Jeremiah 18:16

16 They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.

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 ever leave its rocky slopes? Or do its cool waters flowing from a distance ever run dry?

15 Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.

16 They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.

17 I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity.”

18 Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”