Jeremiah 16:4 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 16:4

They shall die of grievous deaths ,.... Such as the sword, famine, and pestilence. The Targum particularly adds famine. It may be rendered, "deaths of diseases, or sicknesses" F21 ממותי תחלאים "mortibus aegrotationum", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, "aegritudium", Munster, Vatablus; "mortibus morborum", Schmidt. So Stockius, p. 340, 597, who restrains it to the death of individuals by the pestilence. ; such as are brought on by long sickness and lingering distempers; by which a man... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 16:4

They shall die of grievous deaths - All prematurely; see Jeremiah 14:16 . As dung upon the face of the earth - See Jeremiah 8:2 . Be meat for the fowls - See Jeremiah 7:33 . read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 16:4

Verse 4 But the reason why God forbad his Prophet to marry, follows, because they were all consigned to destruction. We hence learn that celibacy is not here commended, as some foolish men have imagined from what is here said; but it is the same as though God had said, “There is no reason for any one to set his mind on begetting an offspring, or to think that this would be to his advantage: whosoever is wise will abstain from raarriage, as he has death before his eyes, and is as it were near to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 16:1-4

Celibacy as an obligation of the minister of God. This passage has been quoted in support of the Romish doctrine of the celibacy of the clergy. Like other favorite references of the advocates of this regulation, however, it only requires to be examined to show that its bearing is quite of an opposite character. Its terms are not by any means absolute or universal. Not even the whole lifetime of the prophet nor his entire ministry are within the scope of the prohibition. It was a special... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 16:1-4

Domestic relations become a curse. It is evidently implied that, even in the present deplorable state of Israel, there was much that appeared attractive and profitable in domestic relations. Jesus reminded his servants that, in the days before the Flood, there was "marrying and giving in marriage until the day that, Noah entered into the ark;" and so we may conclude that in the time of Jeremiah there was also marrying and giving in marriage, clown to the very coming of the invader on the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 16:1-9

Commands countermanded. There are three such in this section. I. THE COMMAND TO MARRY . 1. In every way whereby the will of God can be expressed—by his Word, his providence, his laws, written, moral, social, physical, God has commanded that "a man shall leave his father and mother," etc. "A good wife is from the Lord," her companionship is the most blessed in the world. All artificial hindrances to marriage are, therefore, to be condemned. The same enemy that destroys such... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 16:1-21

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 16:4

Grievous deaths ; literally, deaths of sicknesses ; i.e. all kinds of painful deaths, including (as Jeremiah 14:18 shows) death by starvation. They shall not be lamented . The absence of sepulture has already been pointed to several times as a feature of the horror of the times ( Jeremiah 8:2 ; Jeremiah 14:16 ; comp. Jeremiah 7:33 ), but this is a new and affecting touch. Dr. Payne Smith aptly refers to the plagues of Athens and London, in which the gentler elements of human... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Jeremiah 16:1-4

Jeremiah 16:1-4. The word of the Lord came, &c. Here begins a new discourse, wherein God forbids Jeremiah to marry, principally with a view to show the miseries of parents, and the confused and ruinous state of things in Judea. “Fruitfulness was promised as a blessing under the law, Deuteronomy 28:4, but ceased to be so in such difficult times as were coming upon the Jewish nation. For parents could not promise to themselves any comfort in their children, who must be exposed to the many... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 16:1-9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 16:4

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 16:4

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 16:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 16:1-4

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 16:1-4

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 16:1-9

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 16:1-21

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 16:4

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Jeremiah 16:1-4

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