Jeremiah 20:8

8 For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long.

Jeremiah 20:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 20:8

For since I spake, I cried out
Or, "when I speak, I cry" {a}; whensoever I speak in the name of the Lord, and deliver message from him to the people, I lift up my voice and cry aloud, that all may hear and understand; and as showing zeal, fervour, and diligence: or, "I cry" with grief and trouble at the usage I meet with, and the contempt that is cast upon the word; or because of what I am obliged to declare to them, as follows. The Targum takes in both sense, of the word thus,

``for at the time that I prophesy, I lift up my voice, weeping, and crying.''

I cried violence and spoil:
or, "proclaimed" it ^F2, for a different word is here used; that is, he publicly declared the rapine and oppression they were guilty of, inveighed against it, and reproved them for it; and foretold the violence of the enemy, and the spoil that he should make of them, when he should come upon them, even the king of Babylon; as well as cried out and complained of the injurious treatment he himself met with from them; because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a
derision daily;
which is a reason either why he cried with grief and sorrow; or why he cried violence and spoil, ruin and destruction: or, "though the word of the Lord was" ^F3, &c; yet he went on publishing and proclaiming it: or, "surely the word of the Lord was made a reproach" ^F4, &c; either because of the matter of it, it not being believed, or the manner in which it was delivered; or because it was not immediately fulfilled.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (qeza rbda ydm) "quum loquor exclamavi, i.e. loquor exclamans", Gataker.
F2 (arqa) "clamo", Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius; "proclamo", Piscator.
F3 (rbd hyh yk) "quamvis".
F4 "Verum, verbum Domini", so some in Vatablus; "utique", De Dieu, Gataker.

Jeremiah 20:8 In-Context

6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon, and there you will die and be buried—you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied these lies.’”

7 You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.

8 For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long.

9 If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.

10 For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.”