Jeremiah 16:4

Jeremiah 16:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
• New International Version (NIV)“They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“They shall die gruesome deaths; they shall not be lamented nor shall they be buried, but they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and their corpses shall be meat for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth.”

Context of Jeremiah 16:4

2‘You must not marry in this place. You must not have sons or daughters here. 3I will tell you what will happen to children who are born here and what will happen to their parents. Terrible disease will kill them. Nobody will weep for them. Nobody will bury them. Their bodies will lie on the ground like dung. Either war or famine will kill them. Birds and wild animals will come to eat their dead bodies.’ 5The Lord also said to me, ‘Do not go into a house where they are eating a funeral meal. Do not join with them to weep because someone in the family has died. I have removed my blessing and my faithful love from these people. I will no longer be kind to them. That is what I say. 6When people die, nobody will bury them, whether they are rich people or poor people. Nobody will weep for them. People will not cut their bodies because they are upset. They will not cut the hair from their heads.

Jeremiah 16:4 word by word

מְמוֹתֵ֨י תַחֲלֻאִ֜ים יָמֻ֗תוּ לֹ֤א יִסָּֽפְדוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א יִקָּבֵ֔רוּ לְדֹ֛מֶן עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָ֖ה יִֽהְי֑וּ וּבַחֶ֤רֶב וּבָֽרָעָב֙ יִכְל֔וּ וְהָיְתָ֤ה נִבְלָתָם֙ לְמַאֲכָ֔ל לְע֥וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וּלְבֶהֱמַ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They shall dieמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
• of grievousתַּחֲלֻאִיםtachălû' tachălû' · diseaseH8463
• deathsמָמוֹתmâmôth · deathH4463
• they shall not be lamentedסָפַדsâphad · to mournH5594
• neither shall they be buriedקָבַרqâbar · to buryH6912
• they shall be as dungדֹּ֫מֶןdômen · dungH1828
• upon the faceפָּנֶהpânîym · face: surfaceH6440
• of the earthאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: soilH127
• and they shall be consumedכָּלָהkâlâh · to end: destroyH3615
• by the swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
• and by famineרָעָבrâ‛âb · famineH7458
• and their carcasesנְבֵלָהnebêlâh · carcassH5038
• shall be meatמַאֲכָלma'ăkâl · foodH3978
• for the fowlsעוֹף‛ôph · birdH5775
• of heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
• and for the beastsבְּהֵמָהbehêmâh · animalH929
• of the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: soilH776

Cross-references for Jeremiah 16:4

• Jeremiah 14:16And the people that they are speaking their messages to will also die because of war and famine. Their bodies will lie in Jerusalem's streets. Nobody will be there to bury them. This will happen to the men, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will punish them as they deserve, because they are so wicked.
• Jeremiah 15:2They may ask you, “Where should we go?” Then tell them, “This is what the Lord says: Those who should become ill and die will die. Those who should die in war will die in war. Those who should die from famine will die from famine. Those who should go away as prisoners will go away as prisoners.”
• Psalms 78:64Their priests died in battle. Their widows had no chance to weep.
• Jeremiah 16:5The Lord also said to me, ‘Do not go into a house where they are eating a funeral meal. Do not join with them to weep because someone in the family has died. I have removed my blessing and my faithful love from these people. I will no longer be kind to them. That is what I say.
• Jeremiah 22:18So the Lord says this about Josiah's son, King Jehoiakim of Judah: ‘People will not weep when he dies. They will not say, “I am very sad, my brother. I am very sad, my sister.” They will not weep and say, “What a terrible thing has happened! Our great king has died!”
• Jeremiah 25:33At that time, dead bodies will lie everywhere, all over the earth. Those will be people that the Lord has killed. Nobody will weep for them. Nobody will take their bodies to bury them in the ground. Their dead bodies will lie on the ground like dung.
• Amos 6:9At that time, if ten people are safe together in one house, they will still all die.
• Jeremiah 7:33Then the bodies of dead people will lie on the ground. Birds and animals will come and eat them. There will be nobody to chase them away.
• Jeremiah 22:19Instead, they will bury him like a dead donkey. They will pull his dead body to the city's gate. They will throw it on the ground outside Jerusalem.’
• Jeremiah 36:30So now the Lord says this to you, Jehoiakim, king of Judah: “None of your descendants will rule David's kingdom of Judah. When you die, people will not bury your body. They will throw your dead body on the ground. As it lies there, the sun will burn it in the daytime. At night it will be cold with frost.
• Psalms 79:2They have let birds come down and eat the dead bodies of your people. Your servants have become food for wild animals to eat.
• Jeremiah 8:1The Lord says, ‘At that time, your enemies will open the graves of your leaders and they will remove their bones. They will remove the bones of Judah's kings and their officers, as well as the priests and prophets. They will also remove the bones of the ordinary people of Jerusalem.
• Jeremiah 9:22The Lord says this: Dead bodies of people will lie everywhere on the ground. They will lie there like dung that a farmer puts on his fields. They will lie there like crops at harvest time that nobody has picked up.’
• 1 Kings 14:10Because of this, I will bring great trouble to Jeroboam's family. I will kill every male among his descendants in Israel, whoever they are. I will completely destroy Jeroboam's family, like someone burns a heap of rubbish!
• 1 Kings 21:23The Lord says this about Jezebel: “Dogs will eat Jezebel's dead body beside the city wall of Jezreel.”
• 2 Kings 9:10Dogs will eat Jezebel's body on the ground in Jezreel. Nobody will bury her.” ’ Then the young prophet opened the door and he ran away.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 16:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4They shall die of grievous deaths - All prematurely; see Jeremiah 14:16. As dung upon the face of the earth - See Jeremiah 8:2. Be meat for the fowls - See Jeremiah 7:33.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4Jeremiah's lack of children served as a lesson about the future. Soon, many children and parents would die, leaving no one to mourn or bury them.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. grievous deaths--rather, "deadly diseases" (Jr 15:2). not ... lamented--so many shall be the slain (Jr 22:18). dung--(Psa 83:10).Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 16:4

• Burial
• Death

In the dictionaries

• Carcass; Carcase
• Dung; Dung Gate
• Grievous; Grievously; Greievousness
• beast

Commentaries on Jeremiah 16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings