Jeremiah 16 · Verse 4

Jeremiah 16:4

They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
Jeremiah 16:4, King James Version

Jeremiah 16:4 in other translations

BSB“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.”
WEB“They will die grievous deaths. They will not be lamented, neither will they be buried. They will be as dung on the surface of the ground. They will be consumed by the sword and by famine. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth.”
ASVThey shall die grievous deaths: they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the ground; and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.
YLTOf painful deaths they die, They are not lamented, nor are they buried, For dung on the face of the ground they are, And by sword and by famine are consumed, And their carcase hath been for food To the fowl of the heavens, And to the beast of the earth.
DARBYThey shall die of painful deaths; they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the ground, and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine, and their carcases shall be food for the fowl of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.
BBEDeath from evil diseases will overtake them; there will be no weeping for them and their bodies will not be put to rest; they will be like waste on the face of the earth: the sword and need of food will put an end to them; their dead bodies will be meat for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth.
WebsterThey shall die by grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcasses shall be food for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

What does Jeremiah 16:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. grievous deaths--rather, "deadly diseases" (Jr 15:2). not ... lamented--so many shall be the slain (Jr 22:18). dung--(Psa 83:10).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 They shall die of grievous deaths - All prematurely; see Jer 14:16. As dung upon the face of the earth - See Jer 8:2. Be meat for the fowls - See Jer 7:33.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Jeremiah 16:1-9

Prohibitions given to the prophet. (Jr 16:1-9) The justice of God in these judgments. (Jr 16:10-13) Future restoration of the Jews, and the conversion of the Gentiles. (Jr 16:14-21) Verses 1-9 The prophet must conduct himself as one who expected to see his country ruined very shortly. In the prospect of sad times, he is to abstain from marriage, mourning for the dead, and pleasure. Those who would convince others of…

Read the full comment on Jeremiah 16:1-9 →

Jeremiah 16:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

מְמוֹתֵ֨יme.mo.Teideaths ofH4463
תַחֲלֻאִ֜יםta.cha.lu.'ImdiseasesH8463
יָמֻ֗תוּya.Mu.tuthey will dieH4191
לֹ֤אlo'notH3808
יִסָּֽפְדוּ֙yi.sa.fe.Duthey will be mournedH5594
וְלֹ֣אve.Lo'and notH3808
יִקָּבֵ֔רוּyi.ka.Ve.ruthey will be buriedH6912
לְדֹ֛מֶןle.Do.men<into> dungH1828
עַל\־'al-onH5921
פְּנֵ֥יpe.Nei[the] surface ofH6440
הָאֲדָמָ֖הha.'a.da.Mahthe groundH127
יִֽהְי֑וּyih.Yuthey will becomeH1961
וּבַחֶ֤רֶבu.va.Che.revand by the swordH2719
וּבָֽרָעָב֙u.va.ra.'Avand by <the> famineH7458
יִכְל֔וּyikh.Luthey will come to an endH3615
וְהָיְתָ֤הve.ha.ye.Tahand it will becomeH1961
נִבְלָתָם֙niv.la.Tamcorpse[s] theirH5038
לְמַאֲכָ֔לle.ma.'a.Khal<into> foodH3978
לְע֥וֹףle.'offor [the] bird[s] ofH5775
הַשָּׁמַ֖יִםha.sha.Ma.yimthe heavensH8064
וּלְבֶהֱמַ֥תu.le.ve.he.Matand for [the] animal[s] ofH929
הָאָֽרֶץ\׃\ \סha.'A.retzthe earthH776

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Jeremiah 16:4

  • Jeremiah 25:33

    And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

  • Psalms 83:10

    Which perished at En–dor: they became as dung for the earth.

  • Jeremiah 9:22

    Speak, Thus saith the Lord, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.

  • Zephaniah 1:17

    And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

  • Jeremiah 34:20

    I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.

  • Jeremiah 22:18-19

    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! He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

  • Jeremiah 15:2-3

    And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the Lord; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.

  • Jeremiah 7:33

    And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.

  • Isaiah 18:6

    They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

  • Revelation 19:17-18

    And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

  • 2 Kings 9:10

    And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.

  • Psalms 79:2-3

    The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
die.
14:16; 15:2,3; Ps 78:64
not.
5-7; 22:18; 25:33; Am 6:9,10
neither.
7:33; 22:19; 36:30; Ps 79:2,3
as dung.
8:1-3; 9:22; 25:33; 1Ki 14:10,11; 21:23,24; 2Ki 9:10,36,37
Ps 83:10; Isa 5:25; Zep 1:17
consumed.
14:15; 34:17; 44:12,27; Eze 5:12
meat.
34:20; Ps 79:2; Isa 18:6; Eze 39:17-20; Re 19:17,18

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Jeremiah 16:3

    For thus saith the Lord concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;

  • Jeremiah 16:4

    They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

  • Jeremiah 16:5

    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.

Read all of Jeremiah 16

Jeremiah 16:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		De dolorosas enfermedades morirán; no serán plañidos ni enterrados: serán por muladar sobre la haz de la tierra: y con cuchillo y con hambre serán consumidos, y sus cuerpos serán para comida de las aves del cielo y de las bestias de la tierra.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ils mourront de morts misérables; ils ne seront pas pleurés, et ne seront pas enterrés; ils seront du fumier sur la face du sol, et ils seront consumés par l’épée et par la famine, et leurs cadavres seront en pâture aux oiseaux des cieux et aux bêtes de la terre.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Sie sollen an schmerzlichen Krankheiten sterben, sie sollen nicht beklagt noch begraben werden, zu Dünger auf der Fläche des Erdbodens sollen sie werden; und durch Schwert und durch Hunger sollen sie vernichtet werden, und ihre Leichname sollen dem Gevögel des Himmels und den Tieren der Erde zur Speise dienen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Mortibus ægrotationum morientur: non plangentur, et non sepelientur: in sterquilinium super faciem terræ erunt, et gladio et fame consumentur: et erit cadaver eorum in escam volatilibus cæli et bestiis terræ.