Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 18:16
To make their land desolate, [and] a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
Hissing – Not derision, but the drawing in of the breath quickly as men do when they shudder.
Way his head – Or, shake his head, a sign among the Jews not of scorn but of pity. The desolation of the land of Israel is to fill people with dismay.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. A perpetual hissing] sherikoth, a shrieking, hissing; an expression of contempt.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Not that this was finis operantis, their end which they aimed at, none wisheth ill or doth any thing designedly to bring evil upon himself; but it was finis operis the end these courses would certainly issue in, they would bring the land of Judah to desolations, and to be a reproach; so as strangers that were wont to admire at the prosperity of this people above any other people should stand astonished, and wag their heads at them in scorn and derision.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. hissing (1Ki9:8). In sign of contempt. That which was to be only the eventis ascribed to the purpose of the people, although altogetherdifferent from what they would have been likely to hope for. Theirpurpose is represented as being the destruction of theircountry, because it was the inevitable result of their courseof acting.
wag . . . headinmockery (2Ki 19:21; Mat 27:39).As “wag . . . head” answers to “hissing,” so”astonished” answers to “desolate,” for which,therefore, MUNSTER andothers rather translate, “an object of wonder” (Jer19:8).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
To make their land desolate,…. Not that this was the intention either of those that led them out of the right way into those wrong paths, or of them that went into them; but so it was eventually; this was the issue of things; their idolatry and other sins were the cause of their land being desolate; through the ravage of the enemy, let in upon them by way of judgment; and through the destruction of men by them; so that there were few or none to cultivate and manure it:
[and] a perpetual hissing; to be hissed at perpetually by the enemy, whenever they passed by it, and observed its desolation; thereby expressing their hatred at its inhabitants; their joy at its desolation; and their satisfaction in it, which would be for ever; or, as Kimchi interprets, a long time. This is the present case of the Jews; and has been ever since their destruction by the Romans; and will be until the fulness of the Gentiles is gathered in:
everyone that passeth thereby shall be astonished: to see the desolations made, and the strange alterations in a place once so famous for fruitfulness and number of inhabitants:
and wag his head; either out of pity, or rather in a way of derision and exultation; see La 2:15.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Prophet again denounces the punishment which they deserved, that desolation awaited the land. It would be, he says, their reward to have the land reduced to a solitude, and also to perpetual hissings. The word עולם oulam, which the Prophet had just used, is here also used, but in a different sense, for when he said, the paths of ages, he referred to past time, but now to a future time. As then the Jews had alienated themselves from the ways of ages, that is, from the eternal verity of God, so now he says, that their land would be for the hissings of ages, for the dreadful calamity now at hand would not be for a few years but to the end of the world.
And in the second clause he expresses more clearly what he meant by eternal hissings, that every one passing through it would be astonished and move or shake his head, (202) as one does either in amazement, or in contempt, or in abhorrence; this kind of speaking often occurs in the Prophets. The land of Canaan, after having been given to the Jews, became as it were an extraordinary country, in which all kinds of opulence appeared, for God poured upon it the invaluable treasures of his bounty, so that the very sight of it filled all with admiration; on the other hand, it became the scene of horror and an object of hissing when God cursed it. A confirmation then follows —
(202) More literally, “And shall nod with his head.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
E. The Devastation of the Land Jer. 18:16-17
TRANSLATION
(16) The result of this is that they will make their land a desolation, an object of everlasting derision. Everyone who passes by it shall be astonished and will shake his head. (17) Like the east wind I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them the back and not the face in the day of their calamity.
COMMENTS
The inevitable result of abandoning the God-ordained way is desolation and destruction. All who pass by will be amazed, shocked and astonished at what has befallen the once proud little nation of Judah. They will wag their heads in a scornful sneer at the wicked and stupid folly of the people who had forsaken their God (Jer. 18:16). God will scatter the men of Judah before their enemies just as men scatter and seek refuge when the torrid east wind, the so-called sirocco, begins to sweep in from the desert. God will turn his back upon them in that day of calamity and he will not listen to their cries for help[212] (Jer. 18:17)
[212] An alternate translation of the last Part of Jer. 18:17 is: On their back and not their face I w1ll look in the day of calamity. In this case the meaning would be: When they flee before their enemies I will see their backs and will not intervene to save them.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(16) Desolate . . . astonished.Better, desolate in both clauses. The Hebrew verb is the same, and there is a manifest emphasis in the repetition which it is better to reproduce in English.
A perpetual hissing.The Hebrew word is onomatopoetic, and expresses the inarticulate sounds which we utter on seeing anything that makes us shudder, rather than hissing in its modern use as an expression of contempt or disapproval.
Wag his head.Better, shake his head. The verb is not the same as that which describes the gesture of scorn in Psa. 22:7; Psa. 109:25; Lam. 2:15; Zep. 2:15, and describes pity or bemoaning rather than contempt. Men would not mock the desolation of Israel, but would gaze on it astounded and pitying, themselves also desolate.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Wag his head Rather, shake his head, a sign, not of contempt, but pity.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 18:16 To make their land desolate, [and] a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
Ver. 16. To make their land desolate. ] Not intentionally so; but yet eventually. Idolatry is a land desolating sin.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hissing. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Effect), for the contempt felt.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
make: Jer 9:11, Jer 19:8, Jer 25:9, Jer 49:13, Jer 50:13, Lev 26:33, Lev 26:34, Lev 26:43, Deu 29:23, Isa 6:11, Eze 6:14, Eze 12:19, Eze 33:28, Eze 33:29
a perpetual: 1Ki 9:8, 2Ch 7:20, 2Ch 7:21, Lam 2:15, Lam 2:16, Mic 6:16
shall be: Deu 28:59, Psa 22:7, Psa 44:14, Isa 37:22, Mat 27:39, Mar 15:29
Reciprocal: Lev 26:32 – and your 2Ch 29:8 – to astonishment Job 16:4 – shake mine Job 18:20 – astonied Jer 4:27 – The Jer 20:8 – I cried Jer 42:18 – ye shall be Jer 44:8 – a curse Jer 44:22 – your land Jer 49:17 – every Jer 51:37 – an hissing Eze 22:4 – have I Eze 27:36 – hiss Eze 36:3 – and ye
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 18:16. To make their land desolate does not mean these people committed idolatry for that purpose. But it is the Lords decision that thetr course of conduct would cause him to thrust the land into such a condition. The country was to be so ruined that ail who saw it would tcag their heads which means to toss the head in scorn.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
This action would result in their land becoming desolate. Onlookers and passersby would whistle to themselves in amazement over its terrible condition, and shake their heads in astonishment at what had happened to it-because of Israel’s foolishness.