The Prophets · Old Testament
Jeremiah 16
Jeremiah 16: no wife, no mourning, no feasting, and fishers and hunters
General context
The word of the Lord tells Jeremiah not to take a wife or have sons or daughters in this place, because the children and parents of this land will die grievous deaths, unlamented and unburied, consumed by sword and famine, their carcases meat for fowls and beasts. He is not to enter the house of mourning, for the Lord has taken his peace, lovingkindness and mercies from this people; no one will lament or give the cup of consolation. He is not to go into the house of feasting either, because the Lord will cause the voice of mirth and gladness, bridegroom and bride, to cease in their days. When the people ask what their sin is, he is to answer: their fathers forsook the Lord for other gods, and they have done worse, so he will cast them into a land they do not know, where they will serve other gods day and night. Then the days come when it will no longer be said, The Lord liveth, that brought Israel out of Egypt, but, The Lord liveth, that brought Israel from the land of the north and all the lands where he had driven them, and he will bring them again into their land. He will send many fishers and then many hunters to find them in every mountain, hill and hole of the rocks, for his eyes are on all their ways, and first he will recompense their iniquity double because they filled his inheritance with carcases of detestable things. The prophet calls the Lord his strength, fortress and refuge, and says the Gentiles will come confessing that their fathers inherited lies. The Lord closes by saying they will know his name is The Lord.
Cited passages: Jeremiah 16:1, Jeremiah 16:2, Jeremiah 16:3, Jeremiah 16:4, Jeremiah 16:5, Jeremiah 16:6, Jeremiah 16:7, Jeremiah 16:8, Jeremiah 16:9, Jeremiah 16:10, Jeremiah 16:11, Jeremiah 16:12, Jeremiah 16:13, Jeremiah 16:14, Jeremiah 16:15, Jeremiah 16:16, Jeremiah 16:17, Jeremiah 16:18, Jeremiah 16:19, Jeremiah 16:20, Jeremiah 16:21
Jeremiah 16 (KJV)
1The word of the Lord came also unto me, saying,
2Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
3For thus saith the Lord concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
4They 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.
5For thus saith the Lord, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, even lovingkindness and mercies.
6Both the great and the 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:
7Neither shall men tear themselves 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.
8Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.
9For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
10And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?
11Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the Lord, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
12And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
13Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.
14Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
15But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
16Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
17For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
18And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.
19O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
20Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?
21Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The Lord.
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Historical context
The command not to marry is given to Jeremiah alone, "Thou shalt not take thee a wife," and the reason is stated as the coming deaths of children and parents "in this place"; the text does not say whether he obeyed, but no wife or child of his is mentioned. The mourning customs the people will lose are listed in the negative: lamenting, burial, cutting themselves, making themselves bald, tearing, and the cup of consolation. The text does not comment on those customs beyond saying they will not be done. The land of exile is "a land that ye know not," and the return is from "the land of the north" and "all the lands whither he had driven them"; no nation is named. The new oath formula is set beside the old one, exodus from Egypt beside return from the north, and the text says the old saying will be said "no more." The fishers and hunters are figures without identification. Verse 18 says the recompense comes "first," before the return of verse 15. Verses 19 and 20 are a first-person address to the Lord, "my strength, and my fortress," with the Gentiles' future confession quoted; the text does not say when this is to happen. The double recompense is the Lord's stated measure. The chapter gives no date and names no king.
Cited passages: Jeremiah 16:2, Jeremiah 16:4, Jeremiah 16:6, Jeremiah 16:7, Jeremiah 16:13, Jeremiah 16:14, Jeremiah 16:15, Jeremiah 16:16, Jeremiah 16:18, Jeremiah 16:19, Jeremiah 16:20
Literary context
The chapter is organized around three prohibitions laid on the prophet, no wife, no house of mourning, no house of feasting, each followed by "For thus saith the Lord" and a reason. The prophet's own life is made the sign: what he does not do shows what the people will not be able to do. The refusal of mourning inverts chapter 9, where mourning women were summoned; here no one will lament at all. The ceasing of the voice of the bridegroom and the bride repeats 7:34 word for word. Verses 10 through 13 are shaped as an anticipated question and its answer, with the people's threefold question, wherefore, what is our iniquity, what is our sin, met by the double charge against fathers and sons and the sentence of a land they do not know. Then the chapter turns: the oath formula is rewritten to speak of return, and fishers and hunters are set as two waves of pursuit reaching every mountain, hill and hole of the rocks, so that the eyes of the Lord in verse 17 leave no hiding place. The prophet's short confession in verse 19 and the Lord's closing sentence about his name balance the opening command with a wider hope for the Gentiles.
Cited passages: Jeremiah 16:2, Jeremiah 16:3, Jeremiah 16:5, Jeremiah 16:8, Jeremiah 16:9, Jeremiah 16:10, Jeremiah 16:11, Jeremiah 16:12, Jeremiah 16:14, Jeremiah 16:15, Jeremiah 16:16, Jeremiah 16:17, Jeremiah 16:19, Jeremiah 16:21
Key moments
- Take thee no wife (Jeremiah 16:2). Jeremiah is told not to marry or have children in this place.
- Unlamented and unburied (Jeremiah 16:4). Sons, daughters and parents will die grievous deaths and lie as dung.
- Enter not the house of mourning (Jeremiah 16:5). The Lord has taken his peace, lovingkindness and mercies from the people.
- No voice of the bride (Jeremiah 16:9). Mirth, gladness, bridegroom and bride will cease in their days.
- What is our sin? (Jeremiah 16:10). The people's question is anticipated and answered with their fathers' and their own forsaking.
- A new oath (Jeremiah 16:15). The Lord will be named as the one who brought Israel from the land of the north.
- Fishers and hunters (Jeremiah 16:16). The Lord will send fishers and then hunters to find them in every hill and rock.
For reflection
Jeremiah is forbidden to marry, to mourn and to feast, so that his life shows a people what they are about to lose. What does it cost a messenger when the message has to be lived rather than only spoken?
