Jeremiah 14:3

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

And their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the cisterns, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are put to shame and confounded, and cover their heads.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְאַדִּ֣רֵיהֶ֔ם שָׁלְח֥וּ *צעוריהם **צְעִירֵיהֶ֖ם לַמָּ֑יִם בָּ֣אוּ עַל־גֵּבִ֞ים לֹא־מָ֣צְאוּ מַ֗יִם שָׁ֤בוּ כְלֵיהֶם֙ רֵיקָ֔ם בֹּ֥שׁוּ וְהָכְלְמ֖וּ וְחָפ֥וּ רֹאשָֽׁם׃

Transliteration

wəʾaddîrêhem šālḥû ṣəʿîrêhem to-the-māyim bāʾû upon-gēḇîm not-māṣəʾû mayim šāḇû kəlêhem rêqām bōšû wəhāḵləmû wəḥāp̄û rōʾšām

Grammar Details

• *wəʾaddîrêhem*: noun, masculine plural with 3rd person masculine plural suffix with conjunction - and their nobles
• *šālḥû*: qal perfect, 3rd plural - they sent
• *ṣəʿîrêhem*: noun, masculine plural with 3rd person masculine plural suffix - their young ones/servants
• *māyim*: noun, masculine plural with preposition + definite article - for the water
• *bāʾû*: qal perfect, 3rd plural - they came
• *gēḇîm*: noun, masculine plural with preposition - to cisterns/pits
• *māṣəʾû*: qal perfect, 3rd plural with negative particle - they did not find
• *šāḇû*: qal perfect, 3rd plural - they returned
• *kəlêhem*: noun, masculine plural with 3rd person masculine plural suffix - their vessels
• *rêqām*: adverb - empty
• *bōšû*: qal perfect, 3rd plural - they were ashamed
• *wəhāḵləmû*: niphal perfect, 3rd plural with conjunction - and they were humiliated
• *wəḥāp̄û*: qal perfect, 3rd plural with conjunction - and they covered
• *rōʾšām*: noun, masculine singular with 3rd person masculine plural suffix - their head

Word Meanings

• *ʾaddîrêhem*: nobles/mighty ones/prominent people
• *ṣəʿîrêhem*: little ones/young ones/servants/inferiors
• *gēḇîm*: cisterns/pits/trenches/ditches
• *bōšû*: are ashamed/are disappointed/are confounded
• *hāḵləmû*: are humiliated/are put to shame/are disgraced
• *ḥāp̄û*: covered/veiled/hid

Referenced Verses

• 2 Sam 15:30 : 30 And David went up by the ascent of the [mount of] Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot: and all the people that were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.
• 2 Kgs 18:31 : 31 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;
• Ps 40:14 : 14 Let them be put to shame and confounded together That seek after my soul to destroy it: Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor That delight in my hurt.
• Jer 2:13 : 13 For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
• Amos 4:8 : 8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
• Jer 2:26-27 : 26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets; 27 who say to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
• Jer 14:4 : 4 Because of the ground which is cracked, for that no rain hath been in the land, the plowmen are put to shame, they cover their heads.
• Jer 20:11 : 11 But Jehovah is with me as a mighty one [and] a terrible: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; they shall be utterly put to shame, because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which shall never be forgotten.
• Joel 1:20 : 20 Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee; for the water brooks are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
• Ps 109:29 : 29 Let mine adversaries be clothed with dishonor, And let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
• Isa 45:16-17 : 16 They shall be put to shame, yea, confounded, all of them; they shall go into confusion together that are makers of idols. 17 [ But] Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be put to shame nor confounded world without end.
• Esth 6:12 : 12 And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house, mourning and having his head covered.
• Job 6:20 : 20 They were put to shame because they had hoped; They came thither, and were confounded.
• 2 Sam 19:4 : 4 And the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!
• 1 Kgs 17:7 : 7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
• 1 Kgs 18:5-6 : 5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go through the land, unto all the fountains of water, and unto all the brooks: peradventure we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. 6 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.