Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 16:2
Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
2. Thou shall not take thee a wife ] Marriage was a state of life in special favour with the Jews. By his act of self-denial therefore Jeremiah was to shew his full submission to the will of God, while it would at the same time be a forcible mode of conveying the message of coming woes which he was charged to deliver to the people.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As marriage was obligatory upon the Jews, the prohibition of it to Jeremiah was a sign that the impending calamity was so great as to override all ordinary duties. Jeremiah was unmarried, but the force of the sign lay in its being an exception to the ordinary practice of the prophets.
In this place – The whole of Judaea.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It is uncertain whether what we have in this chapter be a new revelation, or a continuance of his former prophecy. God commandeth the prophet in it under certain types to foretell their utter ruin and destruction. First he commandeth him to marry no wife, nor have sons or daughters. He expoundeth this command Jer 16:3,4.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. in this placein Judea. Thedirection to remain single was (whether literally obeyed, or only inprophetic vision) to symbolize the coming calamities of the Jews (Eze24:15-27) as so severe that the single state would be then(contrary to the ordinary course of things) preferable to the married(compare 1Co 7:8; 1Co 7:26;1Co 7:29; Mat 24:19;Luk 23:29).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou shall not take thee a wife,…. Not because it was unlawful; for it was lawful for prophets to marry, and they did; but because it was not advisable, on account of the calamities and distresses which were coming upon the nation; which would be more bearable by him alone, than if he had a wife, which would increase his care, concern, and sorrow.
Neither shall thou have sons nor daughters in this place; in Anathoth, says Kimchi; but it is most likely that Jerusalem in particular is meant, though the whole land of Judea in general may be designed; and though nothing is more desirable than to have children to build up the family, and bear and continue a man’s name for futurity, yet in times of public calamity these do but add to the affliction.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This is a new discourse, which yet is not unlike many others, except in this particular, that the Prophet was not to marry a wife nor beget children in the land But as to the general subject, he repeats now what he had often said before and confirmed in many places. But the prohibition to marry was full of meaning; it was to shew that the people were wholly given up to destruction. The law of man’s creation, we know, was this,
“
Increase and multiply.” (Gen 1:22; Gen 8:17; Gen 9:1)
As then mankind are perpetuated by marriage, here on the contrary God shews that that land was unworthy of this common and even general blessing enjoyed by the whole race of man. It is the same as if he had said, “They indeed as yet live, but a quick destruction awaits them, for I will deprive them of the universal favor which I have hitherto shewed to all mankind.”
Marriage is the preservation of the human race: Take not to thee a wife and beget no children We hence see that in the person of Jeremiah God intended to shew the Jews that they deserved to be exterminated from the earth. This is the import of this prophecy.
It may however be asked, whether the Prophet was unmarried? But this has nothing to do with the subject, for he received this command in a vision; and though he might not have been unmarried, he might still have proclaimed this prophecy, that God had forbidden him to marry and to beget children. At the same time, I think it were probable that the Prophet. was not married, for as he walked naked, and as he carried on his neck a yoke, so also his celibacy might have been intended to be, as it were, a living representation, in order to produce an effect on the Jews. But, as I have already said, we need not contend about this matter. Every one then is at liberty to judge as he pleases, only I suggest what I deem most probable.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) Thou shalt not take thee a wife . . .The words came to an Israelite and to a priest with a force which we can hardly understand. With them marriage, and the hopes which it involved, was not only a happiness but a duty, and to be cut off from it was to renounce both, because the evil that was coming on the nation was such as to turn both into a curse. We may compare cur Lords words in Mat. 24:19 and those spoken to the daughters of Jerusalem (Luk. 23:29), and what, in part at least, entered into St. Pauls motives for a like abstinence on account of the present distress (1Co. 7:26).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Not take thee a wife Marriage was in the general obligatory, and this prohibition was clearly exceptional. So far, then, from favouring clerical celibacy the bearing of the passage is distinctly against it. With this prohibition should be compared 1Co 7:26, and Eze 24:15-27. This command is enforced by the universal catastrophe which was before the people.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The First Sign: Abstention From Marriage And Childbearing ( Jer 16:2-4 ).
Jeremiah’s abstention from marriage and childbearing was in order to underline the awful future that waited those who were married, along with their wives, sons and daughters.
Jer 16:2-4
“You shall not take for yourself a wife,
Nor shall you have sons or daughters, in this place.
For thus says YHWH concerning the sons,
And concerning the daughters who are born in this place,
And concerning their mothers who bore them,
And concerning their fathers who begat them in this land,”
They will die grievous deaths (deaths from diseases),
They will not be lamented, nor will they be buried.
They will be as dung on the face of the ground,
And they will be consumed by the sword, and by famine,
And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the heavens,
And for the beasts of the earth.”
The first sign that was to be given by Jeremiah was that of abstention from marrying and having children. To us that might not be seen as so unusual, but it was very different for men in Israel in those days. For every Israelite adult male saw marriage and bearing children as being his most important basic duty and as being the most necessary requirement of life. By it he was seen as not only fulfilling his own destiny (‘be fruitful and multiply’ – Gen 1:28), but as also perpetuating his name, and ensuring the passing on of his inheritance through the family. Marriage was considered to form the very basis of society. And it was not only for his own sake. It was in order that he and his successors might provide security for the whole family. It was seen as the very foundation of family life, providing stability for all, and ensuring its continual growth and prosperity. Not to marry was greatly frowned on, and almost unknown, and not to have children was seen as an especially great grief, and a catastrophe for the family, which was one reason why dual marriage was allowed
So when Jeremiah was told by God not to take a wife for himself and have sons and daughters, he was being asked to go against the very tenets of society, to forego a basic right, and to be willing to face up to the opprobrium that would almost certainly follow. But the reason for the abstention was clearly laid out. It was in order to get over the fact that, in view of Judah’s future prospects, not being married and not having sons and daughters would be seen as a great advantage, because death would be so rampant. Fathers, mothers, sons and daughters would all die grievous deaths through diseases, and they would die in such circumstances that they would not be lamented because those deaths would be so much a part of what was happening around them that there would be no opportunity for mourning, and no one to do the mourning. Their dead bodies would lie unburied, lying scattered like manure on the fields, and sword and famine would continue to contribute to their numbers with the result that they would become the prey of scavenger birds (vultures, etc.) and the dinner of equally unpleasant scavengers in the animal world. And that was only something which could happen because death had claimed the whole family so that none was left to fulfil the crucial burial duties (compare Jer 9:22 and see the piteous example in 2Sa 21:10). To be left unburied and to be eaten by scavengers was seen by Israelites as the most terrible of deaths.
The intention behind his abstinence from marriage was in order to cause people to ask him why he was not married, at which point he would explain the reasons so as to bring home YHWH’s warnings.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 16:2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
Ver. 2. Thou shalt not take thee a wife, &c. ] It is very likely that this befell the prophet in a vision. Or, if otherwise, it was but for a sign, and in regard of the great calamity impendent, that he is here forbidden marriage, otherwise lawful enough, and in some cases necessary. The contrary doctrine (such as was that of the Tatian heretics and Popish canonists) is a doctrine of devils. 1Ti 4:1
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 19:14, Mat 24:19, Luk 21:23, Luk 23:29, 1Co 7:26, 1Co 7:27
Reciprocal: Deu 28:32 – sons Jer 29:6 – Take ye Lam 2:22 – those
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 16:2. This place means Anathoth, the city near Jerusalem where many of the prophets resided. The Lord was looking after the social or family welfare of Jeremiah and hence told him not to start his married life in that place.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
16:2 Thou shalt not take {a} thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons nor daughters in this place.
(a) Meaning that the affliction would be so horrible in Jerusalem that a wife and children would only increase his sorrow.