Jeremiah 20:10
Ver. 10. For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side,.... It was brought to the prophet's ears by some of his friends, how he was defamed by many, and these great and mighty ones, as the word also signifies; how his character was aspersed; his good name taken away; and false and scandalous reports were raised of him from all quarters; which filled him with fear all around, so that he might quickly expect fresh trouble from one side or another; see Ps 31:13; and this was a reason of his entering into the above resolution to leave off prophesying: though some understand it as an additional reason to the former for going on with it; being not only inwardly pressed to it in spirit, but outwardly provoked by the usage of his enemies. Some retain the words "Magormissabib", untranslated, and render the whole thus, "for I heard the defaming of many magormissabibs"; of many such as Pashur, so called, Jer 20:3; but neither the accents nor the syntax will admit of it; since there is an accent on many, which makes a stop, and "magormissabib" is in the singular number: rather it may be rendered, "I have heard the defaming of many; [even of] magormissabib", that is, of Pashur and his associates;
report, [say they], and we will report it; these are the words of the defamers, whether Pashur and his accomplices, or the great ones, the princes and nobles, the priests and false prophets, that more especially bore a grudge to Jeremiah; addressing themselves to the common people, and such who were most acquainted with the prophet, and his manner of life; saying, tell us what you can of him, right or wrong, true or false, that may be any ways improved against him, and we shall tell it to the king, or to the sanhedrim, the court of judicature, and get him punished for it; or we shall take care to have it spread about city and country, and so blast his character and credit with the people, that none will after regard his prophecies;
all my familiars watched for my halting; or, "every man of my peace" {f}; who pretended to be at peace, and to be friendly with him, and wished well unto him, spoke fair to his face, as if they were cordial friends, and fond of the most intimate acquaintance with him; perhaps the men of Anathoth, the birth place of Jeremiah, are here meant; whom the priests at Jerusalem, or others, had engaged on their side, narrowly to observe what was said and done by him, of which any handle could be made against him to the government; and accordingly they did; they watched his words, and observed his actions, if they could catch at anything that was imprudently or inadvertently said or done, or what could be misconstrued to his disadvantage;
[saying], peradventure he will be enticed; to say or do something that may be laid hold on, and be produced against him, to the ruin of him; he not being on his guard, and knowing of no design against him:
and we shall prevail against him; gain our point, get him accused, condemned, and punished:and we shall take our revenge on him; for inveighing so severely against their sins, which they could not bear; and for threatening them with punishments that should be inflicted on them, which they liked not to hear.{f} ymlv vwna lk "omnis homo pacis meae", Montanus, Cocceius, Schmidt; "omnes viri pacis meae", Munster, Vatablus. Jeremiah 20:11Ver. 11. But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one,.... The Targum is,"the Word of the Lord is for my help.''"Mighty" to support, uphold, defend, and deliver him; and "terrible" to his enemies. The prophet looks back to the promise the Lord had made him, of his gracious and powerful presence, Jer 1:18; which he now takes comfort from; and it would have been well if he had kept this always in view, and had continued in the same actings of faith and temper of mind: but this lasted not long, as some following verses show;therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and shall not prevail; though they should very hotly and furiously pursue him, yet they should stumble and fall by the way, and not be able to overtake him, and execute their designs upon him; the Lord, who was with him, and on his side, would throw some things in their way, at which they should stumble, and which should hinder them from proceeding;they shall be greatly ashamed, for they shall not prosper; when they see their schemes are disappointed, and they do not succeed, they shall be filled with shame and confusion: or, "because they do not deal prudently" {g}, as the word is rendered, Isa 52:13; they do not act a wise, but a foolish part, and therefore shame will be the consequence of it;[their] everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten; neither by themselves nor others; the memory of it will always continue, to their everlasting grief and reproach. A very learned man connects these words with the former, thus, "they shall be greatly ashamed, for they shall not prosper, with an everlasting shame never to be forgotten" {h}, very rightly; so another learned interpreter {i}.{g} wlykvh al yk "quia non prudenter egerunt", Montanus, Piscator; "prudenter agunt", Calvin. {h} "Erubescent valde, quia non prosperabuntur, ignominia aeterna non obliviscenda", De Dieu. {i} "Pudefient, quod non profecerint, ignominia perpetuitatis (quae) non tradetur oblivioni", Schmidt. Jeremiah 20:12Ver. 12. But, O Lord, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart,.... That tries the cause of the righteous, and vindicates them, rights their wrongs, and does them justice; being the omniscient God, the seer and searcher of the hearts and reins; who knows the uprightness of their hearts, as well as their ways, and the sincerity of their affections: or that tries the faith and patience of the righteous, their constancy and integrity; and upon trial finds that their affections are real, and their souls sincere;let me see thy vengeance on them; his enemies and persecutors; he does not seek vengeance himself, but desires it of the Lord; he does not ask to see his vengeance, but the Lord's vengeance on them, what he thought was just and proper to inflict on them; he knew that vengeance belonged to the Lord, and therefore left it with him, and prayed for it from him. The Targum is,"let me see the vengeance of thy judgments on them;''for unto thee have I opened my cause; or "revealed", or "made it manifest" {k}; this he did in prayer, at this time, when he laid before the Lord his whole case, and appealed and applied to him for justice, who judgeth righteous persons, and judgeth righteously.{k} ybyr ta ytylg "revelavi causam meam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. So Schmidt. Jeremiah 20:13Ver. 13. Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord,.... The prophet, from prayer, proceeds to praise; and from expressions of faith and confidence in the Lord, having committed his cause to him, being assured of success, rises up to a holy triumph and joy; and calls upon his soul, and upon others, to join with him in praising, and singing praises to the Lord: this is said, as Kimchi observes, with respect to the saints in Jerusalem; for there were some good people doubtless there at this time, a remnant according to the election of grace; who had a regard for the prophet, and wished well to him, and were ready to join with him in acts of devotion, prayer, or praise;for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evil doers; or, "the life of the poor"; meaning himself, a poor destitute person, few or none to stand by him but the Lord, who had delivered him out of the hand of Pashur and his accomplices; and out of the hand of those that watched for his halting; and out of the hands of all his persecutors: or this may respect not past deliverances, but what was to come; which the prophet had such a believing view of, that he calls upon himself and others to praise God for beforehand. Jeremiah 20:14Ver. 14. Cursed [be] the day wherein I was born,.... If this was said immediately upon the foregoing, it was a most strange and sudden change of frame indeed that the prophet came into, from praising God, to cursing the day of his birth; wherefore some have thought it was delivered at another time, when in great anguish of spirit; very likely when so ill used by Pashur, as before related; but here repeated, to show in what distress he had been, and what reason there was for praise and thanksgiving; for the words may be connected with the preceding, thus, "for he hath delivered from the hand of evil doers the soul of the poor, who said" {l}, in the time of his distress, "cursed be the day", &c; but, whenever it was spoke, it showed the impatience of the prophet, the weakness of his faith, and the greatness of his folly, to curse a day, and his birth day too, as Job did, when under affliction, Job 3:1;let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed; to myself or others; let it be reckoned among the unhappy and unfortunate days; let it not be blessed with the light of the sun, or with the light of joy and prosperity; see Job 3:4; let it not be said on this occasion, as commonly is, we wish you joy on your birth day, and may you see many happy days of this kind. Abendana observes, that some of their Rabbins say, that Jeremiah cursed the day of his birth, because it was the ninth of Ab, the day on which the temple was burnt.{l} So it is supplied by Grotius and Schmidt. Jeremiah 20:15Ver. 15. Cursed [be] the man who brought tidings to my father,.... The word signifies commonly good tidings, as the news of a child born, and especially a man child, is to its parent. The Septuagint use the same word the angel did, when he brought the tidings of the birth of Christ, Lu 2:10. This was still more foolish and sinful, to curse the man that carried the tidings of his birth to his father; who did a right thing, and what was acceptable, and perhaps might be a good man. Kimchi observes, that there are some that say, it was known to Jeremiah that this man was Pashur, the son of Immer, and therefore he cursed him; but this is without any foundation;saying, a man child is born unto thee, making him very glad; as the birth of a man child usually makes glad its parent, whether father or mother; see Joh 16:21. Jeremiah 20:16Ver. 16. And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew,.... In his fury, as the Targum and Septuagint add. Meaning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were utterly destroyed, and were never recovered:and repented not; whose sentence God never repented of, nor revoked: this was very severe and uncharitable, to wish for so sore a destruction upon an innocent person;and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide; as soon as he is up in the morning, the first thing that salutes his ears, let it be the noise of an enemy invading the city he dwells in; and by noon let him hear the shouting of him, having broke in, and gotten the victory, seizing the plunder. Jeremiah 20:17Ver. 17. Because he slew me not from the womb,.... As soon as he came out of it; that is, as soon as he was born; either because God slew him not so soon, as Kimchi; or the angel of death, as Jarchi: or rather the man that carried the tidings of his birth to his father, who is all along spoken of in the two former verses; he curses him for not doing that, which, had he done, would have been exceeding criminal in him indeed; for not committing murder, even for not murdering an innocent babe;or that my mother might have been my grave; he wishes he had died in her womb, and had never been brought forth; and so that had been his grave, where he should have been at ease and safety:and her womb [to be] always great [with me]; or, "her womb an everlasting conception" {m}; his wish was, that she had been always conceiving, or ever big with child of him, but never bring forth; which was a more cruel and unnatural wish than the former concerning the man, the carrier of the tidings of his birth; since this was wishing a perpetual, painful, and intolerable evil to his own mother.{m} Mlwe trh hmxrw "et ejus uterus, conceptus perpetuus", Munster; "et vulva ejus, conceptio perpetua", Pagninus, "et vulva ejus praegnans perpetuo", Vatablus. Jeremiah 20:18Ver. 18. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow,.... "Labour" in performing his work and office as a prophet; and "sorrow" in suffering reproach, contempt, and persecution for it; which to avoid, he wishes he had never been born: a sign of a very fretful and impatient spirit, and of a carnal frame. Jarchi thinks this refers to the destruction of the temple;that my days should be consumed with shame? through the bad usage of him, the reproach that was cast upon him, and the contempt he was had in for prophesying in the name of the Lord. All this shows that there is sin in the best of men, and what they are when left to themselves; how weak, foolish, and sinful they appear. And Jeremiah recording these his sins and failings, is an argument of the uprightness and sincerity of the man, and of the truth of Scripture.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.