John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 18:16

"to make their land an astonishment, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and shake his head." — Jeremiah 18:16 (ASV)

The Prophet again denounces the punishment they deserved: that desolation awaited the land. He says it would be their reward to have the land reduced to a solitude and also to perpetual hissings.

The word עולם oulam, which the Prophet had just used, is also used here, but in a different sense. When he said, the paths of ages, he referred to past time; now, however, he refers to a future time. Since the Jews had alienated themselves from the ways of ages—that is, from the eternal truth of God—he now says that their land would be for the hissings of ages. This means the dreadful calamity at hand would not be for just a few years but would continue until the end of the world.

And in the second clause, he expresses more clearly what he meant by "eternal hissings": that every one passing through it would be astonished and move or shake his head, as one does in amazement, contempt, or abhorrence; this kind of speaking often occurs in the Prophets.

The land of Canaan, after being given to the Jews, became, so to speak, an extraordinary country where all kinds of opulence appeared. For God poured upon it the invaluable treasures of his bounty, so that the very sight of it filled everyone with admiration. On the other hand, it became a scene of horror and an object of hissing when God cursed it.