Jer 16:18 | KingComments | STEP | After assuring the return to the land in the previous two verses, the LORD goes on to describe His impending judgments. He compares the Babylonians to fishermen and hunters ( ). They will catch the Jews in their nets and carry them away (cf. ). All who have escaped from the nets they will hunt from the places where they hid, for it is impossible to hide from the LORD ( ). No one will escape judgment, for the LORD sees them everywhere, and He also sees all their ways ( ). He is omniscient and omnipresent. Who they are, where they are and what they do, everything is an open book to Him. They cannot hide themselves, but neither can they hide or cover their sinful deeds from Him. The LORD will punish them doubly for polluting what He expressly calls “My inheritance”, which is His land ( ; cf. ). The double repayment, by which is also meant complete punishment, is for a double sin. They have polluted His property in a horrible way in a double sense. They have done so by filling His land, His property, with the dead bodies of their abominable idols – idols are dead things – and their abominations. The language used makes one feel the horror that the LORD has over their actions. He finds this abhorrent and totally reprehensible.

‏ Jeremiah 16:18

Full Repay

After assuring the return to the land in the previous two verses, the LORD goes on to describe His impending judgments. He compares the Babylonians to fishermen and hunters (Jer 16:16). They will catch the Jews in their nets and carry them away (cf. Eze 12:13a). All who have escaped from the nets they will hunt from the places where they hid, for it is impossible to hide from the LORD (Amos 9:1-4).

No one will escape judgment, for the LORD sees them everywhere, and He also sees all their ways (Jer 16:17). He is omniscient and omnipresent. Who they are, where they are and what they do, everything is an open book to Him. They cannot hide themselves, but neither can they hide or cover their sinful deeds from Him.

The LORD will punish them doubly for polluting what He expressly calls “My inheritance”, which is His land (Jer 16:18; cf. Isa 40:2b). The double repayment, by which is also meant complete punishment, is for a double sin. They have polluted His property in a horrible way in a double sense. They have done so by filling His land, His property, with the dead bodies of their abominable idols – idols are dead things – and their abominations. The language used makes one feel the horror that the LORD has over their actions. He finds this abhorrent and totally reprehensible.