The Meaning of Jeremiah 7:29 Explained

Jeremiah 7:29

KJV: Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

YLT: Cut off thy crown, and cast it away, And lift up on high places lamentation, For Jehovah hath rejected, And He leaveth the generation of His wrath.

Darby: Cut off thy hair, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the heights; for Jehovah hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

ASV: Cut off thy hair, O Jerusalem , and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Jehovah hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Cut off  thine hair,  [O Jerusalem], and cast [it] away,  and take up  a lamentation  on high places;  for the LORD  hath rejected  and forsaken  the generation  of his wrath. 

What does Jeremiah 7:29 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The people were to cut off their hair as a sign of grief.
"The command to cut off the "hair" (lit, "crown"...) is in the feminine in Hebrew, showing that the city (cf. Jeremiah 6:23 -"O Daughter of Zion") is meant. The charge stems from the fact that the Nazirite"s hair was the mark of his separation to God ( Numbers 6:5). When he was ceremonially defiled, he had to shave his head. So Jerusalem because of her corruption must do likewise. Her mourning is because the Lord has cast her off. Because of her sin, the chief mark of her beauty must be cast away as polluted and no longer consecrated to the Lord." [1]
They were to go up to a bare hilltop and lament their fate, because the Lord had rejected and forsaken the generation of the Judahites on whom He would pour out His wrath (cf. Jeremiah 7:20).

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 7

1  Jeremiah is sent to call to true repentance, to prevent the Jews' captivity
8  He rejects their vain confidence,
12  by the example of Shiloh
17  He threatens them for their idolatry
21  He rejects the sacrifices of the disobedient
29  He exhorts to mourn for their abominations in Tophet;
32  and the judgments for the same

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 7:29 mean?

Cut off your hair and cast [it] away and take up on the desolate heights a lamentation for has rejected Yahweh and forsaken - the generation of His wrath
גָּזִּ֤י נִזְרֵךְ֙ וְֽהַשְׁלִ֔יכִי וּשְׂאִ֥י עַל־ שְׁפָיִ֖ם קִינָ֑ה כִּ֚י מָאַ֣ס יְהוָ֔ה וַיִּטֹּ֖שׁ אֶת־ דּ֥וֹר עֶבְרָתֽוֹ

גָּזִּ֤י  Cut  off 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, feminine singular
Root: גָּזַז  
Sense: to shear, mow.
נִזְרֵךְ֙  your  hair 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person feminine singular
Root: נֵזֶר  
Sense: consecration, crown, separation, Nazariteship.
וְֽהַשְׁלִ֔יכִי  and  cast  [it]  away 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Imperative, feminine singular
Root: שָׁלַךְ  
Sense: to throw, cast, hurl, fling.
וּשְׂאִ֥י  and  take  up 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Imperative, feminine singular
Root: נָשָׂא  
Sense: to lift, bear up, carry, take.
שְׁפָיִ֖ם  the  desolate  heights 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: שְׁפִי  
Sense: bareness, smooth or bare height, bare place, high places, barren height.
קִינָ֑ה  a  lamentation 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: קִינָה  
Sense: lamentation, dirge, elegy.
מָאַ֣ס  has  rejected 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מָאַס 
Sense: to reject, despise, refuse.
יְהוָ֔ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
וַיִּטֹּ֖שׁ  and  forsaken 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נָטַשׁ  
Sense: to leave, permit, forsake, cast off or away, reject, suffer, join, spread out or abroad, be loosed, cease, abandon, quit, hang loose, cast down, make a raid, lie fallow, let fall, forgo, draw.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
דּ֥וֹר  the  generation 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: דֹּור 
Sense: period, generation, habitation, dwelling.
עֶבְרָתֽוֹ  of  His  wrath 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: עֶבְרָה  
Sense: outpouring, overflow, excess, fury, wrath, arrogance.