The Church Fathers on this verse
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Jeremiah 14:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The great ones sent their inferiors to the water: they came to draw, they found no water, they carried back their vessels empty: they were confounded and afflicted, and covered their heads.

Douay-Rheims

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

Hebrew (Masoretic text)

The Church Fathers on this verse

2 Church Fathers comment on this verse

John Chrysostom

4th centuryChurch Father

His officials dispatched the least of their men to fetch water. Observe how the consequences impact everyone: not only was there a scarcity of food, but also a shortage of water. While it was reasonable to anticipate a famine given the limited bread supplies, the absence of water intensified their desperation. They approached the granary, only to find it empty. By ignoring the guidance offered by the living water, they ultimately faced these hardships. Therefore, he addresses their dire situation, highlighting the suffering of those without a voice.

Jerome of Stridon

4th centuryChurch Father

Judah lamented, and her gates lay desolate upon the ground, and the cries of Jerusalem ascended. The elders sent the younger ones to fetch water; they went to the wells but found no water, returning with empty vessels, filled with shame and despair, covering their heads in light of the land’s barrenness, as there had been no rain to nourish it. The farmers were bewildered and similarly bowed their heads. In times of drought, when the people encounter a famine of hearing and teaching God's word, Judah, once proud of her true and God-honoring faith, mourns, and her gates fall into emptiness, which reflects the spiritual sensibilities through which the soul’s nurture is discerned.

Read more (197 words)

The atmosphere becomes clouded with darkness, where in Jerusalem, confusion and outcries prevail instead of logic and the guiding word. The elders, who ought to have sought nourishment for the spirit themselves, rely on the youth, who lack the wisdom of age. They arrive at the wells but find no water, unlike the patriarchs of old who discovered it (Gen. 26). The young ones, leaving with empty vessels, feel troubled not due to an absence of water, but because they were unable to obtain it. They were distressed and covered their heads, unable to converse with the apostle, yet we all gaze with unveiled faces at the radiance of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18). The desolation of the land and its produce, by which we come to know God, has diminished, and this is clear: no rain has fallen upon it, for it was decreed that the clouds should withhold their moisture (Isaiah 5). The farmers, of whom it is written, “God's work, God's building is yours” (1 Cor. 3:3), and in another context, “we are God's laborers,” cover their heads in distress, realizing that without the grace and aid of God, their efforts are in vain.

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