The Meaning of Jeremiah 6:26 Explained

Jeremiah 6:26

KJV: 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.

YLT: O daughter of My people, Gird on sackcloth, and roll thyself in ashes, The mourning of an only one make for thee, A lamentation most bitter, For suddenly come doth the spoiler against us.

Darby: Daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and roll thyself in ashes: make mourning, as for an only son bitter lamentation; for the spoiler cometh suddenly upon us.

ASV: 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 destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Jeremiah 6:26 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The prophet implored the people to repent while there was still time (cf. Jeremiah 6:8). Mourning over the untimely death of an only son was especially bitter, because the family would have no one to perpetuate the family name and line. Unless the people repented, the destroyer would overtake them.

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 6

1  The enemies sent against Judah,
4  encourage themselves
6  God sets them on work because of their sins
9  The prophet laments the judgments of God because of their sins
18  He proclaims God's wrath
26  He calls the people to mourn for the judgment on their sins

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 6:26 mean?

Daughter of my people Dress in sackcloth and roll about in ashes mourning [as for] an only son Make to lamentation most bitter for suddenly will come the plunderer upon us
בַּת־ עַמִּ֤י חִגְרִי־ שָׂק֙ וְהִתְפַּלְּשִׁ֣י בָאֵ֔פֶר אֵ֤בֶל יָחִיד֙ עֲשִׂ֣י לָ֔ךְ מִסְפַּ֖ד תַּמְרוּרִ֑ים כִּ֣י פִתְאֹ֔ם יָבֹ֥א הַשֹּׁדֵ֖ד עָלֵֽינוּ

בַּת־  Daughter 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: בַּת  
Sense: daughter.
עַמִּ֤י  of  my  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
חִגְרִי־  Dress  in 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, feminine singular
Root: חָגַר  
Sense: to gird, gird on, gird oneself, put on a belt.
שָׂק֙  sackcloth 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שַׂק  
Sense: mesh, sackcloth, sack, sacking.
וְהִתְפַּלְּשִׁ֣י  and  roll  about 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hitpael, Imperative, feminine singular
Root: פָּלַשׁ  
Sense: to roll.
בָאֵ֔פֶר  in  ashes 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֵפֶר  
Sense: ashes.
אֵ֤בֶל  mourning 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֵבֶל  
Sense: mourning.
יָחִיד֙  [as  for]  an  only  son 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: יָחִיד  
Sense: only, only one, solitary, one.
עֲשִׂ֣י  Make 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, feminine singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
מִסְפַּ֖ד  lamentation 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מִסְפֵּד  
Sense: wailing.
תַּמְרוּרִ֑ים  most  bitter 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: תַּמְרוּרִים  
Sense: bitterness.
פִתְאֹ֔ם  suddenly 
Parse: Adverb
Root: פִּתְאֹם  
Sense: suddenly, surprisingly subst.
יָבֹ֥א  will  come 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
הַשֹּׁדֵ֖ד  the  plunderer 
Parse: Article, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: שָׁדַד  
Sense: to deal violently with, despoil, devastate, ruin, destroy, spoil.
עָלֵֽינוּ  upon  us 
Parse: Preposition, first person common plural
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.