Jeremiah 16:7
in Jeremiah 16No food will be offered to comfort those who mourn the dead; not even a cup of consolation will be given for the loss of a father or mother.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
neither shall men break bread for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
KJV
Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
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This verse in Jeremiah 16
Commentary
8 notes on this verseNeither shall men tear themselves,.... Either their flesh, or their clothes: or, "stretch out" (y); that is, their hands, and clap them together, and wring them, as persons in great distress do: or "divide", or "break", or "deal unto them" (z); that is, bread, as at their funeral feasts.
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.
This site's exposition
No food will be offered to comfort
Friends sent food and wine to a house of mourning, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown and Wesley both explain. A cup of consolation was that gift of wine. In the coming judgment no one will bring it.
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 Awakening2 voices
Deal bread - It was a custom among them, when they had any friend, that had lost his relations, to send them some meat (for among the Hebrew all things they ate were called bread) and then to go and sup with them, and speak comfortably to them. The cup - They were also wont to send wine, that they might forget their sorrows; this is called, The cup of consolation.
He had little reason to lament those who died now just before the judgments entered which he saw at the door, but rather to think those happy who were seasonable taken away from the evil to come. This was to be a type of what was coming, when there should be such universal confusion that all neighbourly friendly offices should be neglected.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Tear themselves - Better as in the margin; “break broad for them.” It was customary upon the death of a relative to fast, and for the friends and neighbors after a decent delay to come and comfort the mourner, and urge food upon him 2Sa 12:17; food was also distributed at funerals to the mourners, and to the poor. Cup of consolation - Marginal reference note.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
"Bread" is to be supplied, as in La 4:4; compare "take" (food) (Ge 42:33). give . . . cup of consolation . . . for . . . father--It was the Oriental custom for friends to send viands and wine (the "cup of consolation") to console relatives in mourning-feasts, for example, to children upon the death of a "father" or "mother."
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִפְרְס֥וּ | yifresu | people will break | H6536 → | |
| לָהֶ֛ם | lahem | for <the> them | ||
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֵ֖בֶל | ʾevel | mourning | H60 → | 24 times |
| לְנַחֲמ֣וֹ | lenachamo | to comfort him | H5162 → | 108 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מֵ֑ת | met | a dead [person] | H4191 → | 839 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַשְׁק֤וּ | yashku | people will give to drink | H8248 → | 61 times |
| אוֹתָם֙ | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כּ֣וֹס | kos | a cup of | H3563 → | 34 times |
| תַּנְחוּמִ֔ים | tanchumim | consolations | H8575 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אָבִ֖יו | ʾaviv | father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אִמּֽוֹ׃ | ʾimo | mother his | H517 → | 220 times |
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִפְרְס֥וּpeople will break
yifresuH6536 →
לָהֶ֛םfor <the> them
lahem
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אֵ֖בֶלmourning
ʾevelH60 →24 times
לְנַחֲמ֣וֹto comfort him
lenachamoH5162 →108 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מֵ֑תa dead [person]
metH4191 →839 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַשְׁק֤וּpeople will give to drink
yashkuH8248 →61 times
אוֹתָם֙<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
כּ֣וֹסa cup of
kosH3563 →34 times
תַּנְחוּמִ֔יםconsolations
tanchumimH8575 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אָבִ֖יוfather his
ʾavivH1 →1212 times
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
אִמּֽוֹ׃mother his
ʾimoH517 →220 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
Ezekiel 24:17Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.”
it leads to
- Hosea 9:4
They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 9:4
Through
Job 42:11All his brothers and sisters and prior acquaintances came and dined with him in his house. They consoled him and comforted him over all the adversity that the LORD had brought upon him. And…
it leads to
- Job 2:11
Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, each of them came from his home, and they met together…
- Job 19:13–14
He has removed my brothers from me; my acquaintances have abandoned me.
- Proverbs 16:7
When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even the man’s enemies live at peace with him.
- Genesis 24:22
And after the camels had finished drinking, he took out a gold ring weighing a beka, and two gold bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels.
- Romans 12:15
Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
- Job 2:11
Through
Deuteronomy 26:14I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God;…
it leads to
- Leviticus 7:20
But if anyone who is unclean eats meat from the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, that person must be cut off from his people.
- Leviticus 21:11
He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother.
- Leviticus 7:20
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.