The Meaning of Jeremiah 9:18 Explained

Jeremiah 9:18

KJV: And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.

YLT: And they hasten, and lift up for us a wailing. And run down our eyes do tears, And from our eyelids do waters flow.

Darby: and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids pour forth waters.

ASV: and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And let them make haste,  and take up  a wailing  for us, that our eyes  may run down  with tears,  and our eyelids  gush out  with waters. 

What does Jeremiah 9:18 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord wanted these women to come quickly and mourn on His behalf, wailing and shedding many tears.

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 9

1  Jeremiah laments the people for their manifold sins;
9  and for their judgment
12  Disobedience is the cause of their bitter calamity
17  He exhorts to mourn for their destruction;
23  and to trust not in themselves, but in God
25  He threatens both Jews and Gentiles

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 9:18 mean?

and let them make haste and take up for us a wailing that may run our eyes with tears and our eyelids gush with water
וּתְמַהֵ֕רְנָה וְתִשֶּׂ֥נָה עָלֵ֖ינוּ נֶ֑הִי וְתֵרַ֤דְנָה עֵינֵ֙ינוּ֙ דִּמְעָ֔ה וְעַפְעַפֵּ֖ינוּ יִזְּלוּ־ מָֽיִם

וּתְמַהֵ֕רְנָה  and  let  them  make  haste 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive imperfect, third person feminine plural
Root: מָהַר  
Sense: (Qal) to hasten.
וְתִשֶּׂ֥נָה  and  take  up 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person feminine plural
Root: נָשָׂא  
Sense: to lift, bear up, carry, take.
עָלֵ֖ינוּ  for  us 
Parse: Preposition, first person common plural
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
נֶ֑הִי  a  wailing 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: נְהִי  
Sense: wailing, lamentation, mourning song.
וְתֵרַ֤דְנָה  that  may  run 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person feminine plural
Root: יָרַד  
Sense: to go down, descend, decline, march down, sink down.
עֵינֵ֙ינוּ֙  our  eyes 
Parse: Noun, cdc, first person common plural
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
דִּמְעָ֔ה  with  tears 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: דִּמְעָה  
Sense: tears.
וְעַפְעַפֵּ֖ינוּ  and  our  eyelids 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, mdc, first person common plural
Root: עַפְעַפַּיִם  
Sense: eyelid.
יִזְּלוּ־  gush 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: נָזַל 
Sense: to flow, distil, flow forth or down, trickle, drop.
מָֽיִם  with  water 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: מַיִם  
Sense: water, waters.