Jeremiah 9:18Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Thus declares the Lord of Hosts: Consider and summon the mourners to come, and urge them to speak and arrive swiftly, raising their cries for us, that our eyes may shed tears, and our lashes may flow with waters. For the sound of mourning is heard from Zion. In light of the impending captivity and destruction of Jerusalem, He instructs that mourners be gathered, those who in times of sorrow typically invoke weeping through their laments and by striking their arms. This tradition continues in Judea, where women with unbound hair and exposed breasts, through their melodic laments, prompt all to weep. God, or the prophet, identifies with the people, expressing a shared compassion, affirming that whatever the people experience, He too endures and feels. The statement regarding the lamentation from Zion is further clarified to reveal the nature of the sorrowful voice.

I will disperse them into languages unknown to them and their ancestors, and I will unleash the sword upon them until they are utterly destroyed by it. This signifies the dual chastisement of suffering in battle and the anguish of captivity; those who manage to evade destruction in war are taken away into bondage. To instill even greater dread, He instructs that those who mourn should be summoned, compelling streams of tears to flow. He also commands the mothers, for joy has no place left, to instruct their daughters to lament.