ירמיהו, פרק ט״ז, פסוק ד׳

The impending destruction brings a total collapse of social order and strips away even the most basic respect for the dead. A relentless chain of disasters will sweep through the land, resulting in countless deaths from severe illness.

The primary approach among commentators [רד״ק, מצודת דוד] is that this illness is the direct result of a crushing famine. As [רד״ק] notes, since anyone who escapes violence will eventually die of some natural ailment, the sickness here must specifically refer to the agonizing condition of starvation. Conversely, [מלבי״ם] suggests that the disaster begins with a deadly plague striking the population.

In the wake of these tragedies, the dead will remain unmourned and unburied. The sheer volume of casualties will be overwhelming. People will be so consumed with their own survival and personal suffering that they will lack the time and ability to arrange funerals [רד״ק, מצודת דוד]. Furthermore, survivors will be paralyzed by the fear of handling the corpses, terrified of catching the fatal disease [מלבי״ם].

Left abandoned, the bodies will decay like fertilizer scattered across the ground. According to [מלבי״ם], the tragedy unfolds in distinct stages. First, victims of the plague will die and rot on the earth before predators even discover them. Afterward, those who manage to survive the initial outbreak will be wiped out by war and starvation. With no one left to bury the victims, the remains will become food for scavenging birds and animals of the earth, a category that includes wild beasts [מצודת דוד]. Faced with such a horrific reality, where death is inescapable and the deceased are left in utter disgrace, it becomes clear that there is no purpose in bringing children into the world in this land [ביאור שטיינזלץ].