Jeremiah 20
v.1
When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the chief officer in the temple of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,
v.2
he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD’s temple.
v.3
The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD’s name for you is not Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib.
v.4
For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword.
v.5
I will hand over to their enemies all the wealth of this city—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away as plunder and carry it off to Babylon.
v.6
And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.‘“
v.7
O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived ; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.
Jeremiah is alluding to his call in Jeremiah 1. The NIV’s translation of “deceived” misses the gist of the Hebrew word used here. In Jeremiah 1 God is not “tricking” or “deceiving” Jeremiah into anything, for God tells him clearly that his ministry will be difficult, and that he will face terrifying opposition (1:8, 17–19). The word used here in 20:7 can also mean “to entice, seduce, persuade,” and these concepts reflect the more likely connotations intended here. The next two words relate to strength (“overpowered”) and power/ability (“prevailed”). Taken together, what Jeremiah is saying in this verse is that he did not volunteer for this job; he was chosen by God, who did not really give him any choice about it. In Jeremiah 1 God swept away any objections that Jeremiah tried to make and insisted that Jeremiah become his prophet. So Jeremiah is griping to God about this, saying something like, “You forced me to be your prophet, and now I am being ridiculed, mocked, and threatened all the time.”
v.8
Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long.
v.9
But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
This is the same term Jeremiah uses in 20:7 when he says that God “prevailed.” There is a wordplay taking place, for this same word will also occur in 20:10, 11 (used of Jeremiah’s opponents). Because of the ridicule described in 20:8, Jeremiah apparently has tried to keep quiet and to stifle the word of God, but the word of God burns in his heart like a fire, and even if he tries, he is unable to keep the word of God to himself.
JDanielHaysTeachTheText see also 1 Corinthians 9:16
The burden became so heavy that he finally decided he decided he would no longer serve as a prophet. But he found out the impossibility of denying his call. He learned that it was irreversible and that God’s word was irrepressible. Though he aroused opposition from his enemies, he could find no other satisfaction than in preaching God’s truth. For Jeremiah the word of God was a reality, not the product of his thinking. It demanded expression in spite of opposition and derision. So great was this compelling force of the revelation that he never doubted its reality.
v.10
I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side! Report him! Let’s report him!” All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.”
v.11
But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.
The statement of God’s comforting and empowering presence alludes to God’s promise in 1:8. The English word “mighty” does not quite capture the nuance of this Hebrew word. It carries connotations of “dreaded” or “terrifying.” God is not just a “strong” or “mighty” warrior standing beside Jeremiah; he is such a fierce and powerful warrior that he instills terror in those who oppose him.
v.12
O LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
v.13
Sing to the LORD! Give praise to the LORD! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.
v.14
Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
v.15
Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, who made him very glad, saying, “A child is born to you—a son!“
v.16
May that man be like the towns the LORD overthrew without pity. May he hear wailing in the morning, a battle cry at noon.
v.17
For he did not kill me in the womb, with my mother as my grave, her womb enlarged forever.
v.18
Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?
The entire final section (20:14–18) of Jeremiah’s lament bemoans the day he was born (cf. Job’s similar lament in Job 3). Indeed, in the last two verses (20:17–18) Jeremiah uses the Hebrew word for “womb” three times. No doubt Jeremiah is alluding to his call recorded in Jeremiah 1. Remember that part of God’s overpowering argument when he “called” Jeremiah was “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart” (1:5). These are the first words that God speaks to Jeremiah. Taken with Jeremiah’s opening statements in 20:7–10 of how God prevailed over him, Jeremiah seems to be saying here (poetically) that the only way he could have resisted God’s call was never to have been born. #JDanielHaysTeachTheText