Original Word: מַבְלִיגִית
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: mabliygiyth
Pronunciation: mab-lee-geeth
Phonetic Spelling: (mab-leeg-eeth')
KJV: comfort self
NASB: healing
Word Origin: [from H1082 (בָּלַג - cheerful)]

1. desistance (or rather desolation)

comfort self

From balag; desistance (or rather desolation) -- comfort self.

see HEBREW balag

Word Origin
from balag
Definition
smiling, cheerfulness, source of brightening
NASB Translation
healing (1).

[מַבְלִיגִית] noun feminine smiling, cheerfulness, source of brightening — מַבְלִיגִיתִי עֲלֵי יָגוֺן Jeremiah 8:18 a source of brightening to me in sorrow; but text dubious compare VB Che.

Occurrence and Setting

מַבְלִיגִית appears once, in Jeremiah 8:18. Translated in the Berean Standard Bible as “beyond healing,” it conveys the utter absence of comfort in Jeremiah’s lament over Judah’s obstinate sin and looming judgment.

Background in Jeremiah’s Ministry

Jeremiah ministered during the final decades before Jerusalem fell to Babylon. He was charged to “uproot and tear down” as well as to “build and plant” (Jeremiah 1:10), yet most of his public life was marked by rejection. Jeremiah 8 lies in a section (chapters 7–10) sometimes called the “Temple Sermon,” where the prophet exposes the worthlessness of mere ritual apart from covenant obedience. In this milieu, מַבְלִיגִית captures Jeremiah’s personal anguish as he identifies with the Lord’s grief: “My sorrow is beyond healing; my heart is faint within me” (Jeremiah 8:18).

The Language of Unrelieved Sorrow

The noun evokes a longing for respite that never arrives. Jeremiah does not say that relief is scarce; he declares it nonexistent. The wail of verse 18 flows into verse 19’s haunting question, “Is the LORD not in Zion?” The absence of מַבְלִיגִית thus signals a theological crisis: unrepentant sin has created a gulf between the covenant people and their covenant God.

This is consistent with earlier indictments:
• “They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11).
• “Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?” (Jeremiah 8:22).

False prophets promised quick fixes, but Jeremiah’s single use of מַבְלִיגִית exposes their hollow assurances.

Links to the Motif of Comfort in Scripture

Scripture often juxtaposes human inability to generate comfort with divine initiative to provide it. Notable parallels include:
• Isaiah 40:1: “Comfort, comfort My people, says your God.”
• Lamentations 1:16: “No one is near to comfort me.”
• Psalm 147:3: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

The vocabulary differs, yet Jeremiah’s rare term harmonizes with this broader biblical rhythm: true consolation springs from God, and its absence signals estrangement from Him.

The Word in Prophetic Theology

1. Covenant breach removes covenant blessings. Relief cannot coexist with rebellion (Deuteronomy 28:65–67).
2. Judgment is not an end in itself. Jeremiah 30:17 later promises, “For I will restore health to you.” The very prophet who cries that comfort is nonexistent becomes the herald of future healing, showing that divine wrath and mercy are complementary, not contradictory.
3. Corporate sin produces corporate sorrow. Jeremiah speaks as a righteous sufferer alongside a guilty nation. His empathy foreshadows the ultimate Sufferer who would bear griefs not His own (Isaiah 53:4).

Ministry Lessons for Today

• Honest lament is legitimate in the life of faith. Suppressing grief when there is no מַבְלִיגִית cheapens repentance.
• Superficial reassurance is pastoral malpractice. Like Jeremiah, shepherds must diagnose sin accurately before prescribing grace.
• Intercession flows from identification. Jeremiah did not stand aloof; he wept. Effective ministry likewise enters the pain of those under judgment.

Foreshadowings of Messianic Consolation

Jeremiah’s cry heightens anticipation for a Comforter greater than the prophet himself. New Testament revelation answers the vacuum that מַבְלִיגִית describes:
• Jesus Christ announces in Luke 4:18 that He is anointed “to proclaim liberty to the captives… to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”
• On the cross He absorbs the full absence of comfort—“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)—so that His people might never know ultimate abandonment.
• The Holy Spirit is named “Paraklētos,” Helper or Comforter (John 14:16), providing the abiding relief Jeremiah lacked.
• Final consolation is guaranteed: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 21:4).

Jeremiah 8:18 thus stands as a stark monument to sin’s devastation and a springboard to the gospel’s promise. Where מַבְלִיגִית is absent, Christ supplies “eternal consolation and good hope” (2 Thessalonians 2:16).

מַבְלִ֥יגִיתִ֖י מבליגיתי maḇ·lî·ḡî·ṯî maḇlîḡîṯî mavLigiTiInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts