Jeremiah 1:4-19

The Call of Jeremiah

4 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

5 ¹"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born ²I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet ³to the nations."

6 Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, ⁴I do not know how to speak, ⁵for I am only a youth."

7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and ⁶whatever I command you, you shall speak.

8 ⁷Do not be afraid of them, ⁸for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD."

9 ⁹Then the LORD put out his hand and ¹⁰touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put ¹¹my words in your mouth.

10 See, I have set you this day ¹²over nations and over kingdoms, ¹³to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."

11 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ¹⁴"Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see an almond^[a] branch."

12 Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it."

13 The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see ¹⁵a boiling pot, facing away ¹⁶from the north."

14 Then the LORD said to me, ¹⁷"Out of the north disaster^[b] shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land.

15 For behold, ¹⁸I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, ¹⁹and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah.

16 And ²⁰I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil ²¹in forsaking me. ²²They have made offerings to other gods and ²³worshiped the works of their own hands.

17 But you, ²⁴dress yourself for work;^[c] arise, and ²⁵say to them everything that I command you. ²⁶Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them.

18 And I, behold, I make you this day ²⁷a fortified city, ²⁸an iron pillar, and ²⁹bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.

19 ³⁰They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for ³¹I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you."

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Jeremiah 1:4-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH

The title of the book in the Vulgate Latin version is, "the Prophecy of Jeremiah"; in the Syriac and Arabic versions, "the Prophecy of the Prophet Jeremiah". According to a tradition of the Jews {a}, this book stands the first of the Prophets, the order of which is, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the twelve. Kimchi makes mention of it in a preface to his comment on this book; and Dr. Lightfoot from hence concludes, that this is the reason why a passage in Zechariah is cited under the name of Jeremy, Mt 27:9, because he standing first in the volume of the Prophets gave name to the whole; just as the book of Psalms, being the first of the Hagiographa, they are called the Psalms from it, Lu 24:44. The name of the writer of this book, Jeremiah, signifies, "the Lord shall exalt", or "be exalted"; or, "exalting the Lord"; being composed of Mry, "he shall exalt", and hy, "Jehovah", according to Hillerus {b}. Though others {c} take it to be a composition of hy, and hmry, "the Lord shall cast down"; as he did his enemies, and also himself, he being greatly afflicted; and which suits with the argument of his book, foretelling the casting away of the people of the Jews. His style of writing, according to the opinion of Jerom {d}, is more rustic than that of Isaiah and some other prophets, and which he attributes to his being born and brought up in a country village; and Abarbinel to his age, being a child when he began to prophesy. The duration of his prophesying was forty years and upwards. He began to prophesy in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign; in 3375 A.M. or before the era of Christ 629, according both to Bishop Usher {e} and Mr. Whiston {f}, and the Universal History {g}; and according to Mr. Bedford {h} 627. If any credit can be given to Epiphanius {i}, or to the writer that bears his name, he was stoned to death by the people at Taphnas in Egypt, and was buried where Pharaoh dwelt. Abulpharagius, an Arabic writer {k}, says, that he went to Egypt, where some of the Jews took him and put him into a well, and afterwards took him out and stoned him, so that he died, and he was buried in Egypt; and was from thence removed by Alexander, in his time, to Alexandria, and buried there. And both Tertullian {l} and Jerom {m} affirm that he was stoned by the people. This prophecy contains several discourses delivered to the people of the Jews; charging them with many sins they were guilty of; exhorting them to repentance; threatening them with the destruction of their city and temple, and with captivity in Babylon; and comforting the saints, not only with a promise of deliverance from thence, but of spiritual redemption by the Messiah. And it also has in it several predictions of judgments upon other nations; and gives a particular account of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the carrying of the Jews captive into Babylon; which he lived to see, as the fulfilment of his prophecies.

{a} T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 14. 2. {b} Onomastic. Sacr. p. 326, 508. {c} Schmidt in loc. {d} Praefat. in Hieremiam, tom. 3. fol. 9. B, {e} Annales Vet. Test, A. M. 3375. {f} Chronological Tables, cent. 9. {g} Vol. 21. p. 56. {h} Scripture Chronology, p. 673. {i} De Vit. Prophet. c. 8. Vid. Isidor. Hispalens. de Vit. & Mort. Sanct. c. 38. {k} Hist. Dynast. p. 46. Vid. Elmacin. Hist. Eccl. p. 128, Apud Hottinger. Thesaur. Phil. p. 478. {l} Scorpiace, c. 8. {m} Adv. Jovinian. l. 2, tom. 2. fol. 32. I.

\\INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 1\\

This chapter contains the title or inscription of the book; the call of the prophet to his office, and the encouragement he had to enter upon it. In the inscription the prophet is described by his name, by his descent, by the place of his birth, and the time of his prophesying, Jer 1:1-3, the appointment and ordination of him to his office, which was very early, and the signification of it to him, are in Jer 1:4,5, his excuse, on account of his childhood and weakness, Jer 1:6, the encouragement given him, notwithstanding this, from the mission and command he had from the Lord, and the promise of his presence with him, Jer 1:7,8, and not only is he encouraged by words, but also by signs; by the Lord's touching his mouth with his hand, as a symbol of putting his words into his mouth, and setting him over nations and kingdoms, to publish in a prophetic way their destruction, Jer 1:9,10, and by a vision of an almond tree, signifying the quick and hasty performance of the word of the Lord by him, Jer 1:11,12, and by another vision of a seething pot northwards, intimating the coming of the Chaldeans from the north against Jerusalem, and their taking it, and carrying the Jews captive because of their wickedness, which was a principal part of the message he was sent with, Jer 1:13-16 and the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to him to take heart, and be of good courage, and not be dismayed; since he was made a defenced city, an iron pillar, and brasen wall, against the whole land of Judea, its kings, princes, priests, and people; who, though they should fight against him, should not prevail, because God was with him, Jer 1:17-19.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 31

1. See Isaiah 44:2
2. [John 10:36]
3. [Isaiah 49:6]; See Jeremiah 25:15-29; Jeremiah 46 - 51
4. [Exodus 4:10]
5. [1 Kings 3:7]
6. ver. 17; Ezekiel 2:7
7. Ezekiel 2:6; Ezekiel 3:9
8. Jeremiah 15:20; See Exodus 3:12
9. [Ezekiel 2:9]
10. [Isaiah 6:7]
11. Jeremiah 5:14
12. [See ver. 5 above]
13. Jeremiah 18:7; Jeremiah 31:28; Jeremiah 45:4; [2 Corinthians 10:4, 5]
14. [Amos 7:8]
15. Ezekiel 24:3; [Ezekiel 22:21]
16. Jeremiah 4:6; Jeremiah 6:1; Jeremiah 10:22
17. [See ver. 13 above]
18. [Jeremiah 25:9]
19. [Jeremiah 39:3; Jeremiah 43:10]
20. Jeremiah 4:12
21. Jeremiah 19:4; Jeremiah 22:9
22. Jeremiah 7:9; Jeremiah 44:3
23. Jeremiah 25:6, 7; Isaiah 2:8; Acts 7:41
24. [1 Kings 18:46; 1 Peter 1:13]
25. ver. 7
26. ver. 8; Ezekiel 3:9
27. [Isaiah 50:7]
28. Revelation 3:12
29. Jeremiah 15:20; [Jeremiah 6:27]
30. [See ver. 18 above]
31. ver. 8; [Acts 18:9, 10]

Footnotes 3

[a]. Almond sounds like the Hebrew for watching (compare verse 12)
[b]. The Hebrew word can mean evil, harm, or disaster, depending on the context; so throughout Jeremiah
[c]. Hebrew gird up your loins

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.