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For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.
Jeremiah 8:21 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I mourn; dismay has taken hold on me.
  • KJV For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
  • NKJV For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. I am mourning; Astonishment has taken hold of me.
  • NASB I am broken over the brokenness of the daughter of my people. I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.
  • NLT I hurt with the hurt of my people. I mourn and am overcome with grief.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Jeremiah is broken and mourns over the wound of his people. He grieves their ruin as if it were his own.

Overview

The prophet shares in the very hurt of 'the daughter of my people,' overcome by mourning and dismay. His sympathy is not detached pity but heartfelt identification with their pain. Such compassionate grief mirrors God's reluctance in judgment and foreshadows Christ, the Man of sorrows who was wounded for the transgressions of His people.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Jer 14:17You 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, a severely grievous wound.
  • Nah 2:10She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
  • Joel 2:6Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.
  • Ps 137:3–6for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”
  • Song 1:5–6I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  • Jer 9:1Oh, 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.
  • Rom 9:1–3I speak the truth in Christ; I am not lying, as confirmed by my conscience in the Holy Spirit.
  • Luke 19:41As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it
  • Jer 4:19My 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 of battle.
  • Neh 2:3and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
  • Jer 17:16But I have not run away from being Your shepherd; I have not desired the day of despair. You know that the utterance of my lips was spoken in Your presence.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Jeremiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Jeremiah 8:21YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JeremiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.

How Jeremiah 8:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.