Jeremiah 15 9

Jeremiah 15:9 kjv

She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 15:9 nkjv

"She languishes who has borne seven; She has breathed her last; Her sun has gone down While it was yet day; She has been ashamed and confounded. And the remnant of them I will deliver to the sword Before their enemies," says the LORD.

Jeremiah 15:9 niv

The mother of seven will grow faint and breathe her last. Her sun will set while it is still day; she will be disgraced and humiliated. I will put the survivors to the sword before their enemies," declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 15:9 esv

She who bore seven has grown feeble; she has fainted away; her sun went down while it was yet day; she has been shamed and disgraced. And the rest of them I will give to the sword before their enemies, declares the LORD."

Jeremiah 15:9 nlt

The mother of seven grows faint and gasps for breath;
her sun has gone down while it is still day.
She sits childless now,
disgraced and humiliated.
And I will hand over those who are left
to be killed by the enemy.
I, the LORD, have spoken!"

Jeremiah 15 verses

Jeremiah 15 9 Meaning

Jeremiah 15:9 graphically portrays the comprehensive and irreversible judgment on Judah through the poignant metaphor of a mother. "She who bore seven," symbolizing a nation once blessed with complete fertility and prosperity, is now described as utterly exhausted and at death's door ("grown feeble and lies gasping"). Her decline is tragically premature ("her sun has set while it was still day"), indicating a divine curtailment of her hope and existence, rather than a natural end. The nation experiences profound public shame and disgrace. Furthermore, the Lord explicitly declares that even the surviving remnant will be given over to perish by the sword at the hands of their enemies, sealing the total devastation and ensuring no escape from divine retribution.

Jeremiah 15 9 Context

Jeremiah 15 presents God's unwavering decree of judgment against Judah, even in the face of Jeremiah's heartfelt intercession (vv. 1-4). God's patience has run out; His people's persistent sin, particularly the idolatry introduced by King Manasseh, has filled the measure of their iniquity. The chapter details a cascade of disasters: death by pestilence, famine, sword, and captivity, and Judah is promised to become an object of horror. In verse 9, the prophecy uses a powerful metaphor: the "mother" represents Jerusalem or the nation of Judah. In ancient Israelite culture, bearing "seven" children was the pinnacle of blessing and fertility (e.g., Hannah in 1 Sam 2:5). For such a blessed mother to be brought low, dying, and disgraced signifies the utter reversal of God's covenant blessings due to the nation's profound unfaithfulness. Her sun setting "while it was still day" highlights the abrupt and premature end of national hope, prosperity, and independence, orchestrated by God as a severe and irrevocable consequence of sin.

Jeremiah 15 9 Word analysis

• She who bore (שָׁכְלָה - shāḵəlāh): Lit. "bereaved," but in this context, combined with "seven," implies one who has been fully productive/blessed with offspring. It powerfully sets up the reversal of fortune.
• seven (שִׁבְעָה - šiv‘āh): A number representing completeness, perfection, or fullness. Bearing seven children signified an ideal, abundant blessing and great prosperity. The impending downfall is thus a complete reversal of a perfectly blessed state.
• has grown feeble (אֻמְלְלָה - ’uməlᵉlāh): From a root meaning to wither, languish. It conveys extreme weakness, a loss of vitality, and the onset of decay. The Pual form emphasizes a passive, internal state of decline.
• and lies gasping (יָצְפָה - yātsᵉfāh): Meaning to pant or gasp, indicative of someone struggling for breath on the brink of death. It adds a visceral sense of anguish and nearing final collapse.
• her sun (שִׁמְשָׁהּ - šimšāh): Symbolizes her glory, prosperity, hope, and national existence.
• has set (בָּאָה - bā’â): To come, to go in. Here, specifically the action of the sun setting, denoting an end.
• while it was still day (בְּעוֹד יוֹמָהּ - bᵉ‘ôd yô māh): Emphasizes the premature, untimely nature of the disaster. Her demise is not a natural decline but an abrupt, violent termination by divine decree.
• she has been shamed (הֹבִשָׁה - hōḇišāh): To be put to shame, disgraced. A public and profound humiliation.
• and disgraced (חָפֵרָה - ḥāp̄ērāh): From a root meaning to blush with shame, or be confounded. It reinforces the previous term, conveying utter ignominy and failure.
• I will give over (הַשְׁבֵּיתִי - hašbēṯî): The Hiphil (causative) form means to cause to cease, put an end to. Here, "cause to disappear" or "deliver up." It underscores God's direct agency and intentionality in the judgment.
• their survivors (שְׁאֵרִיתָם - šᵉ’êrîṯām): Even those who remain after the initial wave of calamity are not exempt. There is no hope for this remnant.
• to the sword (לַחֶרֶב - laḥereḇ): The instrument of violent death in warfare.
• before their enemies (לִפְנֵי אֹיְבֵיהֶם - li•fᵉnê ’ōyḇêhem): To be destroyed by their adversaries was the ultimate national humiliation and curse for Israel, a stark sign of divine rejection and defeat.
• declares the LORD (נְאֻם יְהוָה - nᵉ’um YHWH): A standard prophetic formula affirming the divine origin, authority, and certainty of the pronouncement.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "She who bore seven has grown feeble and lies gasping": This powerful imagery depicts Judah (personified as a mother) at the height of its blessedness now reduced to an exhausted, dying state. The contrast is stark: from utmost blessing (seven children) to total physical and national collapse.
• "her sun has set while it was still day": A poignant metaphor indicating a catastrophic, premature end to Judah's existence, glory, and hope. It conveys a tragic cutting short of its natural course, not a gradual decline but a sudden, violent termination decreed by God.
• "she has been shamed and disgraced": This double emphasis on shame highlights the utter public humiliation and ignominy of the nation, directly linked to their covenant infidelity.
• "I will give over their survivors to the sword before their enemies": This is God's active, intentional judgment on the remaining populace. It conveys that even a minimal "remnant" will not be spared at this point, but will face a terrible, violent end, underscoring the completeness and finality of God's wrath in this immediate context.

Jeremiah 15 9 Bonus section

The metaphor of the mother is frequently used in prophetic literature to represent a city or nation (e.g., Jerusalem or Judah), depicting its character or fate. In this specific prophecy, the divine act of making Judah "feeble" and leading to her "gasping" death implies a loss of sovereign power, national identity, and the ability to reproduce or continue her heritage. The imagery is highly anthropomorphic, designed to evoke deep empathy and highlight the tragedy. The divine declaration "declares the LORD" elevates this dire pronouncement to an immutable divine decree, indicating that there is no room for further intercession or escape at this point. The complete absence of hope in this verse is chilling and demonstrates the peak of God's righteous anger against an irredeemably wicked generation, setting the stage for the imminent Babylonian exile and the destruction of the city and Temple.

Jeremiah 15 9 Commentary

Jeremiah 15:9 encapsulates the absolute severity of God's judgment upon an unrepentant Judah. Using the powerful symbol of a mother of seven – representing complete national blessing and prosperity – now weakened to death and openly shamed, the verse graphically conveys the reversal of divine favor. This is not just natural decay, but a catastrophic intervention by God, seen in the "sun setting while it was still day," signifying a sudden and premature end to all hope and national vitality. The concluding divine declaration ("I will give over their survivors to the sword before their enemies") emphasizes that this judgment is exhaustive; even the remnant that usually signals a future hope is designated for total destruction. The Lord's clear statement underlines the inevitability and divine authorship of the calamity, demonstrating the severe consequences of persistent sin and covenant breaking, which led to the ultimate humiliation and destruction of Jerusalem.