Thou shalt not take thee a wife. So St. Paul, "I think therefore that this is good by reason of the present distress, namely, that it is good for a man to be as he is (1 Corinthians 7:26, Revised Version); and Hosea has already drawn an awful picture of "Ephraim bringing forth his children to the murderer" (Hosea 9:9).
In ordinary times it was a kind of unwritten law among the Israelites to marry and beget children. Most of the prophets (e.g. Isaiah) appear to have been married. In this place; i.e. in the land of Judah.
A Jeremianic phrase (comp. Jeremiah 7:3).