Jeremiah 6:24
in Jeremiah 6We have heard the report; our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
We have heard the report thereof; our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
KJV
We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
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This verse in Jeremiah 6
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The effect upon the Jewish people of the news of Nebuchadnezzars approach. Wax feeble - Are relaxed. It is the opposite of what is said in Jer 6:23 of the enemy, “They lay hold etc.” Terror makes the hands of the Jews hold their weapons with nerveless grasp.
This site's exposition
an army is coming from the land of the north
on Jeremiah 6:22-26
The invader from the north named at 1:14 and 4:6 is given a face, “cruel and merciless”, riding “against you, O Daughter of Zion”. The report breaks the city's nerve, “our hands hang limp”. Mourning “as you would for an only son” was the sharpest grief the culture knew.
This site's exposition
pain like that of a woman in labor
Barnes sets the limp hands of Judah against the enemy of verse 23, who grasp the bow and spear. Terror loosens the grip on their own weapons. The report alone does it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 24.) We have heard his fame: our hands are weak; distress has seized us, like the pain of childbirth. The people responded to the Prophet, or rather, through the Prophet, the Lord has threatened the Babylonians: before they come, they will be overcome with fear, unable to lift their hands, and distress will grip them like the pain of childbirth; in this pain, they affirm that nothing is more severe than what they have experienced.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Though he has not come yet, he is coming, the decree has gone forth: let us therefore meet the execution of it with a suitable sadness." As saints may rejoice in hope of God's mercies, though they see them only in the promise, so sinners must mourn for fear of God's judgments, though they see them only in the threatenings.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
We have heard the fame thereof,.... Meaning not the prophet's report then, but the rumour of the enemy's coming from another quarter, at the time he was actually coming.
An account of those sins of Judah and Jerusalem which provoked God to bring this desolating judgment upon them.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁמַ֥עְנוּ | shama'nu | we heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שָׁמְע֖וֹ | shameo | [the] report of it | H8089 → | |
| רָפ֣וּ | rafu | they hung limp | H7503 → | 46 times |
| יָדֵ֑ינוּ | yadeinu | hands our | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| צָרָה֙ | tzarah | distress | H6869 → | 73 times |
| הֶחֱזִיקַ֔תְנוּ | hechezikatnu | it took hold of us | H2388 → | 291 times |
| חִ֖יל | chil | anguish | H2427 → | 7 times |
| כַּיּוֹלֵדָֽה׃ | kaiyoledah | like <the> [woman] giving birth | H3205 → | 496 times |
שָׁמַ֥עְנוּwe heard
shama'nuH8085 →1159 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שָׁמְע֖וֹ[the] report of it
shameoH8089 →
רָפ֣וּthey hung limp
rafuH7503 →46 times
יָדֵ֑ינוּhands our
yadeinuH3027 →1618 times
צָרָה֙distress
tzarahH6869 →73 times
הֶחֱזִיקַ֔תְנוּit took hold of us
hechezikatnuH2388 →291 times
חִ֖ילanguish
chilH2427 →7 times
כַּיּוֹלֵדָֽה׃like <the> [woman] giving birth
kaiyoledahH3205 →496 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 30:6Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?
it leads to
- Joel 2:6
Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.
- Nahum 2:10
She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
- Jeremiah 4:31
For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child—the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to…
- Isaiah 21:3
Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.
- Jeremiah 22:23
O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs of anguish come upon you, agony like a woman in labor.”
- Joel 2:6
Through
Jeremiah 4:31For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child—the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to…
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:15
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Lamentations 1:17
Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The LORD has decreed against Jacob that his neighbors become his foes. Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
- Isaiah 1:15
Through
Isaiah 28:19As often as it passes through, it will carry you away; it will sweep through morning after morning, by day and by night.” The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror.
it leads to
- Habakkuk 3:16
I 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…
- Habakkuk 3:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.