What is the meaning of Jeremiah 5:16? Their quivers • Jeremiah has just announced that the LORD is bringing “a distant nation” against Judah (Jeremiah 5:15). Their primary weapon is the bow. A full quiver signals a ready, relentless assault. • Similar images appear in Jeremiah 6:22-23, where the invaders “grasp the bow and the spear” and come “like men in formation.” • Literal arrows will fly, yet the picture also underscores certainty of judgment—every shaft has a target, none will miss (Jeremiah 50:9). are like open graves • An “open grave” offers no escape; it receives the dead and keeps them. Comparing quivers to graves links arrow-wounds with burial: death rides on every flight. • Psalm 5:9 and Romans 3:13 speak of “open graves” to convey corruption and destruction. Here, the metaphor presses the point that the invaders’ weapons guarantee death, not mere intimidation. • Proverbs 30:16 names Sheol among things that never say “Enough!”—a fitting echo of quivers that keep pouring out arrows until the land is filled with casualties. they are all mighty men • The enemy soldiers are “mighty,” seasoned warriors who do not falter. Their valor matches their weaponry. • Isaiah 5:26-30 portrays a similar host: “None grows weary or stumbles… their arrows are sharpened.” The passage reinforces the idea of an unstoppable force. • Jeremiah 46:9 invites Egypt’s champions to battle, yet even they cannot withstand men like these. The contrast shows how formidable the army in chapter 5 truly is. summary Jeremiah 5:16 paints a terse but terrifying portrait of the coming Babylonian assault. Brimming quivers guarantee a barrage of arrows; those arrows bring certain death, as sure as an uncovered grave awaits a corpse; and every soldier loosing them is a proven warrior. The verse drives home the literal reality of divine judgment: when God’s patience ends and His warnings go unheeded, the instruments of punishment arrive fully equipped, deadly in aim, and unstoppable in strength. |
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