Jeremiah 15:8
in Jeremiah 15I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. I will bring a destroyer at noon against the mothers of young men. I will suddenly bring upon them anguish and dismay.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas; I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at noonday: I have caused anguish and terrors to fall upon her suddenly.
KJV
Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 15
Commentary
9 notes on this verseTheir widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas,.... Their husbands being slain; not in the times of Ahaz, when a hundred and twenty thousand men were slain in one day in Judah, by Pekah the son of Remaliah, 2Ch 28:6, as Kimchi thinks; but in the times of Zedekiah, at the siege of Jerusalem, and the taking of it, and in the Babylonish captivity before predicted.
This site's exposition
Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem
on Jeremiah 15:5-9
The questions of verse 5 picture a city so friendless that no one will “turn aside to ask about your welfare”. The words “I am weary of showing compassion” follow the charge “You have turned your back”. Widows and “a destroyer at noon” describe a ruin that comes in daylight.
This site's exposition
I will make their widows more numerous
Matthew Henry recalls the promise that the men of Israel would be as many as the sand of the sea. Now the widows reach that count. Wesley places this in the siege under Zedekiah, and Adam Clarke reads the mother of young men as Jerusalem, the mother city.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 8.) Her widows are multiplied to me above the sand of the sea: I have brought upon them the destroyer at noonday: I have sent troubles suddenly upon the cities. With various medicines God desires to save sinners: so that those who despised His gentle entreaties may fear His threatening. Widows are multiplied above the sand of the sea, with men being killed; mothers, with their children being lost, have felt the destroyer, not in the night and by treachery, but in broad daylight: so that He may show the open force of a stronger adversary.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A dreadful slaughter is here described. First, The wives are deprived of their husbands: Their widows are increased above the sand of the seas, so numerous have they now grown. It was promised that the men of Israel (for those only were numbered) should be as the sand of the sea for multitude; but now they shall be all cut off, and their widows shall be so.
In Jehoiakim's time we read of no such plenty of widows; they were multiplied when the city was besieged and taken in Zedekiah's time, to a great number, hyperbolically compared to the sands of the sea. The mother - Jerusalem was the mother of the Jewish people, against whom, Nebuchadnezzar the spoiler, at noon-day, was sent.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Translate, “I have brought upon them, even upon the mother of the young man, a spoiler etc.” The word rendered “young man” means a picked warrior. The mother has borne a valiant champion; but neither his prowess nor the numerous offspring of the other can avail to save those who gave them birth; war bereaves both alike. At noonday - i. e., unexpectedly, as armies used to rest at noon (see Jer 6:4 note). I have caused him ... - Rather, “I have brought suddenly upon her,” the mother of the young warrior, “anguish and terrors.”
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Their widows--My people's (Jer 15:7). have brought--prophetical past: I will bring. mother of the young men--"mother" is collective; after the "widows," He naturally mentions bereavement of their sons ("young men"), brought on the "mothers" by "the spoiler"; it was owing to the number of men slain that the "widows" were so many [CALVIN].
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The mother of the young men - The metropolis or mother city, Jerusalem.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עָֽצְמוּ־ | ʾatzemu- | they are numerous | H6105 → | 20 times |
| לִ֤י | li | to <the> me | ||
| אַלְמְנֹתָיו֙ | ʾalmenotav | widows its | H490 → | 56 times |
| מֵח֣וֹל | mechol | more than [the] sand of | H2344 → | 23 times |
| יַמִּ֔ים | yamim | [the] seas | H3220 → | 396 times |
| הֵבֵ֨אתִי | heveti | I have brought | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לָהֶ֥ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֵ֛ם | ʾem | a mother of | H517 → | 220 times |
| בָּח֖וּר | bachur | a young man | H970 → | 44 times |
| שֹׁדֵ֣ד | shoded | a destroyer | H7703 → | 57 times |
| בַּֽצָּהֳרָ֑יִם | batzohorayim | at <the> noon<s> | H6672 → | 24 times |
| הִפַּ֤לְתִּי | hipalti | I have made fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| עָלֶ֙יהָ֙ | ʾaleiha | on her | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פִּתְאֹ֔ם | pitom | suddenly | H6597 → | 25 times |
| עִ֖יר | ʾir | anguish | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וּבֶהָלֽוֹת׃ | uvehalot | and sudden terror | H928 → |
עָֽצְמוּ־they are numerous
ʾatzemu-H6105 →20 times
לִ֤יto <the> me
li
אַלְמְנֹתָיו֙widows its
ʾalmenotavH490 →56 times
מֵח֣וֹלmore than [the] sand of
mecholH2344 →23 times
יַמִּ֔ים[the] seas
yamimH3220 →396 times
הֵבֵ֨אתִיI have brought
hevetiH935 →2568 times
לָהֶ֥םto <the> them
lahem
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אֵ֛םa mother of
ʾemH517 →220 times
בָּח֖וּרa young man
bachurH970 →44 times
שֹׁדֵ֣דa destroyer
shodedH7703 →57 times
בַּֽצָּהֳרָ֑יִםat <the> noon<s>
batzohorayimH6672 →24 times
הִפַּ֤לְתִּיI have made fall
hipaltiH5307 →435 times
עָלֶ֙יהָ֙on her
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
פִּתְאֹ֔םsuddenly
pitomH6597 →25 times
עִ֖ירanguish
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
וּבֶהָלֽוֹת׃and sudden terror
uvehalotH928 →
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 5:6Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:7
A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and…
- Habakkuk 1:8
Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour.
- Ezekiel 22:27
Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.
- Zephaniah 3:3
Her princes are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves, leaving nothing for the morning.
- Jeremiah 2:17
Have you not brought this on yourself by forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way?
- Jeremiah 4:7
Through
Jeremiah 4:16Warn the nations now! Proclaim to Jerusalem: “A besieging army comes from a distant land; they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 21:22
In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the…
- Jeremiah 5:15
Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose…
- Ezekiel 21:22
Through
Luke 21:35For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth.
it leads to
- Revelation 16:15
“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”
- Revelation 16:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; 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; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.