“You must not marry or have sons or daughters in this place.”
Parallel translations
- WEB “You shall not take a wife, neither shall you have sons or daughters, in this place.”
- KJV Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
- NKJV “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.”
- NASB “You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place.”
- NLT “Do not get married or have children in this place.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God commands Jeremiah not to marry or have children in this place, an unusual call that dramatizes the coming judgment. His celibacy becomes a sign that ordinary family life cannot continue under impending disaster.
Overview
Marriage and children were normal and honored in Israel, so Jeremiah's required singleness was a startling sign pointing to the calamity about to fall on Judah's families. His life thus preached the seriousness of the coming judgment. This sober calling shows that God may set apart His servants for unique purposes, and it points beyond present sorrows to the hope of the gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Luke 21:23How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath against this people.
- 1 Cor 7:26–27Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is.
- Luke 23:29Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’
- Gen 19:14So Lot went out and spoke to the sons-in-law who were pledged in marriage to his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
- Matt 24:19How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 16:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.