New English Translation
Jeremiah 9:21
21‘Death has climbed in through our windows. It has entered into our fortified houses. It has taken away our children who play in the streets. It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’
Jeremiah 9:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.
- New International Version (NIV)Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has removed the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For death has come up into our windows; it has entered our palaces, cutting off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For death has come through our windows, Has entered our palaces, To kill off the children— no longer to be outside! And the young men— no longer on the streets!
Context of Jeremiah 9:21
19For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion. They will wail, ‘We are utterly ruined! We are completely disgraced! For our houses have been torn down and we must leave our land.’” 20I said, “So now, you wailing women, hear what the Lord says. Open your ears to the words from his mouth. Teach your daughters this mournful song, and each of you teach your neighbor this lament. ‘Death has climbed in through our windows. It has entered into our fortified houses. It has taken away our children who play in the streets. It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’ 22Tell your daughters and neighbors, ‘The Lord says, “The dead bodies of people will lie scattered everywhere like manure scattered on a field. They will lie scattered on the ground like grain that has been cut down but has not been gathered.”’” 23The Lord says, “Wise people should not boast that they are wise. Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. Rich people should not boast that they are rich.
Read all of Jeremiah 9Jeremiah 9:21 word by word
כִּֽי־עָ֤לָה מָ֙וֶת֙ בְּחַלּוֹנֵ֔ינוּ בָּ֖א בְּאַרְמְנוֹתֵ֑ינוּ לְהַכְרִ֤ית עוֹלָל֙ מִח֔וּץ בַּחוּרִ֖ים מֵרְחֹבֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For deathמָ֫וֶתmâveth · deathH4194
- is come upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- into our windowsחַלּוֹןchallôn · windowH2474
- is enteredבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- into our palacesאַרְמוֹן'armôn · citadel: palaceH759
- to cut offכָּרַתkârath · to cut: eliminateH3772
- the childrenעוֹלֵל‛ôlêl ‛ôlâl · infantH5768
- from withoutחוּץchûts chûts · outsideH2351
- the young menבָּחוּרbâchûr bâchûr · youthH970
- from the streetsרְחוֹבrechôb rechôb · street/plazaH7339
Cross-references for Jeremiah 9:21
- Jeremiah 6:11I am as full of anger as you are, Lord, I am tired of trying to hold it in.” The Lord answered, “Vent it, then, on the children who play in the street and on the young men who are gathered together. Husbands and wives are to be included, as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.
- Jeremiah 15:7The Lord continued, “In every town in the land I will purge them like straw blown away by the wind. I will destroy my people. I will kill off their children. I will do so because they did not change their behavior.
- 2 Chronicles 36:17He brought against them the king of the Babylonians, who slaughtered their young men in their temple. He did not spare young men or women, or even the old and aging. God handed everyone over to him.
- Ezekiel 9:5While I listened, he said to the others, “Go through the city after him and strike people down; do no let your eye pity nor spare anyone!
- Ezekiel 21:14“And you, son of man, prophesy, and clap your hands together. Let the sword strike twice, even three times! It is a sword for slaughter, a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.
- Amos 6:10When their close relatives, the ones who will burn the corpses, pick up their bodies to remove the bones from the house, they will say to anyone who is in the inner rooms of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” He will respond, “Be quiet! Don’t invoke the Lord’s name!”
Commentaries on Jeremiah 9:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21For death is come up into our windows - Here Death is personified, and represented as scaling their wall; and after having slain the playful children without, and the vigorous youth employed in the labors of the field, he is now come into the private houses, to destroy the aged and infirm; and into the palaces, to destroy the king and the princes.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10-22Verses 10-22 The punishment described in general terms in the preceding three verses is now detailed at great length. Jeremiah 9:10 The habitations i. e - the temporary encampments of the shepherds (see Jeremiah 6:3). So that none can - Or, “They are parched up, with no man to pass through them; neither do they hear the voice of cattle; from the birds of the heaven even to the beasts they “are fled, they are gone.” Jeremiah 9:11 Dragons - Rather…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-22Verses 12-22 In Zion the voice of joy and praise used to be heard, while the people kept close to God; but sin has altered the sound, it is now the voice of lamentation. Unhumbled hearts lament their calamity, but not their sin, which is the cause of it. Let the doors be shut ever so fast, death steals upon us. It enters the palaces of princes and great men, though stately, strongly built, and guarded. Nor are those more safe that are abroad; death cuts…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-21Due to many deaths in the city, there were not enough professional mourners. Women were encouraged to quickly teach their daughters how to mourn skillfully.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. death ... windows--The death-inflicting soldiery, finding the doors closed, burst in by the windows. to cut off ... children from ... streets--Death cannot be said to enter the windows to cut off the children in the streets, but to cut them off, so as no more to play in the streets without (Zec 8:5).Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 9:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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Commentaries