English Standard Version
Jeremiah 16:2
2"You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.
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.”
- New King James Version (NKJV)“You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Do not get married or have children in this place.
Context of Jeremiah 16:2
1The word of the Lord came to me: "You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. 3For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land: 4They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.
Read all of Jeremiah 16Jeremiah 16:2 word by word
לֹֽא־תִקַּ֥ח לְךָ֖ אִשָּׁ֑ה וְלֹֽא־יִהְי֤וּ לְךָ֙ בָּנִ֣ים וּבָנ֔וֹת בַּמָּק֖וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jeremiah 16:2
- Genesis 19:14So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, "Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
- Matthew 24:19And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!
- Luke 21:23Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people.
- Luke 23:29For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!'
- 1 Corinthians 7:26I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person 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
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries