Jeremiah compared the wailing of the people of Judah over God’s punishment to laments at a funeral. The Jewish people were known for the loud and bitter mourning over the death of loved one (read 2 Sam 19:4).

The prophet also referred in this verse to the custom of hiring mourners to contribute to this grieving process. These “professional criers” would weep, shriek, and lament to the rhythm of flutes and tambourines, apparently to heighten the mood of sadness and loss.

Jesus encountered a group of such mourners who were grieving over the death of Jairus’s daughter. He sent them away, then raised the girl from the dead (Matt 9:23-25; Mk 5:38-42).

JEREMIAH 9:17-18 – Call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women [the most skillful of them, NIV], that they may come: and let them. . .take up a wailing for us.