Jeremiah 16:2 - Exposition

Thou shalt not take thee a wife . So St. Paul, "I think therefore that this is good by reason of the present distress, namely, that it is good for a man to be as he is ( 1 Corinthians 7:26 , Revised Version); and Hosea has already drawn an awful picture of "Ephraim bringing forth his children to the murderer" ( Hosea 9:9 ). In ordinary times it was a kind of unwritten law among the Israelites to marry and beget children. Most of the prophets (e.g. Isaiah) appear to have been married. In this place ; i.e. in the land of Judah. A Jeremianic phrase (comp. Jeremiah 7:3 ).