Bible Strands
Jeremiah 15:5
Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses Jerusalem through the prophet Jeremiah, immediately after decreeing that the city will become a horror to all kingdoms because of Manasseh’s sins.
The words — The Hebrew relies on מִי (mi) for "who?" and יַחְמֹל (yachmol) for "will have compassion," paired with יָנוּד (yanud) for "will mourn," structuring three rhetorical questions about absent intercessors.
The thread — This identical lament structure appears in Isaiah 51:19 and Nahum 3:7, where devastated cities face the same question of who will grieve for them.
Why it lands — The text states that no one will pity, mourn, or inquire after Jerusalem’s welfare, establishing a baseline of total isolation before the immediate context declares God’s own weariness with showing compassion.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 51:19 These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can comfort you?
- Nahum 3:7 Then all who see you will recoil from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated; who will grieve for her?’ Where can I find comforters for you?”
- Jeremiah 21:7 ‘After that,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officers, and the people in this city who survive the plague and sword and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will not spare them or show pity or compassion.’
- Psalms 69:20 Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found no one.
- Exodus 18:7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and went into the tent.
- 1 Samuel 17:22 Then David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were doing.
- 1 Samuel 25:5 So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name
- Job 19:21 Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.
- Jeremiah 13:14 I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’”
- Jeremiah 16:5 Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal. Do not go to mourn or show sympathy, for I have removed from this people My peace, My loving devotion, and My compassion,” declares the LORD.