Jeremiah 18:20

20 Good should not be paid back with evil, but they have dug a pit in order to kill me. Remember that I stood before you and asked you to do good things for these people and to turn your anger away from them.

Jeremiah 18:20 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 18:20

Shall evil be recompensed for good?
&c.] For all the good that I have done them, shall this be all the recompence I shall have, to be evilly treated by them, to have my good name, and even life, taken away by them? shall this be suffered to be done? and, if it is, shall it go unpunished? the prophet taxes the people with ingratitude, which he afterwards instances in, and proves: for they have digged a pit for my soul;
or "life"; they lay in wait to take it away; or they had formed a design against it, and brought a charge and accusation against him, in order to take it away, under colour of law and justice. Kimchi interprets it of poison, which they would have had him drank of: remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, [and] to
turn away thy wrath from them;
he was an intercessor for them with God; pleaded with him on their behalf, that good things might be bestowed upon them, and that wrath might be averted from them; so Christ did for the Jews that crucified him, ( Luke 23:34 ) ; this is an instance of their ingratitude; that though he had been an advocate for them, stood in the gap between God and them, and was importunate for their good, yet this was all the recompense he had from them; they sought his life to take it away. This kindness of his for them was forgotten by them; but he trusts the Lord will remember it, and not suffer them to act the base part they intended; and now he determines no more to plead their cause, but to imprecate evils upon them, as follows:

Jeremiah 18:20 In-Context

18 Then the people said, "Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah. Surely the teaching of the law by the priest will not be lost. We will still have the advice from the wise men and the words of the prophets. So let's ruin him by telling lies about him. We won't pay attention to anything he says."

19 Lord, listen to me. Listen to what my accusers are saying!

20 Good should not be paid back with evil, but they have dug a pit in order to kill me. Remember that I stood before you and asked you to do good things for these people and to turn your anger away from them.

21 So now, let their children starve, and let their enemies kill them with swords. Let their wives lose their children and husbands. and the young men be killed with swords in battle.

22 Let them cry out in their houses when you bring an enemy against them suddenly. Let all this happen, because my enemies have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden traps for my feet.