Jeremiah 16:3
“For Yahweh says concerning the sons and concerning the daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them, and concerning their fathers who became their father in this land:”
What does Jeremiah 16:3 mean?
Jeremiah is relaying God's warning about what will happen to families in Jerusalem during the coming destruction of the city. The verse sets up a message that's about to unfold, drawing attention to entire households—children, mothers, and fathers—because they will all experience the consequences of the nation's unfaithfulness together. What makes this passage tender despite its difficult subject is that God isn't speaking about abstract populations; he's naming the actual people, the real families who will suffer. Jeremiah is being told to witness and communicate this not to distant strangers, but to people he knows—neighbors with children, parents trying to raise families in the land they've always called home. The repetition ("sons and daughters," "mothers," "fathers") emphasizes that no one is distant from what's coming, which is both a warning and, paradoxically, a sign that God sees and knows specific people in their specific situations.