Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.

JEREMIAH 14:2KJV
Know the Bible

Jeremiah 14:2 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 14:2 mean?

Jeremiah 14:2 describes Judah’s people in deep distress during a drought. Sorrow reaches from the towns to Jerusalem, and the people’s cry rises as the land suffers from lack of rain.

Following the mention of drought in verse 1, Jeremiah pictures Judah as a mourner. The “gates” were public gathering places, so their weakness suggests that town life has faltered. “Black unto the ground” pictures people bowed low in grief.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 14:2

  • “languish” — אָמַל (ʾamal): This word means to grow weak or wither. Applied to the gates, it gives the town a human-like weariness.
  • “black” — קָדַר (qadar): This word can mean to become dark and can also describe mourning. Here the darkness is often understood as an outward sign of grief.

Why Jeremiah 14:2 matters

  • The distress reaches across the community. “Judah” names the wider land, while “Jerusalem” brings its chief city into view.
  • The passage connects the people’s grief with a severe shortage of water. In verse 3, servants return with empty containers and cover their heads in shame.
  • The cry in verse 2 prepares for Jeremiah’s appeal to God later in the passage. In verse 7, Jeremiah speaks of the people’s wrongdoing and asks God to act for the sake of his name.

Where else these words appear

“cry” Hebrew H6682 · used in 4 verses

  • Psalms 144:14 That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.
  • Isaiah 24:11 There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
  • Jeremiah 46:12 The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together.

“languish” Hebrew H535 · used in 14 verses

  • 1 Samuel 2:5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
  • Isaiah 24:7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.
  • Ezekiel 16:30 How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;

“black” Hebrew H6937 · used in 17 verses

  • 1 Kings 18:45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
  • Psalms 38:6 I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
  • Ezekiel 31:15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

“mourneth” Hebrew H56 · used in 38 verses

  • Genesis 37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
  • Nehemiah 1:4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
  • Jeremiah 23:10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.