John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 16:6-7

"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; neither shall men break [bread] for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother." — Jeremiah 16:6-7 (ASV)

He pursues the same subject: he says that all would die indiscriminately, the common people as well as the chief men, and 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 common people perish while the nobles are spared. But God declares that the destruction would be such that their enemies would make no distinction 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. 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 is not referring to the command that the Jews were to moderate their grief. What then?

He meant to show, 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 anyone dies, friends and neighbors meet and show 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 shows 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 shows 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 astonished by their own calamities as to become like wild beasts.

He says further, They shall not cut themselves nor pull off their hairs, as they used to do. These things are mentioned as they were commonly done; it cannot be concluded from this 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 accustomed to do.

Regarding the part where he says that God had taken away His kindness and His mercies, God does not mean that He had changed His nature. Rather, His purpose was to remove any opportunity for complaint from those who might protest. For we know that when God’s hand presses hard on people, intending to make them rightly deplore their miseries, they are nevertheless sufficiently ready to say that God visits them with too much severity.

He therefore shows 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 upon sins, God could not do otherwise than take extreme measures with them.

With regard to the seventh verse, we may learn from it what I have already referred to: that the Jews held funeral feasts so that children and widows might receive some comfort in their sorrow. For the Prophet calls it the cup of consolations when friends kindly attended. They also had some ridiculous gesticulations, for no doubt laughter was often provoked by mourners among the Jews.

But we see that people vied with one another in lamenting for the dead, for it was deemed a shame not to show grief at the death of their friends. When tears did not flow, when the nearest relations did not howl for the dead, they were considered inhuman. Consequently, there was much dissimulation in their mourning, and it was foolishly regarded as a source of comfort to offer 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.