Don’t Marry, Don’t Mourn, and Don’t Celebrate (16:1-13): This unit, which is related to the one that follows at the end of the chapter, presents three prohibitions in the light of the judgment that is coming and which itself is the result of the people’s sin. These prohibitions lead to behaviors on Jeremiah’s part that are resonant with prophetic significance and therefore should be considered a prophetic sign-act that incarnates the words he is speaking. These prohibitions seem to be directed to Jeremiah himself. Certainly, this is true of the first prohibition.
16:1–4 Jeremiah receives a word of the LORD that prohibits him from marrying and having children. The times are not right to have a family and bring children into the world. Suffering is certain in the light of the people’s sin. Th…