Jeremiah 16:1

The word of the Lord came, &c.— We have here a new discourse, wherein God forbids Jeremiah to marry, principally to mark out the miseries of parents, in the confused and ruinous state of things in Judaea. Fruitfulness was promised as a blessing under the law, but ceased to be so in such difficult times as were coming: for what comfort can parents promise themselves in their children, who must be exposed to all the miseries of a hostile invasion, and the insults of a barbarous and conquering enemy?