John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 19:8

"And I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof." — Jeremiah 19:8 (ASV)

Jeremiah proceeds with his denunciation, and it was necessary for him to add this amplification, so that he might penetrate into their hard and perverse hearts. For if he had employed only a single sentence, or a common way of speaking, in describing their calamity and the ruin of the city, they would not have been moved at all. Thus, he expands on the subject and advances with greater vehemence, always speaking in the person of God, so that his denunciation might have greater weight.

I will set, etc. A second reason should be noted here. For it was not enough to denounce a calamity upon the Jews without also stating that it was inflicted by God’s hand, and that therefore the punishment for their wickedness was just.

Then he says, I will set this city for an astonishment. For the word שמה (sheme) should be translated this way in this place, since the reason follows later: astonished shall be whosoever shall pass through it.

He also adds, for a hissing, which is a mark of detestation rather than of scorn. Yet the desolation of the whole land, and also the ruin of the holy city in which God had chosen a dwelling place for himself, could have filled everyone with terror—and justly so.

Whosoever, he says, shall pass through shall be astonished, and shall hiss on account of all her stroke. For this was not to be a common calamity, but one in which God’s dreadful judgment could be seen.