Daughter of my people, clothe yourself with sackcloth, and wallow in ashes! Mourn, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for the destroyer will suddenly come on us.
Parallel Translations
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Daughter of my people, clothe yourself with sackcloth, and wallow in ashes! Mourn, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for the destroyer will suddenly come on us.
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O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
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O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes; make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
Cross-references (32)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 6:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 4:8 For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of Yahweh hasn’t turned back from us.
- Zechariah 12:10 I will pour on David’s house, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.
- Isaiah 22:4 Therefore I said, “Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don’t labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Isaiah 22:12 In that day, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, called to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth;
- Isaiah 30:13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant.
- Isaiah 32:11 Tremble, you women who are at ease! Be troubled, you careless ones! Strip yourselves, make yourselves naked, and put sackcloth on your waist.
- Jeremiah 4:11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse;
- Jeremiah 4:20 Destruction on destruction is decreed, for the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, and my curtains gone in a moment.
- Jeremiah 6:14 They have healed also the hurt of my people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.
- Jeremiah 8:19 Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off: “Isn’t Yahweh in Zion? Isn’t her King in her?” “Why have they provoked me to anger with their engraved images, and with foreign idols?”
- Jeremiah 8:21–9:1 For the hurt of the daughter of my people, I am hurt. I mourn. Dismay has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then isn’t the health of the daughter of my people recovered? Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
- Jeremiah 9:10 I will weep and wail for the mountains, and lament for the pastures of the wilderness, because they are burned up, so that no one passes through; Men can’t hear the voice of the livestock. Both the birds of the sky and the animals have fled. They are gone.
- Jeremiah 9:17-22 Yahweh of Armies says, “Consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may come. Send for the skillful women, that they may come. Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids gush out with waters. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, ‘How we are ruined! We are greatly confounded because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.’ ” Yet hear Yahweh’s word, you women. Let your ear receive the word of his mouth. Teach your daughters wailing. Everyone teach her neighbor a lamentation. For death has come up into our windows. It has entered into our palaces to cut off the children from outside, and the young men from the streets. Speak, “Yahweh says, “ ‘The dead bodies of men will fall as dung on the open field, and as the handful after the harvester. No one will gather them.’ ”
- Jeremiah 12:12 Destroyers have come on all the bare heights in the wilderness; for the sword of Yahweh devours from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land. No flesh has peace.
- Jeremiah 13:17 But if you will not hear it, my soul will weep in secret for your pride. My eye will weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because Yahweh’s flock has been taken captive.
- Jeremiah 14:17 “You shall say this word to them: “ ‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.
- Jeremiah 15:8 Their widows are increased more than the sand of the seas. I have brought on them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at noonday. I have caused anguish and terrors to fall on her suddenly.
- Jeremiah 25:33-34 The slain of Yahweh will be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They won’t be lamented. They won’t be gathered or buried. They will be dung on the surface of the ground. Wail, you shepherds, and cry. Wallow in dust, you leader of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions have fully come, and you will fall like fine pottery.
- Lamentations 1:2 She weeps bitterly in the night. Her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her. They have become her enemies.
- Lamentations 1:16 “For these things I weep. My eye, my eye runs down with water, because the comforter who should refresh my soul is far from me. My children are desolate, because the enemy has prevailed.”
- Lamentations 2:11 My eyes fail with tears. My heart is troubled. My liver is poured on the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the young children and the infants swoon in the streets of the city.
- Lamentations 3:48 My eye runs down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Lamentations 4:3 Even the jackals offer their breast. They nurse their young ones. But the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
- Lamentations 4:6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown as in a moment. No hands were laid on her.
- Lamentations 4:10 The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children. They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Ezekiel 7:16-18 But those of those who escape, they will escape and will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, everyone in his iniquity. All hands will be feeble, and all knees will be weak as water. They will also clothe themselves with sackcloth, and horror will cover them. Shame will be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.
- Ezekiel 27:30-31 and will cause their voice to be heard over you, and will cry bitterly. They will cast up dust on their heads. They will wallow in the ashes. They will make themselves bald for you, and clothe themselves with sackcloth. They will weep for you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning.
- Amos 8:10 I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.
- Micah 1:8-10 For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will howl like the jackals, and moan like the daughters of owls. For her wounds are incurable; for it has come even to Judah. It reaches to the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem. Don’t tell it in Gath. Don’t weep at all. At Beth Ophrah I have rolled myself in the dust.
- Luke 7:12 Now when he came near to the gate of the city, behold, one who was dead was carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. Many people of the city were with her.
- James 4:9 Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
- James 5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet seems to use more words than necessary;…
The Prophet seems to use more words than necessary; for in a clear matter he appears to extend his discourse too far: but we must consider the design which has been mentioned; for he could not rouse the Jews without urging the matter on them with great vehemence. Known and sufficiently common is the term, “daughter of my people, “as applied to the whole community. Daughter of my people, he says, be thou girded with sackcloth, and roll thyself in the dust It is doubtful whether the Prophet exhorts them to repent, or whether he denounces mourning on the irreclaimable and the hopeless; for ashes and sackcloth are often mentioned, when there is no hope of conversion or of repentance. However, if this view be approved, I will not object, that is, that the Prophet still makes the trial, whether the Jews would return to a sane mind.
Make thee a mourning, he says, as for an only-begotten Thus the Hebrews speak of the greatest and bitterest mourning: for when any one loses an only son, he grieves far more for his death than if he had many children; for when some remain, some comfort still remains; but when one is wholly bereaved, a greater grief, as I have said, is felt by parents. For this reason the Hebrews call it a mourning for an only son, when things are in a hopeless state. He afterwards adds, the mourning of bitternesses, signifying the same thing; because suddenly shall come upon us the waster
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If repentance be thought to be intended here, we know that sackcloth and ashes are, of themselves, of no account before God, but that they were formerly evidences of repentance when God’s wrath was humbly deprecated; and hence the prophets often designated the thing signified by the sign. We must yet remember what Joel says, that hearts, and not garments, are to be rent. (Joel 2:13.) But the prophets assume this principle as granted, that we are not to deal falsely with God, but with sincerity. Then by sackcloth and ashes they did not understand false protestations, as it is said, but real manifestations of what they felt, when really and from the heart they sought God’s mercy. But as the Prophet seems here to assume the character of a herald, denouncing war, I know not whether repentance is what is here meant. So then I rather understand him as saying, that nothing but extreme mourning remained for the Jews: and hence he says, that destroyers would suddenly come upon them; for they had for many years so misused the forbearance of God, that they thought that they could sin with impunity. As, then, they had long indulged this false confidence, the Prophet made use of this word, “suddenly,” פתאם, petam He adds —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 6:26 O daughter of my people, gird [thee]…
Jer 6:26 O daughter of my people, gird [thee] with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, [as for] an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
Ver. 26. Gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes.] The very heathens do so when in danger of a merciless enemy: Veniam irarum coelestium poscentes, saith Livy, {a} seeking the pardon of their sins and the favour of their gods.
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{a} Lib iii.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain O daughter of my people, i.e. O my people,…
O daughter of my people, i.e. O my people, that art beloved as a daughter.
Gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: he calls upon them to mourning in the deepest manner wherein they can express it, girding with sackcloth, close mourning, Jer 4:8, wallowing in ashes, Jer 25:34; Mic 1:10, lying low in humiliation, and prostrating themselves before him: he further describes the nature of it in the following expression, such as is for the death of a child, a son, an only son, Amo 8:10; and then seems to sum it up in this bitter,
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most bitter lamentation, Heb. wailing of bitternesses, noting the highest degrees of lamentation; he seems to want words to express it. See Jer 9:17,18. And it is likely the prophet doth not so designedly exhort them to repent, as rather describe the state of persons in a lost and despairing condition. For here the prophet takes upon himself thee person of one denouncing war; and sackcloth and ashes is often mentioned where there is net hope of conversion or repentance.
The spoiler; the king of Babylon and his army, Jer 4:8.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth,....…
O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth,.... Either as a token of repentance for sin; so the king of Nineveh and his subjects did, to show their repentance, Jon 3:6 or as a sign of mourning, for the calamities coming on them, Gen 37:34.
and wallow thyself in ashes; or roll thyself in them, as a token of the same. The Targum is,
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"cover your heads with ashes.''
Make thee mourning as for an only son; which of all is the most bitter: and therefore it is added,
most bitter lamentation; see Zac 12:10.
For the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us; namely, Nebuchadnezzar, that would spoil their cities, towns, villages, and houses, and them of all their wealth and substance, and carry it away.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Gird thee - The prophet calls upon them to…
Gird thee - The prophet calls upon them to mourn in the deepest manner.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Wallow thyself in ashes - Violent distress is accustomed…
Wallow thyself in ashes - Violent distress is accustomed to find relief in eccentric actions, and thus the wallowing in ashes shows that Jerusalem’s grief is unbearable.
The spoiler - Nebuchadnezzar.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Only son. Let thy grief be extraordinary, Amos viii.…
Only son. Let thy grief be extraordinary, Amos viii. 10., and Zacharias xii. 10.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain wallow . . . in ashes-- (Jer 25:34; Mic…
wallow . . . in ashes-- (Jer 25:34; Mic 1:10). As they usually in mourning only "cast ashes on the head," wallowing in them means something more, namely, so entirely to cover one's self with ashes as to be like one who had rolled in them (Eze 27:30).
as for an only son-- (Amo 8:10; Zac 12:10).
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lamentation--literally, "lamentation expressed by beating the breast."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 26. Wallow thyself in ashes — Rather, Besprinkle with…
26. Wallow thyself in ashes — Rather, Besprinkle with ashes, as an expression of abandonment to sorrow. There is cause for mourning as for an only son. The destruction is utter.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 26. daughter of my people] collective, as in Jer_4:11.
26. daughter of my people] collective, as in Jer_4:11.
wallow thyself in] more probably, sprinkle thyself with (so LXX), though the meaning of the Hebrew root is doubtful in all its occurrences (Jer_25:34; Eze_27:30; Mic_1:10).
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as for an only son] The importance attributed by the Jews to the possession of children involved special anguish when there was no one left to perpetuate the family. Cp. Jer_22:30; Amo_8:10; Zec_12:10.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (26) Wallow thyself in ashes.—So in Jer_25:34; Eze_27:30. The…
(26) Wallow thyself in ashes.—So in Jer_25:34; Eze_27:30. The ordinary sign of mourning was to sprinkle dust or ashes on the head (2Sa_1:2; 2Sa_13:19; Jos_7:6). This, as in Jer_25:34; Mic_1:10; Job_2:8, indicated more utter wretchedness and prostration. The English verb belongs to the class of those which were once used reflexively, and have now come to be intransitive. “Endeavour” supplies another example.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Wallow thyself in ashes; rather, sprinkle thyself with ashes,…
Wallow thyself in ashes; rather, sprinkle thyself with ashes, a sign of mourning. (2Sa_13:19; so Mic_1:10) Mourning, as for an only son. The Septuagint renders penyov agaphtou . (comp. Gen_22:2, where in like manner the Septuagint renders, not "thine only son," but "thy beloved son Possibly this was to avoid a supposition which might have occurred to some readers (it has, in fact, occurred to several modern critics) that the "only son" was Adonis, who was certainly "mourned for" by some of the Israelites under the name of Thammuz, (Eze_8:14) and whose Phoenician name is given by Philo of Byblus as Ieoud (i.e. probably Yakhidh, only begotten, the word used by Jeremiah; comp. Bhrouy , equivalent to Berith). M. Renan found a vestige of the ancient festival of Adonis at Djebeil (the Phoenician Gebal) even at the present day. There would be nothing singular in the adoption of a common popular phrase by the prophet, in spite of its reference to a heathen custom, (Job_3:8) and the view in question gives additional force to the passage. But the ordinary explanation is perfectly tenable and more obvious. The phrase, "mourning or, "lamentation for an only begotten one," occurs again in Amo_8:10 Zec_12:10. In the last-mentioned passage it is parallel with "bitter weeping for a firstborn."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 6:26 Jeremiah advised the people to put on burlap…
6:26 Jeremiah advised the people to put on burlap and sit among the ashes to show remorse for their sin and to beg for God’s mercy (Isa 58:5; Amos 8:10; Jon 3:6; Mic 1:10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.