Jeremiah 5:16
in Jeremiah 5Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Their quiver is an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
KJV
Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
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This verse in Jeremiah 5
Commentary
6 notes on this verseTheir quiver is an open sepulchre,.... The Chaldeans used bows and arrows in fighting; and the quiver is a case for arrows; and the phrase denotes, that their arrows would do great execution, and be very mortal; so that a quiver of them would be as devouring as an open grave, into which many dead are cast.
This site's exposition
I will make my words in thy mouth fire
on Jeremiah 5:14-17
The false prophets' empty wind is answered by turning Jeremiah's own preaching into the opposite element, fire in his mouth against a people made wood, the word doing what the false word only pretended to avert. The nation summoned from far is described entirely by what a hearer in Jerusalem could not do, a language thou knowest not, an ancient nation whose quiver is as an open sepulchre, and its harvest is Judah's own bread, flocks, vines, and fenced cities eaten out from under the people who trusted in them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 15 and following) Behold, I will bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, says the Lord: a strong nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you will not understand, nor will you know what it speaks. Its quiver is like an open tomb, all mighty warriors. And it will devour your crops and your bread; it will devour your sons and daughters; it will devour your flocks and herds; it will devour your vineyards and fig trees; and it will crush your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the L ORD , nor the judgment of their God. 5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the L ORD , and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:94%@v4-5
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
open sepulchre--(Compare Ps 5:9). Their quiver is all-devouring, as the grave opened to receive the dead: as many as are the arrows, so many are the deaths.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Their quiver is an open sepulcher - They are such exact archers as never to miss their mark; every arrow is sure to slay one man.
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַשְׁפָּת֖וֹ | ʾashpato | quiver its | H827 → | |
| כְּקֶ֣בֶר | kekever | [is] like a grave | H6913 → | 67 times |
| פָּת֑וּחַ | patuach | open | H6605 → | 144 times |
| כֻּלָּ֖ם | kulam | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| גִּבּוֹרִֽים׃ | giborim | [are] warriors | H1368 → | 158 times |
אַשְׁפָּת֖וֹquiver its
ʾashpatoH827 →
כְּקֶ֣בֶר[is] like a grave
kekeverH6913 →67 times
פָּת֑וּחַopen
patuachH6605 →144 times
כֻּלָּ֖םall of them
kulamH3605 →5413 times
גִּבּוֹרִֽים׃[are] warriors
giborimH1368 →158 times
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
Romans 3:13“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.”
it leads to
- Psalms 5:9
For not a word they speak can be trusted; destruction lies within them. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.
- Psalms 140:3
They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah
- Matthew 23:27–28
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.
- Jeremiah 9:3–5
“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 57:4
My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
- Psalms 5:9
Through
Psalms 5:9For not a word they speak can be trusted; destruction lies within them. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:3–6
“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.
- Romans 3:13
“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.”
- Psalms 62:4
They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch; they delight in lies; with their mouths they bless, but inwardly they curse. Selah
- Jeremiah 9:3–6
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.