31Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 4:25
Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.
- 1 Kings 4:25
Through
2 Samuel 15:30But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up,…
it leads to
- Esther 6:12
Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.
- Esther 6:12
Through
Psalms 40:14May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.
it leads to
- Psalms 35:26
May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.
- Psalms 35:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2115: “The Drought of Nature, the Rain of Grace and the Lesson Therefrom” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.