Jeremiah 15:5
For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?
Original Language Analysis
כִּ֠י
H3588
כִּ֠י
Strong's:
H3588
Word #:
1 of 13
(by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
מִֽי
H4310
מִֽי
Strong's:
H4310
Word #:
2 of 13
who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things); also (indefinitely) whoever; often used in oblique construction with prefix or suffix
יַחְמֹ֤ל
For who shall have pity
H2550
יַחְמֹ֤ל
For who shall have pity
Strong's:
H2550
Word #:
3 of 13
to commiserate; by implication, to spare
עָלַ֙יִךְ֙
H5921
עָלַ֙יִךְ֙
Strong's:
H5921
Word #:
4 of 13
above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם
upon thee O Jerusalem
H3389
יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם
upon thee O Jerusalem
Strong's:
H3389
Word #:
5 of 13
jerushalaim or jerushalem, the capital city of palestine
וּמִ֖י
H4310
וּמִ֖י
Strong's:
H4310
Word #:
6 of 13
who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things); also (indefinitely) whoever; often used in oblique construction with prefix or suffix
יָנ֣וּד
or who shall bemoan
H5110
יָנ֣וּד
or who shall bemoan
Strong's:
H5110
Word #:
7 of 13
to nod, i.e., waver; figuratively, to wander, flee, disappear; also (from shaking the head in sympathy), to console, deplore, or (from tossing the hea
וּמִ֣י
H4310
וּמִ֣י
Strong's:
H4310
Word #:
9 of 13
who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things); also (indefinitely) whoever; often used in oblique construction with prefix or suffix
יָס֔וּר
thee or who shall go aside
H5493
יָס֔וּר
thee or who shall go aside
Strong's:
H5493
Word #:
10 of 13
to turn off (literally or figuratively)
לִשְׁאֹ֥ל
to ask
H7592
לִשְׁאֹ֥ל
to ask
Strong's:
H7592
Word #:
11 of 13
to inquire; by implication, to request; by extension, to demand
Cross References
Isaiah 51:19These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?Nahum 3:7And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?Jeremiah 21:7And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.Psalms 69:20Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
Historical Context
During Babylon's final siege, no ally came to Jerusalem's aid. Egypt, which Judah had courted against Jeremiah's warnings, briefly approached but withdrew (Jeremiah 37:5-11). The nations Jerusalem had cultivated abandoned her to destruction. International isolation compounded military catastrophe.
Questions for Reflection
- What does universal abandonment—no pity, no mourning, no inquiry—add to judgment's weight?
- How does isolation from human sympathy intensify the experience of divine judgment?
Related Resources
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Analysis & Commentary
This verse expresses divine disengagement: 'For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask of thy welfare?' Three rhetorical questions expect answer 'no one.' 'Pity' (chamal, חָמַל) is tender compassion; 'bemoan' (nud, נוּד) is to shake the head in sympathy; 'ask of welfare' (sha'al leshalom) is standard greeting inquiry. Jerusalem will find no sympathy, no mourning, no concerned inquiry. The isolation is complete—friends and allies abandon the judged city. Even God, who expressed such grief in 12:7-13, now announces Jerusalem's abandonment by all.