Jeremiah 14:16

16 The people to whom they have said these things will be killed in the same way. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to all of them - including their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will make them pay for their wickedness."

Jeremiah 14:16 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 14:16

And the people to whom they prophesy
That is, such of them as gave credit to their prophecies: shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, because of the famine
and the sword;
they dying of the famine and of the sword, their carcasses should be cast out of their houses into the open streets, and there lie unburied, as a punishment for disbelieving the words of the Lord, and giving heed to the lies of the false prophets: and they shall have none to bury them;
either through want of ability of body or substance, or through want of affection; or rather through want of persons to do it for them, all their relations being cut off with them, as follows: them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters;
or rather, "they" ^F14, "their wives, and their sons, and their daughters"; these shall die by the famine and the sword, and shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem; so that they and their relatives all dying, there would be none to bury one another; and that all should suffer by these calamities were but just and righteous, since all were guilty both of idolatry, and of despising the prophets, and listening to the false ones; see ( Jeremiah 7:18 ) : for I will pour their wickedness upon them;
or, "their evil upon them" {o}; not the evil of sin, but the evil of punishment; the meaning is, that he would abundantly punish them for their sins, and as they deserved, though not exceeding the bounds of justice: the phrase denotes that their wickedness was great; and that in proportion to it the vials of his wrath would be poured out upon them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 (hmh) "ipsi inquam", Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt.
F15 (Mter ta) "suum malum", Vatablus, Pagninus, Montanus.

Jeremiah 14:16 In-Context

14 But the Lord replied, "The prophets are telling lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I give them any orders or speak one word to them. The visions they talk about have not come from me; their predictions are worthless things that they have imagined.

15 I, the Lord, tell you what I am going to do to those prophets whom I did not send but who speak in my name and say war and starvation will not strike this land - I will kill them in war and by starvation.

16 The people to whom they have said these things will be killed in the same way. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to all of them - including their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will make them pay for their wickedness."

17 The Lord commanded me to tell the people about my sorrow and to say: "May my eyes flow with tears day and night, may I never stop weeping, for my people are deeply wounded and are badly hurt.

18 When I go out in the fields, I see the bodies of men killed in war; when I go into the towns, I see people starving to death. Prophets and priests carry on their work, but they don't know what they are doing."