New King James 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.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)"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 also came to me, saying, “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 their mothers who bore them and their fathers who begot them in this land: 4“They shall die gruesome deaths; they shall not be lamented nor shall they be buried, but they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and their corpses shall be meat for the birds of heaven 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 spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.
- Matthew 24:19But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
- Luke 21:23But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.
- Luke 23:29For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’
- 1 Corinthians 7:26I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—that 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
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries