The Meaning of Jeremiah 16:4 Explained

Jeremiah 16:4

KJV: 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.

YLT: Of 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.

Darby: They 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.

ASV: They 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Jeremiah 16:4 Mean?

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 16

1  The prophet, under the types of abstaining from marriage,
8  from houses of mourning and feasting, foreshows the utter ruin of the Jews;
10  because they were worse than their fathers
14  Their return from captivity shall be stranger than their deliverance out of Egypt
16  God will doubly recompense their idolatry

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 16:4 mean?

Deaths gruesome they shall die not they shall be lamented nor shall they be buried like refuse on the face of the earth [but] they shall be and by the sword and by famine they shall be consumed and shall be their corpses meat for the birds of heaven for the beasts of the earth -
מְמוֹתֵ֨י תַחֲלֻאִ֜ים יָמֻ֗תוּ לֹ֤א יִסָּֽפְדוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א יִקָּבֵ֔רוּ לְדֹ֛מֶן עַל־ פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָ֖ה יִֽהְי֑וּ וּבַחֶ֤רֶב וּבָֽרָעָב֙ יִכְל֔וּ וְהָיְתָ֤ה נִבְלָתָם֙ לְמַאֲכָ֔ל לְע֥וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וּלְבֶהֱמַ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ ס

מְמוֹתֵ֨י  Deaths 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: מָמֹות  
Sense: death.
תַחֲלֻאִ֜ים  gruesome 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: תַּחֲלֻאִים  
Sense: diseases.
יָמֻ֗תוּ  they  shall  die 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: מוּת  
Sense: to die, kill, have one executed.
יִסָּֽפְדוּ֙  they  shall  be  lamented 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: סָפַד  
Sense: to wail, lament, mourn.
וְלֹ֣א  nor 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יִקָּבֵ֔רוּ  shall  they  be  buried 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: קָבַר  
Sense: to bury.
לְדֹ֛מֶן  like  refuse 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: דֹּמֶן  
Sense: dung (always of corpses) (fig.
פְּנֵ֥י  the  face 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
הָאֲדָמָ֖ה  of  the  earth 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֲדָמָה 
Sense: ground, land.
יִֽהְי֑וּ  [but]  they  shall  be 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
וּבַחֶ֤רֶב  and  by  the  sword 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֶרֶב  
Sense: sword, knife.
וּבָֽרָעָב֙  and  by  famine 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: רָעָב  
Sense: famine, hunger.
יִכְל֔וּ  they  shall  be  consumed 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: כָּלָה  
Sense: to accomplish, cease, consume, determine, end, fail, finish, be complete, be accomplished, be ended, be at an end, be finished, be spent.
וְהָיְתָ֤ה  and  shall  be 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
נִבְלָתָם֙  their  corpses 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: נְבֵלָה  
Sense: carcass, corpse.
לְמַאֲכָ֔ל  meat 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מַאֲכָל  
Sense: food, fruit, meat.
לְע֥וֹף  for  the  birds 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: עֹוף  
Sense: flying creatures, fowl, insects, birds.
הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם  of  heaven 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַיִם  
Sense: heaven, heavens, sky.
וּלְבֶהֱמַ֥ת  for  the  beasts 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: בְּהֵמָה  
Sense: beast, cattle, animal.
הָאָֽרֶץ  of  the  earth 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation