Chapter 16
Jeremiah separated from the people
Lecture 1
Jeremiah set apart from Israelites
16:1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
16:2 you shall not take a wife, neither will you have sons and daughters in this place.
16:3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are begotten in this place, and concerning their mothers, and concerning their fathers, of whom they were born in this land:
16:4 they shall die by the death of diseases; and they shall not be mourned, and they shall not be buried; they shall be like dung upon the face of the earth, and they shall be consumed by the sword and by famine; and their bodies shall be as food for the birds of the sky, and the beasts of the earth.
16:5 For thus says the Lord : you shall not enter a house of feasting, neither go to mourn, neither console them, because I have taken away my peace from this people, says the Lord , my mercy and my compassion.
16:6 And the great and the small shall die in this land; and they shall not be buried, neither shall they be mourned, and they shall not cut themselves, nor be made bald for them.
16:7 And they shall not break bread among them for the grieving to console him for his dead, and they shall give them a cup to drink to console them for their father and their mother.
16:8 And you shall not enter the house of feasting, that you may sit with them and eat and drink.
16:9 Because thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: behold, I will take from this place, in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
97 . Here, the Lord forbids the prophet from association with the condemned people.
First, he gives the sentence.
Second, he gives the cause, at and when you tell (Jer 16:10).
Concerning the first idea, there are two points.
First, he forbids association by marriage, and issues the command: you shall not take a wife . Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife (1 Cor 7:27).
And he gives the reason: from the universality of those who are punished, for no age or gender will be spared: for thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters . Below: I will break in pieces the man and the woman among you, and I will break in pieces the old man and the boy among you, and I will break in pieces the young man and the virgin among you (Jer 51:22).
From the diversity of punishments: he threatens death from an interior cause: by the death of diseases , plague and protracted illnesses. And he adjoins a fitting burial: they shall not be mourned . For this reason, many among you are sick and feeble, and many sleep (1 Cor 11:30). Below: they shall not be mourned, and they shall not be gathered together, neither shall they be buried; they shall lie as dung upon the face of the earth (Jer 25:33). From an external cause: by the sword , from the scoffing of the enemy, and by famine , from the lack of necessary things. And he adjoins a fitting burial: and their bodies shall be as food for the birds of the sky . Above: they will be cast out in the streets because of famine and the sword, and there will be none to bury them, they and their wives, their sons and daughters (Jer 14:16).
Second, he forbids association by social gathering: for thus says the Lord .
First, he forbids gatherings of sadness—because they tend to occur so as to provide consolation when there has been a death—where the prohibition is given: you shall not enter , neither as a mourner, nor as one who consoles.
Second, he gives the reason: from the removal of peace: because I have taken away my peace , which I used to maintain with them, but I have become angry with them; or the peace which they had for one another and for others, with me as its source. There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord (Isa 48:22).
From the threat of death: they shall die . The small and the great are there; and there the slave is free from his master (Job 3:19). From the cessation of the due funeral rites, because they will lack the indulgence of burial: they shall not be buried . Above: they shall not be gathered up, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth (Jer 8:2). The mourning even of the family: neither shall they be mourned, and they shall not cut themselves , causing injury, which is forbidden to the Jews. You shall not cut yourselves, nor make a bald spot for the dead (Deut 14:1). But Job, who, having shorn his head, fell on the ground (Job 1:20), did not sin, because he was a gentile.
They will even lack the gathering of relations, which generally takes place among grieving relatives: and they shall not break . Give strong drink to the sorrowful, and wine to those who are bitter of spirit. Let them drink, and forget their poverty, and remember their grief no more (Prov 31:6–7).
Second, he forbids a gathering of joy.
First, the prohibition is given: and you shall not enter the house of feasting , neither for fellowship nor for eating. If he who is called a brother among you is a fornicator, covetous, a worshiper of idols, or foul-mouthed, or rapacious, do not even take food with such a one (1 Cor 5:11).
Second, the reason is given: because thus says the Lord . The joy of our heart has failed, our dancing is turned into mourning (Lam 5:15). The same is said below (Jer 25:10).
Lecture 2
Punishments for idolatry
16:10 And when you tell all these words to this people, and they say to you, ‘Why has the Lord spoken all this great evil concerning us? What is our iniquity, and what is our sin, that we have sinned against the Lord our God?’
16:11 You shall say to them: because your fathers have abandoned me, says the Lord , and went after strange gods, and served them, and worshiped them, and forsook me, and did not keep my law.
16:12 But you have done worse than your fathers; for behold, each one walks after the depravity of his own evil heart, that he may not hear me.
16:13 I also shall drive you out from this land to a land which you know not, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will serve strange gods, day and night, who will not give you rest.
16:14 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord , when it shall no more be said: as the Lord lives, who led the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,
16:15 but: as the Lord lives, who led the children of Israel out of the land of the north, and from all the lands to which I have driven them; and I will lead them back to their own land, which I gave to their fathers.
16:16 Behold, I shall send many fishers, says the Lord , and they shall fish them; and after these things, I will send many hunters to them, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and from the caves of the rocks.
16:17 Because my eyes are upon all their ways; and they are not hidden from my face, and their iniquity was not hidden from my eyes.
16:18 And I will first pay them back double for their iniquities and for their sins, because they have polluted my land with the corpses of their idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.
16:19 O Lord , my fortitude, and my strength, and my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and they shall say, ‘Truly our fathers possessed a lie, a vanity which did not profit them.
16:20 Shall man make gods for himself? And they are not gods.’
16:21 Therefore, behold, I shall show to them this once; I shall show them my hand, and my power, and they shall know that my name is the Lord .
98 . Here, he gives the cause of the aforementioned punishment.
First, he poses the question: why has the Lord spoken all this great evil concerning us? Such is the way of the adulterous woman, who eats, and wipes her mouth and says: I have done no wrong (Prov 30:20).
Second, the Lord’s response is given: you shall say to them .
First, he places the fault in the transgression of their fathers: because they have abandoned . Above: they have abandoned me, the source of living water, and they have dug for them cisterns, even broken cisterns, which are not able to hold water (Jer 2:13).
In the imitation of the children, lest they should be able to excuse themselves by what is said: the fathers have eaten the bitter grape, and the teeth of the children were set on edge (Ezek 18:2). But you have done worse . Fulfill the measure of your fathers (Matt 23:32).
Second, he threatens punishment:
first, he gives the threat of punishment with regard to captivity: I also shall drive you out ; and with regard to slavery: you will serve strange gods , by serving their worshipers. Judah has gone away because of affliction and abundance of harsh labor; he has dwelt among the nations, and has not found rest (Lam 1:3). In those nations also, you shall not rest, neither will there be any rest for the sole of your foot (Deut 28:65).
Second, he promises consolation, giving an oath as the sign: therefore, behold, the days are coming ; it is as though he were saying, “You shall think of this as a greater kindness than when you were freed from Egypt; and forgetting the former, as it were, you will always remember the latter.” You shall not remember what came before, and shall not consider former things (Isa 43:18). The same is said below (Jer 23:8).
And explaining the kindness: and I will lead them back . I shall surely take you from the nations, and I will gather you from all lands; and I will lead you back to your own land (Ezek 36:24).
Third, he speaks of the nature of the captivity: behold, I .
First, he describes the captivity of the Babylonians: fishers , namely, the Chaldeans, who have caught them, as though living in a sea of prosperity and pleasure. You shall make men like the fish of the sea, and like the creeping things which have no leader (Hab 1:3). And of the Romans: and after these things, I will send hunters , namely, the Romans, who hunted them like beasts for the cruelty of their murder. My enemies have taken me in the chase, like a bird without cause (Lam 3:52).
Second, he gives the reason for the captivity, and speaks of his awareness of their guilt: because my eyes are upon all their ways . All the ways of men lie open to his eyes; the Lord is a weigher of spirits (Prov 16:2).
And the threat of punishment: and I will first pay them back , that is, before the aforementioned consolation, double , certainly with regard to their worship of idols; because of what follows: because they have polluted ; and with regard to the perversion of morals: and have filled my inheritance with their abominations . The earth is stained with blood, and polluted with their works (Ps 105:38).
Third, he speaks of the usefulness of the captivity, namely, the conversion of the nations; either those who came back to Jerusalem with the Jews under Zerubbabel, or those who were converted to the faith of Christ: because a blindness in part has befallen Israel, until the fullness of the nations should enter, and so all Israel should be saved (Rom 11:25).
Concerning which he makes three points.
First is set down the exultation of the prophet, signified in the confession of divine praise: O Lord , my fortitude , to conquer others, my strength , to persevere, my refuge , should I fail. I will love you, O Lord my strength, the Lord is my support and my refuge (Ps 17:18).
Second is set down the conversion of the nations: to you shall the nations come . Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth (Isa 42:10). The shame of sin: truly a lie , idolatry, which deceitfully claims divinity and falsely offers help. Above: surely the hills were deceitful, the multitude of the mountains (Jer 3:23).
And the refutation of their original error: shall man make gods for himself? And they are not gods . For how shall man make God like himself? (Wis 15:16).
Third, he speaks of the resultant good of their conversion: therefore , that is, so that the nations may be converted, to them , to the Jews, this once ; it is as though he were saying, “I shall not withhold any longer” my hand of correction. Alternatively, to them , the nations, my hand , Christ. The Lord who carries out judgment will be known, the sinner is taken in the works of his own hands (Ps 9:17). Also: send forth your hand from on high and rescue me, free me from the mighty waters, from the hand of strange children (Ps 143:7).
Collations
It must be noted that the word hand (Jer 16:21) is used in various senses; of divine providence: in his hand are both we, and our words, and all wisdom, and the skill of the knowledge of works (Wis 7:16); of divine liberality: when you open your hand, all things are filled with goodness (Ps 103:28); of divine protection: he protected me under the shelter of his hand (Isa 49:2); of divine liberation: he strikes, and his hands will heal (Job 5:18): of divine operation: glorify your hand and right arm (Sir 36:7); also of divine condemnation, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb 10:31).