Jeremiah 9:1 BSB — MannaFest

Jeremiah 9:1

Oh, 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.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

KJV

Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

⋯

Commentary

4 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Jeremiah (420)

(Chapter IX — Verse 1) Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, so that I may weep day and night for the slain daughters of my people? If I could only be turned into weeping, and tears were to flow abundantly like a river, still I would not be able to weep worthy tears for the slain daughters of my people. For their affliction is so great that it surpasses all sorrow. And this can be understood both from the perspective of the Prophet and of the Lord.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears,.... Or, "who will give to my head water, and to mine eyes a fountain of tears?" as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions. The prophet wishes that his head was turned and dissolved into water, and that tears might flow from his eyes as water issues out from a fountain; and he suggests, that could this be, it would not be sufficient to deplore the miserable estate of his people, and to express the inward grief and sorrow of his mind on account of it.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted hereafter; but let them expect that while they are here the clouds will still return after the rain. While we find our hearts such fountains of sin, it is fit that our eyes should be fountains of tears.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

This verse is joined in the Hebrew to the preceding chapter. But any break at all here interrupts the meaning. A fountain - Rather, “a reservoir,” in which tears had been stored up, so that the prophet might weep abundantly.

Voices on this verse

loading…

Original language & word study

14 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
מִֽי־	mi-	who?	H4310 →
יִתֵּ֤ן	yi.Ten	will he give	H5414 →
רֹאשִׁי֙	ro.Shi	head my	H7218 →
מַ֔יִם	Ma.yim	[was] water	H4325 →
וְעֵינִ֖י	ve.'ei.Ni	and eye my	H5869 →
מְק֣וֹר	me.Kor	[was] a fountain of	H4726 →
דִּמְעָ֑ה	dim.'Ah	tear[s]	H1832 →
וְאֶבְכֶּה֙	ve.'ev.Keh	so I may bewail	H1058 →
יוֹמָ֣ם	yo.Mam	by day	H3119 →
וָלַ֔יְלָה	va.Lay.lah	and night	H3915 →
אֵ֖ת	'et	<obj.>	H853 →
חַֽלְלֵ֥י	cha.Lei	[those] slain of	H2491 →
בַת־	vat-	[the] daughter of	H1323 →
עַמִּֽי׃	'a.Mi	people my	H5971 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
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.
leads to
- Malachi 2:2
  If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse…
- Jeremiah 14:17
  You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow,…
Through
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…
leads to
- Lamentations 1:20
  See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.
- Job 16:13
  His archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and spills my gall on the ground.
- Lamentations 1:16
  For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one nearby to comfort me, no one to revive my soul. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed.
- Jeremiah 4:19
  My 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…
Through
Jeremiah 6:26
O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
leads to
- Zechariah 12:10
  Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They…
- Jeremiah 4:8
  So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.”

Featured studies on this passage

On Jeremiah 9:1

The Weeping Prophet — the Confessions of Jeremiah

“Oh, 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.”

Open the study →

About Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Jeremiah: the study guide →Read chapter 9 →The featured study →

Continue: Jeremiah 9 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Jeremiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Jeremiah