Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Jeremiah 20:7-13
Jeremiah Is So Distraught That He Berates YHWH And Points Out How Tough He Is Finding Things, And Yet He Admits That He Has To Speak Out Whether He Likes It Or Not Because YHWH's Word Is Like A Burning Fire Within Him, And He Finishes On A Note Of Praise Because He Is Aware That YHWH Is His Support (Jeremiah 20:7).
While up to this point Jeremiah had been sneered at and jeered at he had never had to suffer physical violence, having been seen as sacrosanct as a prophet of YHWH. This experience thus came to him as something of a shock (he did not realise that it was the harbinger of more to come), and makes him consider what is happening to him. In consequence he now grumbles at YHWH Whom he sees as having forced him into his present position, and points out that it is the very message of ‘violence and destruction' that YHWH has given him that is bringing him into disrepute. Nevertheless he admits that he cannot help speaking out, even when he is thinking of not doing so, because YHWH's word burns in him like a fire forcing him to do so.
But then in his wavering his thoughts turn on YHWH and he is encouraged as he recognises that he need not fear because YHWH is with him as One Who is mighty and terrible, One Who causes his foes to stumble so that they will be utterly put to shame, and he calls on Him avenge Himself on those who have mistreated His prophet so that he himself may see it, and ends up by praising YHWH for his deliverance from the hand of evildoers.
‘O YHWH, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded,
You are stronger than I, and have prevailed,
I have become a laughing-stock all the day,
Everyone mocks me.'
For as often as I have spoken, I have cried out complainingly,
I have protested, “Violence and destruction!”
Because the word of YHWH is made a reproach to me,
And a derision, all the day.”
In his distress at what he has just gone through Jeremiah chides YHWH with the fact that it is YHWH Who has put pressure on him to do the things that he has done. He points out that he had not wanted to do it, but that YHWH was stronger than he was and had prevailed. As a consequence he had become a laughingstock, and was being mocked, because whenever he had spoken it had been of ‘violence and destruction', (whilst as far as his hearers could see, nothing like that was in sight, see Jeremiah 17:15). Thus it was the word of YHWH that he was proclaiming which had been the reason why he was being reproached and derided all the day. Note that the final two lines should be read as continuing the thought in line 3, with lines 4 & 5 as a kind of parenthesis.
We too can find that at times people will mock us for our insistence on the fact that God will one day judge us and that that judgment may be imminent. And when we do so, and feel that possibly we might be wise to desist, we should remember that, even though he was jeered at, Jeremiah's words came true, and when they did how the people must have wished that they had listened.
The word translated ‘persuaded' can also mean ‘seduced, deceived or entrapped into doing something', thus it may be that he is claiming to some extent to have been misled, or even entrapped, into making himself a laughingstock. Compare its use in Exodus 22:16; Ezekiel 14:9; Jdg 16:5; 1 Kings 22:20.
‘And if I say, “I will not make mention of him,
Nor speak any more in his name,
Then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire,
Shut up in my bones,
And I am weary with forbearing,
And I am unable to do so.'
And yet Jeremiah admitted that he had not been able to help speaking up, because whenever he determined that he would not do so, and that he would no longer speak in YHWH's Name, possibly because he had felt that it was hopeless, he had discovered that a fire was burning within him, shut up in his bones (a Hebraism for his inner self), so that not only did he grow tired of resisting it but in fact found himself completely unable not to speak (compare Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:16).
Our problem, of course, is mainly that we do not have such a fire within us, and we thus take advantage of the fact and simply refrain from speaking. But that is a sign that we have not come to know God or His word in the way that Jeremiah had. If we had we also would be unable to hold ourselves back from speaking.
‘For I have heard the defaming of many,
Terror on every side?
“Denounce, and we will denounce him,”
Says every man of my peace,
Those who watch for my fall, say,
“Perhaps he will be persuaded (deceived, seduced),
And we will prevail against him,
And we will take our revenge on him.'
The first two lines are a quotation from Psalms 31:13 describing the behaviour of those who plotted against him and planned his death. He had been constantly aware of those who had defamed him and surrounded him with terror so that ‘terror was on every side' for him as well (magor-missabib - ‘fear is round about'; compare Jeremiah 20:3). Even the men of his peace (courteous acquaintances, that is, those more moderate people who had always in the past greeted him with the words ‘peace be with you') had in the end yielded to popular opinion and had agreed that if others denounced him they would do so as well. They had not felt able to stand out against the swell that was against him.
Meanwhile those who had been constantly on the watch for his fall (compare Psalms 35:15 ‘in my fall they rejoiced'; Jeremiah 38:17, ‘I am ready to fall') said hopefully, ‘perhaps he will be ‘persuaded' (entrapped and seduced) into saying something wrong'. (The belief was that a false prophet was so because he was deceived and seduced by YHWH into uttering false prophecies - 1 Kings 22:21). Their hope was that they could goad Jeremiah into saying something foolish by which he could be condemned with the result that they would be able to prevail against him and take their revenge on him. (When he later publicly supported Babylon they probably clapped their hands in evil delight).
‘But YHWH is with me as a mighty one,
A terrible one,
Therefore my persecutors will stumble,
And they will not prevail,
They will be utterly put to shame,
Because they have not dealt wisely,
Even with an everlasting dishonour,
Which will never be forgotten.
As so often in prayer when the soul is facing seemingly insoluble problems, light suddenly breaks through and Jeremiah immediately feels encouraged as he contemplates YHWH. Why is he talking so foolishly when he knows that YHWH is with him (compare Jeremiah 1:19) and that YHWH is the Mighty and Terrible One? In the light of what He is his persecutors (the terrible ones of Jeremiah 15:21) no longer seem terrible. Rather it is they who will stumble and not prevail, for they will be utterly put to shame because they have not dealt wisely (by listening to the word of YHWH), a shame which will result in everlasting dishonour which will never be forgotten, it will be remembered by all future generations (compare Daniel 12:2 which takes the idea even further).
‘But, O YHWH of hosts, who tries the righteous,
Who sees the heart and the mind,
Let me see your vengeance on them,
For to you have I revealed my cause.'
His rise from despondency continues as he cries to YHWH of Hosts, the One Who tries the righteous and sees men's hearts and minds, to let him finally see His vengeance on them because he has revealed his case to Him.
“Sing to YHWH,
Praise you YHWH,
For he has delivered the soul of the needy,
From the hand of evil-doers.'
And he finishes his prayer on a note of general praise, typical of the Psalms (compare for example Psalms 6:9; Psalms 7:17; Psalms 18:49; Psalms 22:22 ff; Psalms 57:9; Psalms 59:6; Psalms 66:20), as he calls on men to sing to YHWH and to praise Him, because he has delivered the soul of the needy (in this case himself) from the hands of evildoers.