Jeremiah 16:7

7 And they will not break bread for [the] mourning ceremony for them, to comfort him because of [the] dead. And they will not give drink to them, [the] cup of desolation, for their fathers, or for their mothers.

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 ) .

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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 Yahweh, "You must not enter [the] house of [the] funeral meal, and you must not go to lament, and you must not show sympathy for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people," {declares} Yahweh, "the loyal love and the compassion.

6 Both the great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried, and they will not mourn for them, and no one will cut himself with a blade, and no one will shave himself for them.

7 And they will not break bread for [the] mourning ceremony for them, to comfort him because of [the] dead. And they will not give drink to them, [the] cup of desolation, for their fathers, or for their mothers.

8 And you shall not enter [the] house of [the] banquet, to sit with them, to eat and drink."

9 For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Look, I [am] about to cause to disappear from this place, before your eyes and in your days, [the] voice of jubilation, and [the] voice of joy, and [the] voice of [the] bridegroom, and [the] voice of [the] bride.

Footnotes

• [a] Hebrew "father"
• [b] Hebrew "mother"