Jeremiah 22:10
in Jeremiah 22Do not weep for the dead king; do not mourn his loss. Weep bitterly for the one who is exiled, for he will never return to see his native land.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep sore for him that goeth away; for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
KJV
Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 22
Commentary
6 notes on this verseWeep ye not for the dead - Josiah, dead in consequence of the wound he had received at Megiddo, in a battle with Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt; but he died in peace with God. But weep sore for him that goeth away - Namely, Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, called below Shallum, whom Pharaoh-necho had carried captive into Egypt from which it was prophesied he should never return, 2Ki 23:30-34. He was called Shallum before he ascended the throne, and Jehoahaz afterwards; so his brother Eliakim changed his name to Jehoiakim, and Mattaniah to Zedekiah.
This site's exposition
Do not weep for the dead
on Jeremiah 22:10-12
The dead king is Josiah, and the command “Do not weep for the dead king” sets his grave beside a worse fate. Shallum, identified as Jehoahaz, was deposed by Pharaoh Necho after three months, and “he will die in the place to which he was exiled.”
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse. 10, 11.) Do not weep for the dead, nor mourn over him; weep rather for him who is departing, for he will not return anymore, nor see the land of his birth. For thus says the Lord concerning Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, king of Judah: He who reigned in place of Josiah his father, who has gone out of this place: he shall not return here anymore, but he shall die in the place where I have transported him, and he shall not see this land anymore. King Josiah had three righteous sons, Joachaz, Jacim, and Sedeciam, of whom the first, Joachaz, the king of Egypt, Pharaoh Necho, led captive into Egypt, where he died, and appointed in his place as king his brother Eliacim (also known as Joachim) (2 Kings 23, 24, 25). When he died, his son Jechoniah reigned, but he was taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, along with his mother and the princes. In his place, his uncle Sedecias reigned, who was taken captive to Babylon after the capture of Jerusalem. Therefore, the question arises, who could be fittingly called the one who should not weep, who should be led into captivity, and will never return again, when three are taken captive and carried away? The Hebrews believe that this applies to all three, that is, to Joachaz, Jechonia, and Zedekiah, who are all called the sons of Josiah, or Sellem, which means completion; this is because the kingdom of Judah ended with them. But it seems to me that this is specifically said about Zedekiah, concerning whom there is a prophecy in the present and past chapter, in which the kingdom of Judah truly ended, and under whom the city was captured and he was led to Babylon, where he is recorded as having died. This is Jehoiachin, that is, the culmination and completion, son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned for his father Josiah. However, Jehoiachin was not a son but a grandson of Josiah, the son of Jehoiakim. […]
Jeremiah too laments over his impenitent people, saying, "O that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for … my people!" And further on he gives a reason for his lamentation: "Do not weep for the dead," he writes, "or bemoan him, but weep sorely for him who goes away, for he shall return no more."
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
In the two foregoing prophecies Jeremiah stated the general principle on which depend the rise and downfall of kings and nations. He now adds for Zedekiah’s warning the history of three thrones which were not established. The first is that of Shallum the successor of Josiah, who probably took the name of Jehoahaz on his accession (see the marginal references notes). Jer 22:10 The dead - i. e., Josiah 2Ch 35:25. That goeth away - Rather, that is gone away.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Weep not for the dead Namely, for Jehoiakim, who will die before the gate, when they drag him into exile.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
concerning Shallum That is Zedekiah, and that is what he was called in I Chron. (3:14): “the fourth Shallum.” And he called him the Fourth, meaning the fourth to assume the kingship of Josiah’s sons, for first Jehoaha, reigned, then Jehoiakim, and after him Jehoiachin, and after him Zedekiah.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּבְכּ֣וּ | tivku | you weep | H1058 → | 114 times |
| לְמֵ֔ת | lemet | for [the] dead | H4191 → | 839 times |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תָּנֻ֖דוּ | tanudu | you show sympathy | H5110 → | 24 times |
| ל֑וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| בְּכ֤וּ | bekhu | weep | H1058 → | 114 times |
| בָכוֹ֙ | vakho | continually <to weep> | H1058 → | 114 times |
| לַֽהֹלֵ֔ךְ | laholekh | for one [who] is about to go away | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָשׁוּב֙ | yashuv | he will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| ע֔וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| וְרָאָ֖ה | veraah | and he will see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֶ֥רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מוֹלַדְתּֽוֹ׃ ס | moladto | kindred his | H4138 → |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּבְכּ֣וּyou weep
tivkuH1058 →114 times
לְמֵ֔תfor [the] dead
lemetH4191 →839 times
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תָּנֻ֖דוּyou show sympathy
tanuduH5110 →24 times
ל֑וֹto <the> him
lo
בְּכ֤וּweep
bekhuH1058 →114 times
בָכוֹ֙continually <to weep>
vakhoH1058 →114 times
לַֽהֹלֵ֔ךְfor one [who] is about to go away
laholekhH1980 →1546 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָשׁוּב֙he will return
yashuvH7725 →1056 times
ע֔וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
וְרָאָ֖הand he will see
veraahH7200 →1300 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֶ֥רֶץ[the] land of
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
מוֹלַדְתּֽוֹ׃ סkindred his
moladtoH4138 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 57:1The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are swept away, while no one considers that the righteous are guided from the presence of evil.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 22:20
‘Therefore I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the calamity that I will bring on this place.’”…
- Psalms 12:1
Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.
- 2 Chronicles 34:28
‘Now I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the calamity that I will bring on this place…
- Micah 7:2
The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.
- Isaiah 42:25
So He poured out on them His furious anger and the fierceness of battle. It enveloped them in flames, but they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to…
- 2 Kings 22:20
Through
Ecclesiastes 4:2So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.
it leads to
- Job 3:11–26
Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb?
- Ecclesiastes 2:17
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- Job 3:11–26
Through
Jeremiah 22:11For this is what the LORD says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah but has gone forth from this place: “He will never return,
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 3:15
The sons of Josiah: Johanan was the firstborn, Jehoiakim the second, Zedekiah the third, and Shallum the fourth.
- 1 Chronicles 3:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; Jerome, LETTER 122 and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).
