Jeremiah 16 Study Notes

16:1-2 Jeremiah could not marry. This call to celibacy was unusual for an Israelite. Already the prophet was isolated from his own citizens (15:10) and lonely (15:17); now he must face celibacy and restrictions against going to funeral feasts (16:5) or times of festivity (v. 8). He became a social outcast.

16:3-4 Deadly diseases, apparently of epidemic proportions, awaited the rebellious nation of Judah.

16:5 A mourning feast was like a funeral wake.

16:6 According to the pagan mourning customs of that time, people cut themselves or shaved their heads (cp. 41:5; 47:5; 48:37; Is 15:2-3; 22:12; Ezk 7:18; Am 8:10; Mc 1:16). Since these were pagan customs, Israel was forbidden to practice them (Lv 21:5; Dt 14:1).

16:7 Neighbors apparently brought food and drink for the relatives of the deceased (food and a consoling drink). The “bread/food of the mourners” is mentioned in Dt 26:14 and Hs 9:4, but not the “cup.” In later Judaism, a special cup of wine was drunk by the chief mourner.

16:8-9 Jeremiah’s behavior was to match the prophecy of an end to joy and gladness.

16:10-12 The question about what guilt has led to such disaster is answered first regarding the fathers who had abandoned the Lord. But then are the words, You did more evil than your fathers.

16:13 The Hebrew verb for worship is the same stem as the noun for “servant” or “vassal.” Worship, then, is “service.” The expression day and night means “all the time.”

16:14-15 These verses sound a theme that will reverberate later—a new exodus from Babylon.

16:16-17 The double imagery of God sending out many fishermen and many hunters was a frequent metaphor in Israel (Ezk 12:13; 29:4-5; Am 4:2; 9:1-4; Hab 1:14-17).

16:18 The Hebrew word mishneh usually means “twofold” or double (cp. Is 40:2), but tablets from Alalakh contain a similar word meaning “equivalent.” If “double” is the correct translation, it means “ample, full, or complete” punishment. If “equivalent” is the correct rendering, the sentence means God would repay them the equivalent of their sinful iniquity. In either case, the Israelites reaped what they sowed.