We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

JEREMIAH 6:24KJV
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Jeremiah 6:24 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 6:24 mean?

Jeremiah 6:24 gives voice to people overwhelmed by news of an approaching enemy. The report leaves them feeling helpless and seized by distress. The verse shows how deeply the threat affects the people before the enemy reaches them.

After the description of the advancing force in verse 23, the speaker changes to “we” and “us.” The comparison to a woman in labor pictures distress as intense and gripping. “Our hands wax feeble” is an old way of saying that their hands grow weak.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 6:24

  • “fame” — שֵׁמַע (shemaʿ): This word can mean a report or news that has been heard. Here, “fame” does not mean celebrity or admiration; it refers to the news reaching the people.
  • “feeble” — רָפָה (raphah): This word can carry the sense of becoming slack or weak. The picture is of hands losing their strength or readiness.
  • “hold” — חָזַק (chazaq): This word can mean to seize or grip firmly. It gives the anguish the force of something that has taken possession of the speakers.

Why Jeremiah 6:24 matters

  • The verse lets the threatened people speak for themselves. Their repeated “we” and “us” turn the report of an invading force into a shared response.
  • The labor image emphasizes the severity of the distress. The verse compares the pain to that “of a woman in travail,” an older expression for childbirth.
  • The surrounding passage links the fear to danger beyond the city. The next verse warns against going into the field or walking on the road because of the enemy’s sword.

Where else these words appear

“fame” Hebrew H8089 · used in 4 verses

  • Joshua 6:27 So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.
  • Joshua 9:9 And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt,
  • Esther 9:4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.

“pain” Hebrew H2427 · used in 7 verses

  • Exodus 15:14 The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.
  • Psalms 48:6 Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
  • Jeremiah 50:43 The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.

“feeble” Hebrew H7503 · used in 45 verses

  • Exodus 4:26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
  • 1 Samuel 15:16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
  • Psalms 138:8 The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

“anguish” Hebrew H6869 · used in 72 verses

  • Genesis 35:3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
  • Psalms 31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
  • Proverbs 25:19 Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.