Jeremiah 9:1

Jeremiah 9:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
• New International Version (NIV)Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
• New Living Translation (NLT)If only my head were a pool of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for all my people who have been slaughtered.

Context of Jeremiah 9:1

Oh, that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! 2Oh, that I had in the wilderness A lodging place for travelers; That I might leave my people, And go from them! For they are all adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men. 3“And like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:1 word by word

מִֽי־יִתֵּ֤ן רֹאשִׁי֙ מַ֔יִם וְעֵינִ֖י מְק֣וֹר דִּמְעָ֑ה וְאֶבְכֶּה֙ יוֹמָ֣ם וָלַ֔יְלָה אֵ֖ת חַֽלְלֵ֥י בַת־עַמִּֽי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Oh thatנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• my headרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
• were watersמַיmayim · waterH4325
• and mine eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• a fountainמָקוֹרmâqôr mâqôr · fountainH4726
• of tearsדִּמְעָהdim‛âh · tearsH1832
• that I might weepבָּכָהbâkâh · to weepH1058
• dayיוֹמָםyômâm · by dayH3119
• and nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
• for the slainחָלָלchâlâl · slain: killedH2491
• of the daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• of my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971

Cross-references for Jeremiah 9:1

• Jeremiah 4:19O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart! My heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, Because you have heard, O my soul, The sound of the trumpet, The alarm of war.
• Jeremiah 13:17But if you will not hear it, My soul will weep in secret for your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly And run down with tears, Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.
• Jeremiah 14:17“Therefore you shall say this word to them: ‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow.
• Psalms 119:136Rivers of water run down from my eyes, Because men do not keep Your law.
• Isaiah 16:9Therefore I will bewail the vine of Sibmah, With the weeping of Jazer; I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; For battle cries have fallen Over your summer fruits and your harvest.
• Isaiah 22:4Therefore I said, “Look away from me, I will weep bitterly; Do not labor to comfort me Because of the plundering of the daughter of my people.”
• Lamentations 2:11My eyes fail with tears, My heart is troubled; My bile is poured on the ground Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the children and the infants Faint in the streets of the city.
• Lamentations 3:48My eyes overflow with rivers of water For the destruction of the daughter of my people.
• Ezekiel 21:6Sigh therefore, son of man, with a breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes.
• Psalms 42:3My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?”
• Jeremiah 6:26O daughter of my people, Dress in sackcloth And roll about in ashes! Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us.
• Jeremiah 8:21For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. I am mourning; Astonishment has taken hold of me.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 9:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1O 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1This verse is joined in the Hebrew to the preceding chapter. But any break at all here interrupts the meaning. A fountain - Rather, “a reservoir,” in which tears had been stored up, so that the prophet might weep abundantly.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The people are corrected, Jerusalem is destroyed. (Jr 9:1-11) The captives suffer in a foreign land. (Jr 9:12-22) God's loving-kindness, He threatens the enemies of his people. (Jr 9:23-26) Verses 1-11 Jeremiah wept much, yet wished he could weep more, that he might rouse the people to a due sense of the hand of God. But even the desert, without communion with God, through Christ Jesus, and the influences of the Holy Spirit, must be a place for temptation…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-26The priests in the Temple memorized and repeated prayers as part of their rituals. They believed using the exact words was crucial; otherwise, the prayers lost their magical power. The character of the priests saying the prayers was not very important. This was also true for lamentations. In contrast, Jeremiah's prayers and lamentations were spontaneous and deeply personal.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-261. This verse is more fitly joined to the last chapter, as verse 23 in the Hebrew (compare Is 22:4; La 2:11; 3:48).Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 9:1

• Church
• Jeremiah
• Patriotism
• Weeping
• Wicked (People)
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Day and Night
• Adulterer
• Arrow
• Desolate
• Heaven
• Perish
• Teach
• Wait
• Burial
• Covenant, the New

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