Jeremiah 16:6

Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them: NOR CUT THEMSELVES - indicating extravagant grief (; ), prohibited by the law (). MAKE THEMSELVES BALD - (; )....

He pursues the same subject: he says that all would die indiscriminately, the common people as well as the chief men, that none would be exempt from destruction; for God would make a great slaughter, both of the lower orders and also of the higher, who excelled in wealth, in honor, and dignity; _Die shall the great and the small. _It often happens in changes that the great are punished; and sometimes the case is that the common people perish, while the nobles are spared: but God declares, that such would be the destruction, that their enemies would make no difference between the common people and the higher ranks, and that if they escaped the hands of their enemies, the pestilence or the famine would prove their ruin. He adds, _They shall not bury them, nor beat their breast for them; _and then, _they shall not eat themselves, nor make themselves bald for them _(160) This is not mentione...

1-9 The prophet must conduct himself as one who expected to see his country ruined very shortly. In the prospect of sad times, he is to abstain from marriage, mourning for the dead, and pleasure. Those who would convince others of the truths of God, must make it appear by their self-denial, that they believe it themselves. Peace, inward and outward, family and public, is wholly the work of God, and from his loving-kindness and mercy. When He takes his peace from any people, distress must follow. There may be times when it is proper to avoid things otherwise our duty; and we should always sit loose to the pleasures and concerns of this life....

Verse Jeremiah 16:6. _NOR CUT THEMSELVES_] A custom of the heathen forbidden to the Jews, Leviticus 19:28; Deuteronomy 14:1, and which appears now to have prevailed among them; because, having become idolaters, they conformed to all the customs of the heathen. They _tore their hair,_ _rent their garments, cut their hands, arms_, and _faces_. These were not only _signs of sorrow_, but were even supposed to give ease to the dead, and appease the angry deities. The _Hindoos_, on the death of a relation, express their grief by loud lamentations, and not unfrequently _bruise_ themselves in an agony of grief with whatever they can lay hold on....

CUT THEMSELVES ... MAKE THEMSELVES BALD - Both these practices were strictly forbidden in the Law (marginal references) probably as being pagan customs, but they seem to have remained in common use. By “making bald” is meant shaving a bare patch on the front of the head....

EXPOSITION With this chapter should be taken the first eighteen verses of Jeremiah 17:1. The heading of the Authorized Version well expresses the contents of Jeremiah 17:1, provided that "the types" are understood to be typical actions of the prophet himself. "The prophet, under the types of abstaining from marriage, from houses of mourning and feasting, foreshoweth the utter ruin of the Jews." To the inquiry, why these calamities should come upon them, the old and well-known answer is to be given (Jeremiah 17:10), accompanied by a definite prediction of captivity (Jeremiah 17:13). Then, to relieve the p

BOTH THE GREAT AND THE SMALL SHALL DIE IN THIS LAND,.... The nobles as well as the common people, high and low, rich and poor; none shall be exempted from the grievous deaths by the sword, famine, and pestilence. THEY SHALL NOT BE BURIED, NEITHER SHALL MEN LAMENT FOR THEM; as before, Jeremiah 16:4, this shall be the common case of them all; the great and the rich shall have no more care and notice taken of them than the poor: NOR CUT THEMSELVES; their flesh, with their nails, or with knives, to show their grief for the dead, and to alleviate the sorrow of surviving friends, by bearing a part with them: NOR MAKE THEMSELVES BALD FOR THEM; by plucking off the hair of their heads, or by shaving them, and between their eyes; which though forbidden the Jews by the law of God, as being Heathenish customs, yet obtained in the

THE COMING CALAMITIES: RESTORATION PROMISED, RUIN IMMINENT ON ACCOUNT OF JUDAH'S SIN AND CONCERNING THE SABBATH (16-17) CHAPTER 16 _ 1. The coming calamities (Jeremiah 16:1) _ 2. The coming days of restoration and blessing (Jeremiah 16:14) Jeremiah 16:1. In view of the coming calamities Jeremiah is bidden to remain unmarried and not to raise a family. The verses which describe the coming calamities need no further annotations. Jeremiah 16:14. The great dispersion was announced by the Lord in the preceding verse: “Therefore will I cast you out of this land, into a land that ye know

JEREMIAH 16:1 TO JEREMIAH 17:18. THE COMING DISTRESS A PENALTY FOR SIN. The prophet is forbidden to found a family, because of the coming sorrows (_cf._ 1 Corinthians 7:29 ff.), in which death will be too common even for due mourning and burial. He is to stand aloof from the ordinary expressions of grief (Jeremiah 16:5) or social joy (Jeremiah 16:8 f.; _cf._ Jeremiah 7:34), as a sign that Yahweh will make both to cease in the universal dis

CUT THEMSELVES... MAKE... BALD. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 19:28; Leviticus 21:5.Deuteronomy 14:1; Deuteronomy 14:1). Compare Jeremiah 41:5; Jeremiah 47:5....