Jeremiah 16:18

18 I will double their punishment for all their sins, because they have defiled my land with lifeless images of their detestable gods and have filled my territory with their evil deeds.”

Jeremiah 16:18 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 16:18

And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin
double
Or, "but first I will recompense", &c. ^F6; meaning, before he showed favour to them, and returned their captivity, ( Jeremiah 16:15 ) , he would punish them according to their sins; not double to what they deserved, but to what: they were used to have, or he was used to inflict upon them, punishing them less than their sins deserved; but now he would reward them to the full, though not beyond the measure of justice, yet largely and abundantly, and with rigour and severity. Some understand this of God's gathering together all their sins and iniquities "from the beginning" ^F7, as they render the word; the sins of their fathers and their own, and punishing them for them all at once; or first their fathers' sins, and then their own, in which they imitated their fathers, and filled up the measure of their iniquity. So the Targum,

``and I will render to the second as to the first, for everyone of both, their iniquities and their sins.''

Because they have defiled my land;
out of which he cast the Canaanites for the same reason; and which he chose for the place of his residence and worship, and settled the people of Israel for that purpose in it: that they might serve him in it, and not do as the Heathens before them had done, and which yet they did; and this was what was provoking to him. They have filled mine inheritance with the carcasses of their
detestable and abominable things;
with their idols, which were not only lifeless, but stinking, loathsome, and abominable; or unclean creatures, which were sacrificed unto them; and some think human sacrifices, the bodies of men, are meant: places of idolatrous worship were set up everywhere in the land, and therefore it is said to be filled therewith; and it was an aggravation of their wickedness, that this was done in a land which the Lord had chosen for his own possession, and had given to Israel as an inheritance.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F6 (hnwvar ytmlvw) "sed reddum primum".
F7 (hnwvar) "ab initio" Calvin; "initio", Montanus.

Jeremiah 16:18 In-Context

16 “But now I am sending for many fishermen who will catch them,” says the LORD . “I am sending for hunters who will hunt them down in the mountains, hills, and caves.

17 I am watching them closely, and I see every sin. They cannot hope to hide from me.

18 I will double their punishment for all their sins, because they have defiled my land with lifeless images of their detestable gods and have filled my territory with their evil deeds.”

19 LORD, you are my strength and fortress, my refuge in the day of trouble! Nations from around the world will come to you and say, “Our ancestors left us a foolish heritage, for they worshiped worthless idols.

20 Can people make their own gods? These are not real gods at all!”