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What does this verse mean to you?

"Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith Jehovah, and they shall fish them up; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks." Jer 16:16

RR

Hmmm. Interesting verse.

I would like to look at the whole chapter and surrounding; but, I say the fishers are good and go out first.

Jesus said, "I will make you fishers of men". (Matt 4:19)

This would be the gathering of the good.

Afterward the hunters would go out. Hunters generally have a negative connotation in the Bible (Nimrod, Esau, Saul, Satan). Hunters also represent the beast kingdoms that come upon Zion. (Lam 1:6)

After the good are gathered (fished) then the hunters seek out those estranged from God. There will be no place to hide, no rock cleft, no high-place. (Compare Jer 49:16, Rev 6:15)

My guess ...

Several commentaries offer differing secondary applications to the Pre and Post Millennial period. In the immediate historical setting the Chaldean army acts as both 'fisherman' and 'hunter', a fisherman casting a large net to capture all fish in an area, likewise hunters going into the hills and crags to find other animals. No one who violates God's laws escapes his judgement (here it is against the Jewish people), even 'nations' will know YHWH's name when issues are settled, vss19-24.
Lamentations 4:18+
Amos 9:1+
Habakuk 1:14+
Psalms 33:13+
Rev.18:6+
Isaiah 45:14+
Matthew Henry's Commentary.

Some see in this a Christological application to the 'New Israel' or the Church of believers, being persecuted and purged and a witness given to the nations, Professor Marshall in New Covenant Theology.
Others see the modern state of Israel in a Pre-Tribulation setting converting enmasse, Professor Pentecost in Things To Come.

designs

I am not one who promotes "replacement theology", when we look at the previous verse we see that this is a prophecy about the Jewish people.

It seems to me to be a prophecy of Israel's restoration, that can only happen when the Jews return to their land.

"Thou wilt arise, and have compassion upon Zion; for it is time to be gracious unto her, for the appointed time is come." (Psa. 102:14)

There is a visible scale of observation in our time on which we may begin to measure the fulfillment of prophecy.

(I) The Ingathering of the Exiles. Isaiah 43:5, 6 is one of many prophecies that foretells the regathering of the Jewish people to the promised land. It reads: "Fear not, for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north: Give up, and to the south: Keep not back, bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the end of the earth."

The Jewish people have been gathered from the four corners of the earth. Nearly 3 millions are assembled in the land of their fathers, coming from 75 different countries. Still the work continues. For God said: "As the Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries whither He had driven them; and I will bring them back into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks."—Jer. 16:15, 16.

The Zionist movement compares to the fishing method of gathering. The Zionist activities provided the land with a vital nucleus of people that enabled it to become the new state of Israel. The "many hunters" would be those persecuting forces that led the Jews to face the necessity of return to Palestine. The early persecutions of the Jews in Russia and Europe served to turn many faces toward the homeland. The early Nazi persecution forced a considerable number of educated and talented Jews to Palestine.

These brought the necessary technology and human resources to prosper Israel. In that the fishing and hunting referred to by Jeremiah was with the view to bringing the children of Israel home, did the later Nazi persecution also fit this purpose? It was more than persecution. It was a diabolical attempt to destroy the "seed of Abra-ham" and to make void the promise of God. Even the Nazi attempt to drive eastward in Africa to take the Holy Land indicates that a superhuman attempt was being made to frustrate the Divine Plan. It is clear the Nazi's plan was to annihilate the whole race of Jews, not after they conquered the world, but while they were engaged in doing so. Even when they knew the war was lost, they kept the incinerators going until the last moment of defeat. The failure of the Christian churches to protest and their willingness to cooperate with the Nazi insanity has raised many eyebrows. How could Christian nations look the other way while the slaughter went on? The scripture still has not lost its meaning: "I will bless them that bless you and I will curse them that curse you." (Gen. 12:3) God is a God of judgment. (I Sam. 2:3) This is one truth the modern generation will not own.