The Prophet's Grief for his country finds characteristic expression: My bowels! my bowels! Let me writhe! The walls of my heart! My heart moaneth within me! (Driver). His soul hears (mg. with LXX) the battle, and identifies itself in sympathy with his people, whose habitation (tents and tent- curtains; cf. Jeremiah 10:20) is destroyed, because they are so ignorant of Yahweh. This is the first example (after the call) of that revelation of the inner life which especially distinguishes this prophet, and forms his great contribution to spiritual religion.
Jeremiah 4:19. The bowels are the seat of strong emotion according to Hebrew psychology.