CHAPTER XVI _On account of the evils which threatened his country, the_ _prophet is forbidden to encumber himself with a wife and_ _family, or to bear any share in the little joys and sorrows of_ _his neighbours, which were to be forgotten and absorbed in_ _those public calamities_, 1-9, _whic... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:2. _THOSE SHALT NOT TAKE THEE A WIFE_] As it would be very inconvenient to have a family when the threatened desolations should come on the place. The reason is given in the following verses.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:4. _THEY SHALL DIE OF GRIEVIOUS DEATHS_] All _prematurely_; see Jeremiah 14:16. _AS DUNG UPON THE FACE OF THE EARTH_] See Jeremiah 8:2. _BE MEAT FOR THE FOWLS_] See Jeremiah 7:33.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:5. _ENTER NOT INTO THE HOUSE OF MOURNING_] The public calamities are too great to permit individual losses to come into consideration.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:6. _NOR CUT THEMSELVES_] A custom of the heathen forbidden to the Jews, Leviticus 19:28; Deuteronomy 14:1, and which appears now to have prevailed among them; because, having become idolaters, they conformed to all the customs of the heathen. They _tore their hair,_ _rent their gar... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:8. _THOU SHALT NOT ALSO GO INTO THE HOUSE OF FEASTING_] _Funeral banquets_ were made to commemorate the dead, and comfort the surviving relatives; and _the cup of consolation_, strong mingled wine, was given to those who were deepest in distress, to divert their minds and to soothe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:12. _AND YE HAVE DONE WORSE THAN YOUR FATHERS_] The sins of the fathers would not have been visited on the children, had they not followed their example, and become even worse than they.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:13. _WILL I CAST YOU OUT OF THIS LAND_] See Jeremiah 7:15; Jeremiah 9:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:14. _THE LORD LIVETH, THAT BROUGHT UP_] See Isaiah 43:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:15. _THE LAND OF THE NORTH_] Chaldea: and their deliverance thence will be as remarkable as the deliverance of their fathers from the land of Egypt.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:16. _I WILL SEND FOR MANY FISHERS - FOR MANY HUNTERS_] I shall raise up enemies against them some of whom shall destroy them by _wiles_, and others shall ruin them by _violence_. This seems to be the meaning of these symbolical _fishers_ and _hunters_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:18. _THE CARCASSES OF THEIR DETESTABLE - THINGS._] Either meaning the _idols_ themselves, which were only _carcasses_ without life; or the _sacrifices_ which were made to them.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:19. _THE GENTILES SHALL COME_] Even the days shall come when the Gentiles themselves, ashamed of their confidence, shall renounce their idols, and acknowledge that their fathers had believed lies, and worshipped vanities. This may be a prediction of the _calling of the Gentiles_ by... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:20. _SHALL A MAN MAKE GODS UNTO HIMSELF?_] Can any be so silly, and so preposterously absurd? Yes, fallen man is capable of any thing that is base, mean, vile, and wicked, till influenced and converted by the grace of Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 16:21. _THEREFORE, BEHOLD, I WILL THIS ONCE_] I will not now change my purpose. They shall be visited and carried into captivity; nothing shall prevent this: and they shall know that my name is JEHOVAH. Since they would not receive the abundance of my _mercies_, they shall know what t... [ Continue Reading ]