Jeremiah 9:1 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1-11

The prophet, being commissioned both to foretel the destruction coming upon Judah and Jerusalem and to point out the sin for which that destruction was brought upon them, here, as elsewhere, speaks of both very feelingly: what he said of both came from the heart, and therefore one would have thought it would reach to the heart. I. He abandons himself to sorrow in consideration of the calamitous condition of his people, which he sadly laments, a one that preferred Jerusalem before his chief joy... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 9:1

O that my head were waters - מים ראשי יתן מי mi yitten roshi mayim , "who will give to my head waters?" My mourning for the sins and desolations of my people has already exhausted the source of tears: I wish to have a fountain opened there, that I may weep day and night for the slain of my people. This has been the sorrowful language of many a pastor who has preached long to a hardened, rebellious people, to little or no effect. This verse belongs to the preceding chapter. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 9:1

Verse 1 He follows the same subject. During times of tranquillity, when nothing but joyful voices were heard among the Jews, he bewails, as one in the greatest grief, the miseries of the people; and being not satisfied with this, he says, Who will set, or make, my head waters, and my eye a fountain of tears? He intimates by these words, that the ruin would be so dreadful that it could not be bewailed by a moderate or usual lamentation, inasmuch as God’s vengeance would exceed common bounds, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

The Hebrew more correctly attaches this verse to Jeremiah 8:1-22 . Oh that my head were waters , etc.! A quaint conceit, it may be said. But "if we have been going on pace for pace with the passion before, this sudden conversion of a strong-felt metaphor into something to be actually realized in nature, is strictly and strikingly natural." So Bishop Dearie, quoting, by way of illustration, Shakespeare's 'Richard II .,' "meditating on his own utter annihilation as to royalty:" "Oh... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

Grief for others. I. THE RIGHT SPIRIT IN WHICH TO REGARD THE MISERIES OF OTHER MEN IS ONE OF GRIEF . A less worthy spirit is too common. 1. Self-congratulation . The evil condition of others is simply used as a dark background on which to throw out in relief our own superiority. 2. Indifference —the spirit of Cain, which cries, "Am I my brother's keeper?" 3. Vindictiveness . Jeremiah denounced the sins of Israel, and threatened... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

Vicarious grief. It is a common occurrence in the history of God's Church that when general indifference to religious truth, to impending judgments, or depraved spiritual condition, etc; is exhibited by the multitude, one or at most a few are sensible of the nature and extent of the evil. Knowledge in such a case is nearly always sorrow. This is intensified when remonstrances are unheeded, and efforts of reform are defeated. It is the righteous man, the reformer, who is most affected by... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

The testimony of tears. Tears are an unusual, a strange sad sight in a strong man. But here Jeremiah appears utterly broken down. He abandons himself to a very agony of sorrow. His tears remind us of those of our Lord and of St. Paul. But they are also a relief to the overburdened heart. Like the cry of the sufferer in sore pain. We are glad when we behold one enduring some crushing sorrow enabled to pour forth his grief in tears. The heart-broken prophet has evidently felt them to be such... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

The moral degradation of women. The expression, "the slain of the daughter of my people," suggests this subject. Therefore we may thus apply the prophet's Words. Note— I. THE MORAL DEGRADATION OF THE DAUGHTERS OF A PEOPLE IS A JUST CAUSE FOR THE DEEPEST SORROW . For think of what and how much is slain in these slain ones. The ruin of health, and the early and often dreadful death, are the least that is slain. Happiness is slain—that of the victim, and of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

Incessant weeping over the calamities of Israel. We have here still another measure of how great, in the estimation of the prophet, the calamity was which had fallen upon his people. Other measures have already been given, in the despoiling of the tombs ( Jeremiah 8:1 , Jeremiah 8:2 ), in the exile worse than death ( Jeremiah 8:3 ), in the visitation of serpents which were beyond the charmer's power ( Jeremiah 8:17 ), and in the suffering through the sin of his people, which even... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1-11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 9:1

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 9:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 9:1

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