Bible Strands
Jeremiah 41:5
eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their garments, and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, carrying grain offerings and frankincense for the house of the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Eighty men from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria arrive carrying grain offerings and frankincense for the house of the LORD. This occurs on the second day after Gedaliah’s murder, while news of the assassination remains unknown to the travelers.
The words — מְגֻלְּחֵ֥י (megullĕḥê) translates to "shaven" or "shaved off," describing the men’s altered beards. אֲ֠נָשִׁים ('ănāshîm) means "men" and identifies the group traveling from three northern cities.
The thread — The practice of shaving and cutting themselves echoes pagan mourning rites, which Deuteronomy 14:1 explicitly forbids. Their journey to Shiloh recalls Joshua 18:1, where the congregation previously assembled at that same religious site.
Why it lands — The text records a specific group approaching a religious center with offerings while unaware of recent political violence. Readers must note how ritual observance continues uninterrupted amid hidden national crisis.
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
That there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the Lord.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 16:24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city there, calling it Samaria after the name of Shemer, who had owned the hill.
- Deuteronomy 14:1 You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,
- Joshua 18:1 Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,
- 2 Kings 25:9 He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.
- Genesis 33:18 After Jacob had come from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped just outside the city.
- Judges 9:1 Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to his mother’s brothers at Shechem and said to them and to all the clan of his mother,
- 1 Kings 12:1 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king.
- 1 Samuel 1:7 And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat.
- 1 Kings 12:25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And from there he went out and built Penuel.
- 1 Kings 16:29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria twenty-two years.