6 Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them;
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
He pursues the same subject: he says that all would die indiscriminately, the common people as well as the chief men, that none would be exempt from destruction; for God would make a great slaughter, both of the lower orders and also of the higher, who excelled in wealth, in honor, and dignity; Die shall the great and the small. It often happens in changes that the great are punished; and sometimes the case is that the common people perish, while the nobles are spared: but God declares, that such would be the destruction, that their enemies would make no difference between the common people and the higher ranks, and that if they escaped the hands of their enemies, the pestilence or the famine would prove their ruin. He adds, They shall not bury them, nor beat their breast for them; and then, they shall not eat themselves, nor make themselves bald for them [1] This is not mentioned by the Prophet to commend what the people did; nor did he consider that in this respect they observed the command of the law; for God had forbidden them to imitate the corrupt customs of the heathens. (Leviticus 21:1) We have already said, that the orientals were much given to external ceremonies, so that there was no moderation in their lamentations: therefore God intended to correct this excess. But the Prophet here has no respect to the command, that the Jews were to moderate their grief, -- what then? He meant to shew, as I have already reminded you, that the slaughters would be so great, that they -- would cause hardness and insensibility, being so immense as to stun the feelings of men. When any one dies, friends and neighbors meet, and shew respect to his memory; but when pestilence prevails, or when all perish by famine, the greater part become hardened and unmindful of themselves and others, and the offices of humanity are no longer observed. God then shews, that such would be the devastation of the land, that the Jews, as though callous and hardened, would no longer lament for one another. In short, he shews, that together with these dreadful slaughters, such insensibility and hardness would prevail among the Jews, that no husband would think of his wife, and no father of his children; but that all of them would be so astonied by their own evils as to become like the wild beasts. He says further, They shall not cut themselves nor pull off their hairs, as they had used to do. These things are mentioned, as they were commonly done; it cannot be hence concluded, that they were approved by God; for God's design was not to pronounce a judgment on their lamentation, on the tearing off of the hair, or on their incisions. It is indeed certain that these practices proceeded from the impetuous feelings of men, and were tokens of impatience; but as I have said, God does not speak here of what was lawful, but of what men were wont to do. As to that part, where he says, that he had taken away his kindness and his mercies, he does not mean that he had changed his nature, but his object was to cut off occasion from all who might complain; for men, we know, whenever God's hand presses hard on them, to make them to deplore rightly their miseries, are stifficiently ready to say, that God visits them with too much severity. He therefore shews that they were unworthy of kindness and mercies. At the same time he reminded them that there was no reason for hypocrites to entertain any hope, because Scripture so often commends the kindness of God and his mercy; for since they accumulated sins on sins, God could not do otherwise than come to an extremity with them. With regard to the seventh verse, [2] we may learn from it what I have already referred to, -- that the Jews made funeral feasts, that children and widows might receive some relief to their sorrow; for the Prophet calls it the cup of consolations, when friends kindly attended; they had also some ridiculous gesticulations; for no doubt laughter was often excited by mourners among the Jews. But we see that men vied with one another in lamenting for the dead; for it was deemed a shame not to shew grief at the death of their friends. When tears did not flow, when the nearest relations did not howl for the dead, they thought them inhuman; hence it was, that there was much dissimulation in their mourning; and it was foolishly regarded an alleviation to extend the cup of consolation. But as I have said before, the Prophet here did not point out what was right, but borrowed his words from what was commonly practiced. It follows --
1 - The first clause of the verse, as well as the last of the preceding, is omitted in the Septuagint, but retained in the Vulgate, Syriac, and the Targum. The verbs in the next clause ought to be rendered as transitives, -- They shall not bury them nor lament for them. Then the two concluding verbs are to he rendered as impersonals, -- And there shall be no cutting nor making bald for them. The Welsh is a literal version of the Hebrew, -- Ac nid ymdorrir ac nid ymfoelir drostynt. Nothing can be much more literal. The first verb is in Hithpael, and so the Welsh is; for like Hebrew it has a reciprocal form for its verbs. The last verb is also in Welsh in this form; but it needs not be so, for it might be, ac ni foelir -- Ed.
2 - Calvin, having in his version explained the beginning of this verse, passes it by here. His rendering is, "And they shall not beat their hands together for them, to console any one for the dead." He omits one word, rendered, "in mourning" in our version. The Septuagint, the Vulgate, the Arabic and the Targum give another meaning. They must have read lchm "bread," instead of lhm "for them." The difference is so small that we are inclined to think it the true readIng, though there be but two MSS. in its favor. The passage itself seems to require this reading, -- the verb which precedes it, and the correspondence between the former and latter part of the verse -- bread and drink. The verse then would read thus, -- 7. And they shall not divide bread to the mourner, To console him for the dead: Nor shall they give them to drink the cup of consolations, Each one for his father and for his mother. Blayney quotes Jerome, who says, "It was usual to carry provisions to mourners, and to make an entertainment, which sort of feasts the Greeks call perideipna, and the Latin parentalia." -- Ed.
Cut themselves make themselves bald - Both these practices were strictly forbidden in the Law (marginal references) probably as being pagan customs, but they seem to have remained in common use. By "making bald" is meant shaving a bare patch on the front of the head.
Nor cut themselves - A custom of the heathen forbidden to the Jews, Leviticus 19:28; Deuteronomy 14:1, and which appears now to have prevailed among them; because, having become idolaters, they conformed to all the customs of the heathen. They tore their hair, rent their garments, cut their hands, arms, and faces. These were not only signs of sorrow but were even supposed to give ease to the dead, and appease the angry deities. The Hindoos, on the death of a relation, express their grief by loud lamentations, and not unfrequently bruise themselves in an agony of grief with whatever they can lay hold on.
Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall [men] lament for them, (c) nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:
(c) That is, should not tear their clothes in sign of mourning.
Both the great and the small shall die in this land,.... The nobles as well as the common people, high and low, rich and poor; none shall be exempted from the grievous deaths by the sword, famine, and pestilence.
They shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them; as before, Jeremiah 16:4, this shall be the common case of them all; the great and the rich shall have no more care and notice taken of them than the poor:
nor cut themselves; their flesh, with their nails, or with knives, to show their grief for the dead, and to alleviate the sorrow of surviving friends, by bearing a part with them:
nor make themselves bald for them; by plucking off the hair of their heads, or by shaving them, and between their eyes; which though forbidden the Jews by the law of God, as being Heathenish customs, yet obtained in the times of Jeremiah, and were usually done; see Deuteronomy 14:1.
cut themselves--indicating extravagant grief (Jeremiah 41:5; Jeremiah 47:5), prohibited by the law (Leviticus 19:28).
bald-- (Jeremiah 7:29; Isaiah 22:12).
Nor cut - Cutting themselves and cutting off their hair, were Pagan customs, which God forbad his own people; but yet it seemed they practised them: but saith God, Men shall die so fast that they shall have no leisure to cut themselves.
*More commentary available at chapter level.