Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 16:5
For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, [even] lovingkindness and mercies.
5. Enter not ] The prophet’s abstinence from the accustomed marks of respect to the dead and sympathy with the relatives is to be a forecast of the time when such abstinence shall become general on account of the universal prevalence of suffering and death.
mourning ] lit. a cry, found elsewhere only Amo 6:7 “revelry,” in which sense Du. and Co. (who strike out Jer 16:8) understand it here. If so, the v. will mean, Neither rejoice with them that rejoice, nor weep with them that weep.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 5. Enter not into the house of mourning] The public calamities are too great to permit individual losses to come into consideration.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Mourning, There is so great a difference in the translation of this word, that, Amo 6:7, the very same word signifieth a banquet, and is so translated; yet is there no contradiction, for banquets are now (and probably anciently were) in the houses of mourning, as well as in the houses of those that rejoiced. It appeareth plainly by the words that follow, that the apostle was here forbidden to go to funeral feasts, or to lament and bemoan any.
For (saith God)
I have, that is, I will take away peace from this people. Possibly the meaning of God might be this, Do not go to comfort such as mourn for any relations dead, (for their feastings upon those occasions were upon a consolatory account; thence, Jer 16:7, you read of a cup of consolation,) for, saith God, they have no need of it; those that die are most happy; for I will take away the peace of this people, and deprive them of all my mercy and loving-kindness which I have hitherto showed them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. (Eze 24:17;Eze 24:22; Eze 24:23).
house of mourning (Mr5:38). Margin, “mourning-feast”; such feastswere usual at funerals. The Hebrew means, in Am6:7, the cry of joy at a banquet; here, and La2:19, the cry of sorrow.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For thus saith the Lord, enter not into the house of mourning,…. On account of his dead relations or neighbours; since they were taken away from the evil to come, and therefore no occasion to mourn for them: moreover, this was to show the certainty of what is before and after said; that, at the time of the general calamity predicted, there would be no lamentation made for the dead. R. Joseph Kimchi says the word here used signifies, in the Arabic w language, a lifting of the voice, either for weeping, or for joy x; and Jarchi, out of the ancient book Siphri, interprets it a “feast”; and it is rendered a “banquet” in Am 6:7, and so may here design a mourning feast, such as were used at funerals, called by the Greeks , and by the Latins “parentalia”, as Jerom observes. Neither go to lament nor bemoan them; neither go to the house of mourning, or the mourning feast; to the houses of the deceased, to condole the surviving relations, and to express sorrow for the dead, by shedding tears, and shaking the head, or by any other gesture or ceremony after mentioned,
For I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord; all peace or prosperity is of God, and therefore called his, and which he can take away from a people when he pleases; and having determined to take it away from this people because of their sins, he is said to have done it, it being as certain as if it was done:
even lovingkindness and mercies; all benefits, which flowed from his favour, love, and mercy, as the whole of their prosperity did.
w “magna et vehementi voce praeditus”, Golius ex Giggeio, col. 979. x So the word is used in the Chaldee language: as Schindler observes in Lex. col. 1722.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The command not to go into a house of mourning ( , loud crying, cry of lament for one dead, see on Amo 6:7), not to show sympathy with the survivors, is explained by the Lord in the fearfully solemn saying: I withdraw from this people my peace, grace, and mercy. is not “the inviolateness of the relation between me and my people” (Graf), but the pace of God which rested on Judah, the source of its well-being, of its life and prosperity, and which showed itself to the sinful race in the extension to them of grace and mercy. The consequence of the withdrawal of this peace is the death of great and small in such multitudes that they can neither be buried nor mourned for (Jer 16:6). , but one’s self, is used in Deu 14:1 for , to make cuts in the body, Lev 19:28; and , Niph., to crop one’s self bald, acc. to Deu 14:1, to shave a bare place on the front part of the head above the eyes. These are two modes of expressing passionate mourning for the dead which were forbidden to the Israelites in the law, yet which remained in use among the people, see on Lev 19:28 and Deu 14:1. , for them, in honour of the dead.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Vs. 5-9: JEREMIAH FORBIDDEN TO FEAST OR MOURN WITH HIS PEOPLE
1. There must be no attempt to comfort the mourning, (vs. 5; comp. Eze 24:15-24).
a. The Lord has withdrawn His peace from them; with that gone it is futile for anyone else to offer them comfort, (vs. 5a; Jer 12:12; Jer 30:5; Jer 15:1-4).
b. Furthermore, the Lord has withdrawn His loving-kindness and covenant mercy – which has been extended to Israel exclusively, (vs. 5b; Jer 13:14; Isa 27:11; comp. Psa 25:6).
2. It appears from verses 6-7 that none will extend comfort to another because ALL “great and small” (2Ch 36:17; comp. Eze 9:6) will be bowed down in their own grief.
a. There will not be leisure for either burial of, or lamentation for, the dead.
b. Nor will there be opportunity to follow the heathen practices of cutting themselves, or shaving their heads, for the dead – a thing that had been widely practiced in Judah, though forbidden by the Law of Moses, (Lev 19:28; Lev 21:5; Deu 14:1; comp. Jer 41:4-9).
c. The custom of providing a meal, and a cup of consolation, for mourners -following the funeral rites -will be discontinued, (vs. 7; comp. 2Sa 3:35; Eze 24:17; Hos 9:1-4).
3. The prophet is also forbidden to enter a house of feasting and merriment, (vs. 8-9).
a. In his day the Lord will cause the shouts of joy and merrymaking to cease in Jerusalem, (Jer 7:34; Jer 25:10).
b. Jerusalem will soon be under siege; even the celebration of marriage will be no cause for festivity – for Judah’s prospect for the future is dark indeed!
4. Thus is Jeremiah to disassociate himself from both the sorrows and joys of his people – a people upon whom the consuming judgment of Jehovah is about to fall (comp. 2Co 6:17-18).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
As Jeremiah was forbidden at the beginning of the chapter to take a wife, for a dreadful devastation of the whole land was very nigh; so now God confirms what he had previously said, that so great would be the slaughter, that none would be found to perform the common office of lamenting the dead: at the same time he intimates now something more grievous, — that they who perished would be unworthy of any kind office. As he had said before, “Their carcases shall be cast to the “beasts of the earth and to the birds of heaven;” so now in this place he intimates, that their deaths would be so ignominious, that they would be deprived of the honor of a grave, and would be buried, as it is said in another place, like asses.
But when God forbids his Prophet to mourn, we are not to understand that he refers to excess of grief, as when God intends to moderate grief, when he takes away from us our parents, or our relatives, or our friends; for the subject here is not the private feeling of Jeremiah. God only declares that the land would be so desolate that hardly one would survive to mourn for the dead.
He says, Enter not into the house of mourning Some render מרזה, merezach, a funeral feast; and it is probable, nay, it may be gathered from the context, that such feasts were made when any one was dead. (157) And the same custom we see has been observed by other nations, but for a different purpose. When the Romans celebrated a funeral feast, their object was to shake off grief, and in a manner to convert the dead into gods. Hence Cicero condemns Vatinius, because he came clothed in black to the feast of Q. Arius, (Orat. pro L. Mur.) and elsewhere he says, that Tuberonis was laughed at and everywhere repulsed, because he covered the beds with goat’s skins, when Q. Maximus made a feast at the death of his uncle Africanus. Then these feasts were among the Romans full of rejoicing; but among the Jews, as it appears, when they lamented the dead, who were their relatives, they invited children and widows, in order that there might be some relief to their sorrow.
However this may be, God intimates by this figurative language, that the Jews, when they perished in great numbers, would be deprived of that common practice, because they were unworthy of having any survivors to bewail them.
Neither go, he says, to lament, nor be moved on their account (158) and why? For I have taken away my peace from this people, that is, all prosperity; for under the term, peace, the Jews included whatever was desirable. God then says, that he had taken away peace from them, and his peace, because he had pronounced that wicked nation accursed. He then adds, that he had taken away his kindness and his mercies. (159) For the Prophet might have raised an objection and said, that this was not consistent with the nature of God, who testifies that he is ready to shew mercy; but God meets this objection and intimates, that there was now no place for kindness and mercy, for the impiety of the people had become past all hope. It follows —
(157) The word is of a general import, to cry aloud or to shout, either for grief or for joy: it is here for grief, and in Amo 6:7, for joy. The literal rendering here is, “Enter not the house of shouting.” The version of the Septuagint is wide of the mark, “Enter not into their bacchanalian assembly, ( θίασον.)” The Syriac omits the word, and the Vulgate and Targum have “feast.” — Ed.
(158) The verb means to move, or to nod, either in contempt or in sympathy. The latter is the meaning here: hence to condole is the sense. He was not to go for the purpose of lamenting the dead, or of condoling with the living. To “mourn” is the Septuagint, a word of a similar meaning with the preceding; more correct is to “console,” as given by the Vulqate and the Targum. — Ed.
(159) These words are omitted by the Septuagint, but given by the other versions, and are left out in no copies. The “and” before “kindness” is found in two MSS., and in the Syriac, but not in the Vulgate: it seems necessary. The passage I thus render, —
For withdrawn have I my peace From this people, saith Jehovah, My mercy also and my compassions.
There is here a reason given for the preceding prohibitions: the Prophet was to shew no favor, no kindness to the people, and no sympathy with them: for God had withdrawn from them his “peace,” which means here his favor, and also his mercy or his benignity, as some render the word, and his compassions. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) The house of mourning.Better, mourning-feast. The word is found only here and in Amo. 6:7, where it is translated banquet. So the Vulg. gives here domus convivii, and the LXX. the Greek word for a drinking party. The word literally means a shout, and is so far applicable to either joy or sorrow. The context seems decisive in favour of the latter meaning, but the idea of the feast or social gathering should be, at least, recognised. Not to go into the house of mirth would be a light matter as compared with abstaining even from visits of sympathy and condolence. In Ecc. 7:4 the Hebrew gives a different word.
My peace.The word is used in its highest power, as including all other blessings. It is Jehovahs peace: that which He once had given, but which He now withholds (comp. Joh. 14:27). Men were to accept that withdrawal in silent awe, not with the conventional routine of customary sorrow.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. House of mourning Literally, outcry; which may be of joy, as the Vulgate actually translates in this place, or of wailing, which only harmonizes with the rest of the passage. Peace lovingkindness (better, grace) mercies There is here threatened just the opposite of the apostolic benediction. No more portentous threat could be uttered than the taking away of “grace, mercy, and peace.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Second Sign: Abstention From Mourning ( Jer 16:5-7 ).
The second sign was to be seen as the abstention from mourning and from attendance at funerals. Proper mourning for the dead was again seen as an essential part of life. Not to do so would have been severely frowned on, for true mourning was seen as contributing to the well-being and continuity of the whole family. It ensured proper farewells, and proper succession, enabled release of emotions, and demonstrated proper respect for the one who had passed on. But death was to become so commonplace that there would be no time for such activities. Any who remained alive would be concentrating on their own near kin, and would have no time for mourning others.
Jer 16:5
“For thus says YHWH,
“Do not enter into the house of mourning,
Nor go to lament, nor bemoan them,
For I have taken away my peace from this people, the word of YHWH,
Even covenant love and tender mercies.”
Jeremiah was called on not to partake in mourning, especially a mourning-feast, which would be partly celebratory of the deceased, because mourning was connected with comfort and commiseration, and in the future that was coming there would be no comfort or commiseration for His people. And this was because YHWH had removed what was essential for the people’s well-being, ‘even covenant love and tender mercies’. In other words He no longer had regard for them because they had rejected His covenant and would therefore leave them to face the worst and would offer them no comfort.
Jer 16:6-7
“Both great and small will die in this land,
They will not be buried,
Nor will men lament for them, nor cut themselves,
Nor make themselves bald for them,
Nor will men break bread for them in mourning,
To comfort them for the dead,
Nor will men give them the cup of consolation to drink,
For their father or for their mother.”
His abstention was intended to indicate that death would have no favourites. Both great and small would die equally. And none would be buried or mourned for. No one would undergo religious ritual on the behalf of others (cutting themselves and self-inflicted baldness were seen as signs of great emotional intensity and of contact with the gods, compare here Lev 19:28; Deu 14:1; 1Ki 18:28. Thus the people are also seen as being unfaithful to their false gods). No one would participate in a wake in their memory. There would be no bread or wine offered in consolation to the households of the dead. The cup of consolation would appear to have been offered when a parent had died. For no one would indulge in mourning of any kind because circumstances would be so devastating.
So Jeremiah’s abstention from everything connected with mourning would draw attention to the intensity of the desolation that was coming on the land, and would again raise questions in people’s minds, enabling Jeremiah to press home his message.
For the custom of giving food and wine to the family of the bereaved compare Hos 9:4; Eze 24:17; Pro 31:6.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 16:5 For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, [even] lovingkindness and mercies.
Ver. 5. Enter not into the house of mourning. ] Or banquets, whether at burials or bridals. as Amo 6:7 Of funeral banquets, see Deu 26:14 . These the Greeks called , the Latins Parentalia. See Jer 16:7 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 16:5-9
5For thus says the LORD, Do not enter a house of mourning, or go to lament or to console them; for I have withdrawn My peace from this people, declares the LORD, My lovingkindness and compassion. 6Both great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, they will not be lamented, nor will anyone gash himself or shave his head for them. 7Men will not break bread in mourning for them, to comfort anyone for the dead, nor give them a cup of consolation to drink for anyone’s father or mother. 8Moreover you shall not go into a house of feasting to sit with them to eat and drink. 9For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am going to eliminate from this place, before your eyes and in your time, the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.
Jer 16:5-9 The first strophe (Jer 16:1-4) denotes the death of families with no lamentation or burial (cf. Jer 16:6). This second strophe picks up on
1. mourning – BDB 931
2. lament – BDB 704
3. console – BDB 626
4. mourner – BDB 5
5. consolation – BDB 637
The book of Jeremiah is structured/edited/compiled by
1. theological themes
2. word plays
3. genre (i.e., laments, court scenes)
Jer 16:5 Notice the commands of Jer 16:5.
1. do not enter a house of mourning – BDB 97, KB 112, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense
2. do not lament – BDB 229, KB 240, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense
3. do not console them – BDB 626, KB 678, Qal JUSSIVE
I have withdrawn (BDB 62, KB 74, Qal PERFECT)
1. My peace, BDB 1022, cf. Jer 12:12; Jer 30:5; see Special Topic: Peace (shalom)
2. My lovingkindness, BDB 338 I, see am example of what happens when lovingkindness is removed at Jer 13:14, see Special Topic: Lovingkindness (Hesed)
3. My compassion, BDB 933, cf. Deu 13:17; Neh 9:19; Neh 9:27; Neh 9:31; Psa 25:6; Psa 40:11; Psa 77:9; Psa 79:8; Psa 103:4; Isa 63:7; Isa 63:15; Hos 2:19 (this term is found only here and Jer 42:12 in Jeremiah)
The eternal covenant is negated, broken, cancelled! Shocking! A new covenant must come now (cf. Jer 31:31-34; Eze 36:22-38).
Jer 16:6 As all of the family dies in Jer 16:1-4, in Jer 16:6 all levels of society die (cf. Jer 6:13; Jer 8:10)!
nor will anyone gash himself or shave his head for them These are pagan mourning rites (cf. Lev 19:28; Lev 21:5; Deu 14:1; 1Ki 18:28; Jer 41:5; Jer 47:5; Jer 48:37; see Special Topic: Grieving Rites ). This shows how far the Judeans had progressed in idolatry!
Jer 16:7 break bread The LXX revocalized the Hebrew word for them to get the translation bread. The KJV translates the phrase as neither shall men tear themselves, which would relate to Jer 16:6 (i.e., gash).
Because of the mention of a cup later in the verse, probably bread or food (NIV) makes more sense. However, the Jerome Bible Commentary (p. 316) reminds us of food being offered to the dead (cf. Deu 26:14; Eze 24:17; Eze 24:22; Tob 4:17), which would make this another idolatrous practice, so perhaps KJV is a valid way of understanding this verse.
Jer 16:8 This may relate to Jer 15:17. Apparently these dinners were connected to burial rites (i.e., breaking the fast of the mourning period. The word mourning (BDB 931) can denote a banquet in Aramaic. Also, the phrase the cup of consolation is found only here and may refer to a meal after the funeral.
Some commentators relate this verse to a marriage feast (cf. Jer 16:9, UBS, Handbook, p. 382).
Jer 16:9 Beginning in Jer 16:9 several covenant titles for Deity are used in this chapter (see Special Topic: Names for Deity ).
1. the LORD of hosts, Jer 16:9
2. the God of Israel, Jer 16:9
3. the LORD our God, Jer 16:10
4. as the LORD lives, Jer 16:14-15 (cf. Jer 4:2)
5. my strength, Jer 16:19
6. my stronghold, Jer 16:19
7. my refuge, Jer 16:19
8. My name is the LORD , Jer 16:21
I am going to eliminate The first list is YHWH telling where, who, and when.
1. from this place (i.e., Judah)
2. before your eyes
3. in your time
He will cause all normal social activities to cease.
1. voice of rejoicing
2. voice of gladness
3. voice of the groom
4. voice of the bride
This phrase is repeated in Jer 7:34; Jer 25:10; Jer 33:11. It is surprising that the text jumps from an occasion of grief to an occasion of joy. Possibly this is meant to highlight that all social life and events will cease because all are dead!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
taken away. Hebrew. ‘asaph. A Homonym, with two meanings: (1) to protect, or heal (Num 12:14, Num 12:15; 2Ki 5:6. Psa 27:10); (2) to snatch away (Psa 26:9. Psa 16:5).
peace: or, blessing.
saith the LORD = [is] Jehovah’s oracle.
mercies = compassions, or tender mercies.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Enter: Jer 16:6, Jer 16:7, Eze 24:16-23
mourning: or, mourning feast
I have: Jer 15:1-4, Deu 31:17, 2Ch 15:5, 2Ch 15:6, Isa 27:11, Zec 8:10, Rev 6:4
Reciprocal: Num 6:6 – he shall come 2Ki 9:18 – What hast thou to do Jer 15:5 – For who Jer 16:3 – thus saith Jer 16:4 – not Lam 3:17 – thou Eze 7:11 – neither Hos 2:4 – I will not Joh 11:19 – to comfort
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 16:5. The natural temperament of the prophet would prompt him to sympathize with these evil people of Anatboth, notwithstanding they deserved all of the punishment threatened against them. Yet he was forbidden by the Lord to give way to this sentiment of pity. There is something significant in the reason assigned by the Lord why Jeremiah should not manifest any pity for these evil persons. it is expressed in the words for I have taken away, etc. In other words, Jeremiah should not be any more lenient or sympathetic toward evildoers than the Lord Is. Today we may hear it said that even though a man may turn from the right way and take up with some new doctrine, yet we should not forget the good he has done. But the Bible teaches that God will forget it if the man ceases to be true to the former life of faithfulness. (See Eze 18:24.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 16:5-6. Enter not into the house of mourning Or, of a mourning feast, according to the reading in the margin, the word , occurring also Amo 6:7, and being there rendered a banquet. The sense seems to be, Do not go to comfort such as mourn for any friends or relations dead; their feastings on those occasions being upon a consolatory account: those that die are most happy. For I have taken away my peace from this people That is, I have put a full period to their prosperity, and deprived them of every thing wherewith they might comfort themselves and one another; even loving-kindness and mercies These shall be shut up and restrained, which are the springs from whence all the streams of comfort flow to mankind. Both the great and the small shall die in this land The land of Canaan that used to be called the land of the living. They shall not be buried, &c. So many of all ranks and ages shall die that men shall have no time to bury them, or there shall not be a sufficient number left alive to bury the dead. Neither shall men lament for them Nor shall men have leisure, through their own miseries, to lament for the miseries of others. Or their own calamities shall be so great that they will render them insensible to the calamities of others. Nor cut themselves, &c. The law expressly forbade the Israelites to make any cuttings in their flesh at funeral obsequies, Lev 19:28; Deu 14:1. Notwithstanding which prohibition, this practice seems to have been adopted by the Jews, among other heathenish customs. Shaving of the head also was a usual expression of mourning, chap. Jer 7:29.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
16:5 For thus saith the LORD, {b} Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, [even] lovingkindness and mercies.
(b) Signifying that the affliction would be so great that one would not have leisure to comfort another.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord also instructed Jeremiah not to visit those who were mourning over the death of a loved one. [Note: Ezekiel was not even to mourn when his wife died. Ezekiel 24:15-27.] He was not to comfort them, because the Lord had withdrawn His lovingkindness and compassion from His people. Jeremiah’s life was to remind the people of God’s withdrawal from them.
"Not to show grief was abnormal and was cause for criticism." [Note: Feinberg, p. 479.]