Jeremiah 16:2

Jeremiah 16:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
• New International Version (NIV)“You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)"You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.”

Context of Jeremiah 16:2

1The word of the Lord also came to me, saying, “You shall not take a wife or have sons and daughters in this place (Jerusalem).” 3For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who give birth to them, and the fathers who father them in this land: 4“They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried; they will be like dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.”

Jeremiah 16:2 word by word

לֹֽא־תִקַּ֥ח לְךָ֖ אִשָּׁ֑ה וְלֹֽא־יִהְי֤וּ לְךָ֙ בָּנִ֣ים וּבָנ֔וֹת בַּמָּק֖וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Thou shalt not takeלָקַחlâqach · to take: marryH3947
• thee a wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
• neither shalt thou have sonsבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• or daughtersבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• in this placeמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725

Cross-references for Jeremiah 16:2

• Genesis 19:14So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were [betrothed, and legally promised] to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he appeared to be joking.
• Matthew 24:19And woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
• Luke 21:23Woe to those women who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For great trouble and anguish will be on the land, and wrath and retribution on this people [Israel].
• Luke 23:29For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have never nursed.’
• 1 Corinthians 7:26I think then that because of the impending distress [that is, the pressure of the current trouble], it is good for a man to remain as he is.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 16:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Those 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.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2As 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.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-2In Hebrew society, bachelors were uncommon, and males were expected to marry in their early twenties. However, the severe crisis of the time required Jeremiah to serve as a divine messenger without family obligations. He needed to rely completely on the Lord (compare 1 Corinthians 7:26–35).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-212. in this place--in Judea. The direction to remain single was (whether literally obeyed, or only in prophetic vision) to symbolize the coming calamities of the Jews (Eze 24:15-27) 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, 26, 29; Mt 24:19; Lu 23:29).Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 16:2

• Jeremiah

In the dictionaries

• beast

Commentaries on Jeremiah 16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings