| Geneva Study Bible Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind thy turban upon thee, {p} and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat {q} not the bread of men. (p) For in mourning they went bare headed and barefooted and also covered their lips. (q) That is, which the neighbours sent to them that mourned. Wesley's Notes 24:17 Bind the tire - Adorn thy head, as thou wast used to do; go not bare - headed as a mourner. Thy shoes - ln great mournings the Jews went bare - footed. Cover not thy lips - It was a custom among them to cover the upper lip. Eat not - Of thy neighbours and friends, who were wont to visit their mourning friends, and send in choice provision to their houses. King James Translators' Notes Forbear: Heb. Be silent lips: Heb. upper lip Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 17. Forbear to cry-or, "Lament in silence"; not forbidding sorrow, but the loud expression of it [Grotius]. no mourning-typical of the universality of the ruin of Jerusalem, which would preclude mourning, such as is usual where calamity is but partial. "The dead" is purposely put in the plural, as referring ultimately to the dead who should perish at the taking of Jerusalem; though the singular might have been expected, as Ezekiel's wife was the immediate subject referred to: "make no mourning," such as is usual, "for the dead, and such as shall be hereafter in Jerusalem" (Jer 16:5-7). tire of thine head-thy headdress [Fairbairn]. Jerome explains, "Thou shalt retain the hair which is usually cut in mourning." The fillet, binding the hair about the temples like a chaplet, was laid aside at such times. Uncovering the head was an ordinary sign of mourning in priests; whereas others covered their heads in mourning (2Sa 15:30). The reason was, the priests had their headdress of fine twined linen given them for ornament, and as a badge of office. The high priest, as having on his head the holy anointing oil, was forbidden in any case to lay aside his headdress. But the priests might do so in the case of the death of the nearest relatives (Le 21:2, 3, 10). They then put on inferior attire, sprinkling also on their heads dust and ashes (compare Le 10:6, 7). shoes upon thy feet-whereas mourners went "barefoot" (2Sa 15:30). cover not . lips-rather, the "upper lip," with the moustache (Le 13:45; Mic 3:7). bread of men-the bread usually brought to mourners by friends in token of sympathy. So the "cup of consolation" brought (Jer 16:7). "Of men" means such as is usually furnished by men. So Isa 8:1, "a man's pen"; Re 21:17, "the measure of a man." Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 24:15-27 Though mourning for the dead is a duty, yet it must be kept under by religion and right reason: we must not sorrow as men that have no hope. Believers must not copy the language and expressions of those who know not God. The people asked the meaning of the sign. God takes from them all that was dearest to them. And as Ezekiel wept not for his affliction, so neither should they weep for theirs. Blessed be God, we need not pine away under our afflictions; for should all comforts fail, and all sorrows be united, yet the broken heart and the mourner's prayer are always acceptable before God. | 
