Bible Strands
Jeremiah 22:18
Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to deliver a judgment oracle concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah, immediately following accusations of greed and oppression in the preceding verse. The message addresses the royal administration and the people regarding the king's impending fate.
The words — לָ/כֵ֞ן (la./Khen) = therefore, and כֹּֽה\־ (koh-) = thus frame the declaration, signaling a formal prophetic pronouncement that directly links the preceding indictment to its consequence.
The thread — The denial of mourning echoes Jeremiah 16:6 and 16:4, which state that both great and small will die without burial or lamentation. The phrase “Alas, my brother!” recalls 1 Kings 13:30, where a prophet’s body is laid in a tomb and lamented by another prophet.
Why it lands — The text states that Jehoiakim will receive no royal funeral rites or public lament, stripping him of the honor his title normally commanded. It asks the reader to recognize that divine judgment removes the social and religious protections that normally accompany earthly power.
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
Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 13:30 Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they lamented over him, “Oh, my brother!”
- 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.
- Jeremiah 16:4 “They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.”
- Jeremiah 22:10 Do not weep for him who is dead; do not mourn his loss. Weep bitterly for him who is exiled, for he will never return to see his native land.
- 2 Samuel 1:26 I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were delightful to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.
- 2 Samuel 3:33 And the king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner die the death of a fool?
- 2 Chronicles 21:19 This continued day after day until two full years had passed. Finally, his intestines came out because of his disease, and he died in severe pain. And his people did not make a fire in his honor as they had done for his fathers.
- 2 Chronicles 35:25 Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers recite laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments.
- Jeremiah 34:5 you will die in peace. As spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who preceded you, so people will burn spices for you and lament, ‘Alas, O master!’ For I Myself have spoken this word, declares the LORD.”