Jeremiah 18:16

16 making their land ¹a horror, a thing ²to be hissed at forever. ³Everyone who passes by it is horrified ⁴and shakes his head.

Jeremiah 18:16 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 18:16

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 ( Lamentations 2:15 Lamentations 2:16 ) .

Jeremiah 18:16 In-Context

14 Does the snow of Lebanon leave the crags of Sirion? Do the mountain waters run dry, the cold flowing streams?

15 But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway,

16 making their land a horror, a thing to be hissed at forever. Everyone who passes by it is horrified and shakes his head.

17 Like the east wind I will scatter them before the enemy. I will show them my back, not my face, in the day of their calamity."

18 Then they said, "Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words."

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 19:8; Jeremiah 25:9, 11, 18; Jeremiah 49:13, 17; Jeremiah 50:13; Jeremiah 51:37; 2 Chronicles 29:8
• 2. Jeremiah 19:8; Jeremiah 25:9, 11, 18; Jeremiah 49:13, 17; Jeremiah 50:13; Jeremiah 51:37; 2 Chronicles 29:8
• 3. Jeremiah 50:13; Lamentations 2:15
• 4. Job 16:4; Psalms 22:7; Matthew 27:39