Jeremiah 4:19
in Jeremiah 4My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I cannot hold my peace; because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
KJV
My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
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This verse in Jeremiah 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 19, 20.) My belly, my belly is in pain: the feelings of my heart are troubled within me. I will not be silent because my soul has heard the sound of the trumpet, the cry of battle. Destruction upon destruction is called out, and the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my curtains in an instant. When we stood by Symmachus, we were troubled, and in Hebrew it is written, Homa (); the Septuagint and Theodotion used the word μαιμάσσει, which I do not know the meaning of to this day.
This site's exposition
My anguish, my anguish
on Jeremiah 4:19-22
The prophet's body answers the horn before he can compose a sentence: “My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!”, where the Hebrew names his bowels. The indictment of verse 22 stands inside that weeping: “They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good”.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
My bowels, my bowels,.... These are either the words of the people, unto whose heart the calamity reached, as in the preceding verse; or rather of the prophet, who either, from a sympathizing heart, expresses himself in this manner; or puts on an appearance of mourning and distress, in order to awaken his people to a sense of their condition. The repetition of the word is after the manner of persons in pain and uneasiness, as, "my head, my head", 2Ki 4:19, I am pained at my very heart; as a woman in labour.
My bowels - Here begins the complaint of the prophet. My heart - Is disturbed within me. Because - I have heard in the spirit of prophecy; it is as certain, as if I now heard the trumpet sounding.
"Thou must utterly abandon all sin, and not retain any of the relics of idolatry: Put away thy abominations out of my sight, " that is, out of all places (for every place is under the eye of God), especially out of the temple, the house which he had in a particular manner his eye upon, to see that it was kept clean.
It becomes us to tremble at the thought of the misery that sinners are running themselves into, though we have good hopes, through grace, that we ourselves are delivered from the wrath to come. (2.) To awaken them to a holy fear, and so to a care to prevent so great a judgment by a true and timely repentance.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The prophet suddenly assumes the language of the Jewish state personified, lamenting its affliction (Jer 10:19, 20; Isa 15:5; compare Lu 19:41). at my very heart--Hebrew, "at the walls of my heart"; the muscles round the heart. There is a climax, the "bowels," the pericardium, the "heart" itself. maketh . . . noise--moaneth [HENDERSON]. alarm--the battle shout.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
My bowels - From this to the twenty-ninth verse the prophet describes the ruin of Jerusalem and the desolation of Judea by the Chaldeans in language and imagery scarcely paralleled in the whole Bible. At the sight of misery the bowels are first affected; pain is next felt by a sort of stricture in the pericardium; and then, the heart becoming strongly affected by irregular palpitations, a gush of tears, accompanied with wailings, is the issue. - “My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart, (the walls of my heart); my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace.” Here is nature, and fact also.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The verse is best translated as a series of ejaculations, in which the people express their grief at the ravages committed by the enemy: “My bowels! My bowels!” I writhe in pain! The walls of my heart! “My heart” moans for me! I cannot keep silence! For “thou hast heard, O my soul,” the trumpet’s voice! “The alarm of war!”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מֵעַ֣י׀ | meai | inward parts my | H4578 → | 32 times |
| מֵעַ֨י׀ | meai | inward parts my | H4578 → | 32 times |
| אוֹחִ֜ילָה | ʾachulah | I am waiting | H3176 → | |
| קִיר֥וֹת | kirot | [the] walls of | H7023 → | |
| לִבִּ֛י | libi | heart my | H3820 → | 595 times |
| הֹֽמֶה־ | homeh- | [is] in turmoil | H1993 → | 34 times |
| לִּ֥י | li | to <the> me | ||
| לִבִּ֖י | libi | heart my | H3820 → | 595 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אַחֲרִ֑ישׁ | ʾacharish | I will keep silent | H2790 → | 74 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| ק֤וֹל | kol | [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| שׁוֹפָר֙ | shofar | a trumpet | H7782 → | 72 times |
| שָׁמַ֣עַתְּ | shama'ti | you have heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| נַפְשִׁ֔י | nafshi | O self my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| תְּרוּעַ֖ת | teruat | [the] shout of | H8643 → | 36 times |
| מִלְחָמָֽה׃ | milchamah | battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
מֵעַ֣י׀inward parts my
meaiH4578 →32 times
מֵעַ֨י׀inward parts my
meaiH4578 →32 times
אוֹחִ֜ילָהI am waiting
ʾachulahH3176 →
קִיר֥וֹת[the] walls of
kirotH7023 →
לִבִּ֛יheart my
libiH3820 →595 times
הֹֽמֶה־[is] in turmoil
homeh-H1993 →34 times
לִּ֥יto <the> me
li
לִבִּ֖יheart my
libiH3820 →595 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אַחֲרִ֑ישׁI will keep silent
ʾacharishH2790 →74 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
ק֤וֹל[the] sound of
kolH6963 →506 times
שׁוֹפָר֙a trumpet
shofarH7782 →72 times
שָׁמַ֣עַתְּyou have heard
shama'tiH8085 →1159 times
נַפְשִׁ֔יO self my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
תְּרוּעַ֖ת[the] shout of
teruatH8643 →36 times
מִלְחָמָֽה׃battle
milchamahH4421 →320 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 9:1Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 13:17
But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 22:4
Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
- Lamentations 2:11
My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of…
- Jeremiah 13:17
Through
Habakkuk 3:16I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 23:9
As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD, because of His…
- Habakkuk 1:5–11
“Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you.
- Habakkuk 3:2
O LORD, I have heard the report of You; I stand in awe, O LORD, of Your deeds. Revive them in these years; make them known in these years. In Your wrath, remember mercy!
- Daniel 10:8
So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision. No strength remained in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.
- Psalms 119:120
My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.
- Jeremiah 23:9
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 on the Old Testament; 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 Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.