Jeremiah 16:7

7 No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead; nor shall any one give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother.

Jeremiah 16:7 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 16:7

Neither shall men tear themselves
Either their flesh, or their clothes: or, "stretch out" F25; 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" F26; that is, bread, as at their funeral feasts. Thus the Septuagint version, neither shall bread be broken in their mourning; and to the same sense the Targum; so the word is used in ( Isaiah 63:7 ) , a practice that obtained among the Heathens; see ( Deuteronomy 26:14 ) and now with the Jews, as it seems: which they did for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead;
they used to carry or send food to the surviving relations, and went and ate with them, in order to comfort them for the loss of their friends; but this now would not be done, not because an Heathenish custom, but because they would have no heart nor leisure for it: see ( Ezekiel 24:17 ) . Neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their
father or for their mother:
not give them a cup of good liquor to comfort and cheer their spirits, overwhelmed with sorrow, on account of the death of a father or mother; which was wont to be done, but now should be omitted; the calamity would be so great, and so universal, that there would be none to do such offices as these; see ( Proverbs 31:6 Proverbs 31:7 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F25 (worpy alw) "et non expandent, [sub.] manus suas", Vatablus, Montanus; "extendent", Pagninus, Calvin. So Kimchi and Ben Melech.
F26 "Non divident", Tigurine version; "neque impertientur, [sub.] cibum", Junius & Tremellius; "partientur panem", Piscator; "neque cibum dabunt", Schmidt. So Jarchi, Joseph Kimchi, and Abarbinel.

Jeremiah 16:7 In-Context

5 "For thus says the LORD: Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament, or bemoan them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, says the LORD, my steadfast love and mercy.
6 Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or cut himself or make himself bald for them.
7 No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead; nor shall any one give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother.
8 You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink.
9 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will make to cease from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.