16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith Jehovah, and they shall fish them; and afterwards will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them, from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
the Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness, that behold, days shall come upon you, when he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fish-hooks;
The godly [man] hath perished out of the land, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood, they hunt every man his brother with a net.
And now, let not my blood fall to the earth far from the face of Jehovah; for the king of Israel is come out to seek a single flea, as when they hunt a partridge on the mountains.
I saw the Lord standing upon the altar; and he said, Smite the chapiter that the thresholds may shake; and break all of them in pieces, in the head; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not get away by flight, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. Though they dig into Sheol, thence shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to the heavens, thence will I bring them down; and though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there will I command the serpent, and it shall bite them;
And see, my father, yes, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand. For in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou liest in wait for my life to take it.
Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, inhabitant of the land. And it shall come to pass, [that] he who fleeth from the sound of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are open, and the foundations of the earth shake.
behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Jehovah, and [I will send] to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual wastes.
as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
I say to you, In that night there shall be two [men] upon one bed; one shall be seized and the other shall be let go. Two [women] shall be grinding together; the one shall be seized and the other shall be let go. [Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be seized and the other let go.] And answering they say to him, Where, Lord? And he said to them, Where the body [is], there the eagles will be gathered together.
And the kings of the earth, and the great, and the chiliarchs, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and freeman, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and have us hidden from [the] face of him that sits upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; because the great day of his wrath is come, and who is able to stand?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 16
Commentary on Jeremiah 16 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 16
In this chapter,
Jer 16:1-9
The prophet is here for a sign to the people. They would not regard what he said; let it be tried whether they will regard what he does. In general, he must conduct himself so, in every thing, as became one that expected to see his country in ruins very shortly. This he foretold, but few regarded the prediction; therefore he is to show that he is himself fully satisfied in the truth of it. Others go on in their usual course, but he, in the prospect of these sad times, is forbidden and therefore forbears marriage, mourning for the dead, and mirth. Note, Those that would convince others of and affect them with the word of God must make it appear, even in the most self-denying instances, that they do believe it themselves and are affected with it. If we would rouse others out of their security, and persuade them to sit loose to the world, we must ourselves be mortified to present things and show that we expect the dissolution of them.
Jer 16:10-13
Here is,
Jer 16:14-21
There is a mixture of mercy and judgment in these verses, and it is hard to know to which to apply some of the passages here-they are so interwoven, and some seem to look as far forward as the times of the gospel.