Jeremiah 16:6

Both the great and the 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:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) Nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald.—Both practices were forbidden by the Law (Leviticus 19:28; Leviticus 21:5; Deuteronomy 14:1), probably in order to draw a line of demarcation between Israel and the nations round, among whom such practices prevailed (1Kings 18:28). Both, however, seem to have been common, and probably had gained in frequency under Ahaz and Manasseh (Jeremiah 7:29; Jeremiah 41:5; Ezekiel 7:18; Amos 8:10; Micah 1:16). The “baldness” (i.e., shaving the crown of the head) seems to have been the more common of the two.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:1-9 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 the truths of God, must make it appear by their self-denial, that they believe it themselves. Peace, inward and outward, family and public, is wholly the work of God, and from his loving-kindness and mercy. When He takes his peace from any people, distress must follow. There may be times when it is proper to avoid things otherwise our duty; and we should always sit loose to the pleasures and concerns of this life.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. cut themselves—indicating extravagant grief (Jer 41:5; 47:5), prohibited by the law (Le 19:28).

bald—(Jer 7:29; Isa 22:12).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

There shall so many of all ranks and sizes die in this land, that men shall have no time to bury them, or there shall not be enough left living to bury the dead; nor shall men, for their own miseries, have leisure to lament for the miseries of other men. Cutting themselves in their flesh, and cutting off their hair, were pagan customs, which God forbade his own people; but yet it should seem they practised these barbarous customs; but saith God, I will put an end to that practice, men shall die so fast and in such multitudes, as they shall have no leisure to cut themselves for such as are dead, they shall not have such solemn mournings as they have had.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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.

Geneva Study Bible

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.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald] practices common among semi-civilized races. For both together, as here, cp. Jeremiah 47:5; for the former, Jeremiah 41:5, and perhaps (see C.B.) Hosea 7:14; for the latter, Isaiah 3:24; Isaiah 15:2; Isaiah 22:12; Ezekiel 7:18; Amos 8:10; Micah 1:16. They are forbidden Leviticus 19:28; Leviticus 21:5; Deuteronomy 14:1. The former of these practices represented the custom of human sacrifices as a propitiation to the spirit of the departed. Herodotus (IV. 71) describes the funeral rites of a Scythian king as requiring no less than six human victims.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - Nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald. Both practices are forbidden in the Law (Deuteronomy 14:1; Leviticus 19:28; Leviticus 21:5), but the prohibition was at any rate unknown to the masses (see, for the former, Jeremiah 41:5; Jeremiah 47:5; and for the latter, Jeremiah 47:5; Isaiah 22:12, "The Lord Jehovah called... to baldness;" Amos 8:10; Micah 1:16; Ezekiel 7:18). St. Jerome remarks, and incidentally gives a valuable evidence of the tenacity of primitive customs, "Mos hic fuit apud veteres, et usque hodie in quibusdam permanet Judaerum, ut in luctibus incidant lacertos," etc. Jeremiah 16:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The command not to go into a house of mourning (מרזח, loud crying, cry of lament for one dead, see on Amos 6:7), not to show sympathy with the survivors, is explained by the Lord in the fearfully solemn saying: I withdraw from this people my peace, grace, and mercy. שׁלום is not "the inviolateness of the relation between me and my people" (Graf), but the pace of God which rested on Judah, the source of its well-being, of its life and prosperity, and which showed itself to the sinful race in the extension to them of grace and mercy. The consequence of the withdrawal of this peace is the death of great and small in such multitudes that they can neither be buried nor mourned for (Jeremiah 16:6). התגּדד, but one's self, is used in Deuteronomy 14:1 for נתן שׂרט, to make cuts in the body, Leviticus 19:28; and קרח, Niph., to crop one's self bald, acc. to Deuteronomy 14:1, to shave a bare place on the front part of the head above the eyes. These are two modes of expressing passionate mourning for the dead which were forbidden to the Israelites in the law, yet which remained in use among the people, see on Leviticus 19:28 and Deuteronomy 14:1. להם, for them, in honour of the dead.