Jeremiah 20 Footnotes

20:7 This is the language of prophetic exaggeration. God did not deceive Jeremiah; he had warned him that he would be opposed (1:8,19; 12:5).

20:8-9 Jeremiah is known for his confessions, his honest expression of personal discouragement and distress because of his prophetic vocation. When he spoke a word from God, the people made fun of him and held him in contempt. Yet, if he tried to refrain from prophesying, he could not (v. 9); his call to prophesy was “[in]born,” part of who he was (1:5). He was frustrated, but in the end the Lord’s power to deliver encouraged him (20:11-13).

20:11-13 Jeremiah’s book reflects his internal struggle; the tone of these verses is a positive contrast to the dejected utterances of vv. 7-10 and 14-18. Some critics believe these verses were added at a later time when Jeremiah was no longer so depressed, but given the course of his life as recorded in Scripture, it is not easy to identify when such a time might have arrived. Other scholars point out that such a mood swing could be a result of trying to understand what was happening: Jeremiah’s prophecy reflected his ongoing internal struggle. In any case, his book was the result of an ongoing process of composition, in both oral and written form. His prophecy was composed orally and committed to memory so that when it was destroyed he could dictate it over again to his scribe, with additions (36:32). Today it is impossible to know, with any certainty, which verses might belong to the earlier stages of composition and which to the latter.