Jeremiah 16:5
in Jeremiah 16Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal. Do not go to mourn or show sympathy, for I have removed from this people My peace, My loving devotion, and My compassion,” declares the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thus saith Jehovah, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament, neither bemoan them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith Jehovah, even lovingkindness and tender mercies.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Jeremiah 16
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
(Eze 24:17, 22, 23). house of mourning-- (Mr 5:38). Margin, "mourning-feast"; such feasts were usual at funerals. The Hebrew means, in Am 6:7, the cry of joy at a banquet; here, and La 2:19, the cry of sorrow.
This site's exposition
a house where there is a funeral meal
on Jeremiah 16:5-9
Jeremiah may not enter “a house where there is a funeral meal”, because the LORD has removed “My peace, My loving devotion, and My compassion”. The dead will be past counting. Verse 9 names the sounds of a wedding, “the voices of the bride and bridegroom”, to announce their silence.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 5 onwards) For thus says the Lord: Do not enter the house of the feast, nor go to mourn, nor console them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, says the Lord, mercy and compassion. And the great and the small shall die in this land, they shall not be buried, nor mourned, nor shall they make a cut in themselves, nor shall there be baldness for them.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Enter not - Do not go to comfort such as mourn for any relations dead, (for their feastings upon those occasions were upon a consolatory account) 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.
): Enter thou not into the house of mourning. It was usual to condole with those whose relations were dead, to bemoan them, to cut themselves, and make themselves bald, which, it seems, was commonly practised as an expression of mourning, though forbidden by the law, Deut. xiv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
), " I have taken away my peace from this people, put a full period to their prosperity, deprived them of health, wealth, and quiet, and friends, and every thing wherewith they might comfort themselves and one another." Whatever peace we enjoy, it is God's peace; it is his gift, and, if he give quietness, who then can make trouble?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
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.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Enter not into the house of mourning - The public calamities are too great to permit individual losses to come into consideration.
The words behind it
27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כֹ֣ה׀ | khoh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תָּבוֹא֙ | tavo' | you enter | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | a house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| מַרְזֵ֔חַ | marzeach | mourning | H4798 → | |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תֵּלֵ֣ךְ | telekh | you go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לִסְפּ֔וֹד | lispod | to lament | H5594 → | 30 times |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תָּנֹ֖ד | tanod | you show sympathy | H5110 → | 24 times |
| לָהֶ֑ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אָסַ֨פְתִּי | ʾasafti | I have withdrawn | H622 → | 200 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁלוֹמִ֜י | shelomi | peace my | H7965 → | 236 times |
| מֵאֵ֨ת | meet | from with | H854 → | 929 times |
| הָעָ֤ם־ | haam- | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּה֙ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַחֶ֖סֶד | hachesed | the covenant loyalty | H2617 → | 247 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָֽרַחֲמִֽים׃ | harachamim | <the> compassion<s> | H7356 → |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כֹ֣ה׀thus
khohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תָּבוֹא֙you enter
tavo'H935 →2568 times
בֵּ֣יתa house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
מַרְזֵ֔חַmourning
marzeachH4798 →
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תֵּלֵ֣ךְyou go
telekhH1980 →1546 times
לִסְפּ֔וֹדto lament
lispodH5594 →30 times
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תָּנֹ֖דyou show sympathy
tanodH5110 →24 times
לָהֶ֑םto <the> them
lahem
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אָסַ֨פְתִּיI have withdrawn
ʾasaftiH622 →200 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁלוֹמִ֜יpeace my
shelomiH7965 →236 times
מֵאֵ֨תfrom with
meetH854 →929 times
הָעָ֤ם־the people
haam-H5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּה֙<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַחֶ֖סֶדthe covenant loyalty
hachesedH2617 →247 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָֽרַחֲמִֽים׃<the> compassion<s>
harachamimH7356 →
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
Deuteronomy 31:17On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them.…
it leads to
- Numbers 14:42
Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you.
- Isaiah 8:17
I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him.
- Psalms 104:29
When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.
- 2 Chronicles 15:2
So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him,…
- Judges 6:13
“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the…
- Numbers 14:42
Through
Isaiah 27:11When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator…
it leads to
- Isaiah 44:24
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,
- Isaiah 1:3
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”
- Isaiah 43:7
everyone called by My name and created for My glory, whom I have indeed formed and made.”
- Isaiah 44:24
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.