Jeremiah 16:5

Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal. Do not go to mourn or show sympathy, for I have removed from this people My peace, My loving devotion, and My compassion,” declares the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Yahweh speaks this command to Jeremiah, directing him to refuse entry into funeral houses and to withhold mourning or sympathy. The instruction accompanies a declaration of impending national judgment where the dead will lie unburied.

The words — The phrase כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה (khoh amar Yahweh) literally means "thus says Yahweh," grounding the command in divine authority. The noun מַרְזֵחַ (marzeach) refers to a specific mourning feast or communal meal tied to traditional funeral rites.

The thread — The prohibition against mourning aligns with Ezekiel 24:16, where Yahweh commands Ezekiel not to weep for his wife, and Deuteronomy 31:17, which describes God hiding His face in judgment. Jeremiah 16:4 and 16:6 reinforce the pattern by detailing how the dead will be left unburied and unmourned.

Why it lands — The text states that Yahweh has removed His peace, loving devotion, and compassion from the people, leaving no basis for traditional mourning. Readers must acknowledge that covenant rupture eliminates divine presence and the social structures that normally process grief.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

For thus saith the Lord, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, even lovingkindness and mercies.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 24:16 “Son of man, behold, I am about to take away the desire of your eyes with a fatal blow. But you must not mourn or weep or let your tears flow.
Isaiah 27:11 When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
Deuteronomy 31:17 On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’
Jeremiah 15:1 Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go!
Jeremiah 16:6 “Both great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.
Revelation 6:4 Then another horse went forth. It was bright red, and its rider was granted permission to take away peace from the earth and to make men slay one another. And he was given a great sword.
2 Chronicles 15:5 In those days there was no safety for travelers, because the residents of the lands had many conflicts.
Zechariah 8:10 For before those days neither man nor beast received wages, nor was there safety from the enemy for anyone who came or went, for I had turned every man against his neighbor.