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Text -- Jeremiah 20:6-18 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
20:6 You , Pashhur , and all your household will go into exile in Babylon . You will die there and you will be buried there . The same thing will happen to all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies .’”
Jeremiah Complains about the Reaction to His Ministry
20:7 Lord , you coerced me into being a prophet, and I allowed you to do it . You overcame my resistance and prevailed over me. Now I have become a constant laughingstock . Everyone ridicules me.
20:8 For whenever I prophesy , I must cry out , “Violence and destruction are coming!” This message from the Lord has made me an object of continual insults and derision .
20:9 Sometimes I think , “I will make no mention of his message. I will not speak as his messenger any more .” But then his message becomes like a fire locked up inside of me, burning in my heart and soul . I grow weary of trying to hold it in; I cannot contain it.
20:10 I hear many whispering words of intrigue against me. Those who would cause me terror are everywhere ! They are saying, “Come on, let’s publicly denounce him!” All my so-called friends are just watching for something that would lead to my downfall . They say, “Perhaps he can be enticed into slipping up, so we can prevail over him and get our revenge on him.
20:11 But the Lord is with me to help me like an awe-inspiring warrior . Therefore those who persecute me will fail and will not prevail over me. They will be thoroughly disgraced because they did not succeed . Their disgrace will never be forgotten .
20:12 O Lord who rules over all , you test and prove the righteous . You see into people’s hearts and minds . Pay them back for what they have done because I trust you to vindicate my cause .
20:13 Sing to the Lord ! Praise the Lord ! For he rescues the oppressed from the clutches of evildoers .
20:14 Cursed be the day I was born ! May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me.
20:15 Cursed be the man who made my father very glad when he brought him the news that a baby boy had been born to him!
20:16 May that man be like the cities that the Lord destroyed without showing any mercy . May he hear a cry of distress in the morning and a battle cry at noon .
20:17 For he did not kill me before I came from the womb , making my pregnant mother’s womb my grave forever .
20:18 Why did I ever come forth from my mother’s womb ? All I experience is trouble and grief , and I spend my days in shame .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
JEREMIAH (2) |
URIAH; URUAH |
Jeremiah |
Complaint |
Life |
JOB, BOOK OF |
Pashur |
Birthday |
PROPHECY; PROPHETS, 1 |
Magor-Missabib |
Babylon |
Afflictions and Adversities |
Children |
Heart |
God |
Minister |
Fire |
Prophets |
Persecution |
Malice |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Jer 20:6; Jer 20:6; Jer 20:7; Jer 20:8; Jer 20:8; Jer 20:8; Jer 20:8; Jer 20:8; Jer 20:9; Jer 20:9; Jer 20:9; Jer 20:10; Jer 20:10; Jer 20:10; Jer 20:10; Jer 20:10; Jer 20:10; Jer 20:10; Jer 20:11; Jer 20:12; Jer 20:12; Jer 20:12; Jer 20:12; Jer 20:13; Jer 20:14; Jer 20:15; Jer 20:15; Jer 20:16; Jer 20:17; Jer 20:18
NET Notes: Jer 20:6 As a member of the priesthood and the protector of order in the temple, Pashhur was undoubtedly one of those who promulgated the deceptive belief that...
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NET Notes: Jer 20:7 The translation is admittedly interpretive but so is every other translation that tries to capture the nuance of the verb rendered here “coerced...
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NET Notes: Jer 20:8 Heb “the word of the Lord.” For the use of כִּי…כִּי (ki…ki) here in the sense...
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NET Notes: Jer 20:9 Heb “It is in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones.” In addition to standing as part for the whole, the “bones” f...
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NET Notes: Jer 20:10 There is an interesting ironical play on words here with the earlier use of these same Hebrew words in v. 7 to refer to the Lord coercing him into bei...
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NET Notes: Jer 20:11 This line has some interesting ties with Jer 15:20-21 where Jeremiah is assured by God that he is indeed with him as he promised him when he called hi...
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NET Notes: Jer 20:12 This verse is almost an exact duplication of the petition in one of Jeremiah’s earlier prayers and complaints. See Jer 11:20 and notes there for...
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NET Notes: Jer 20:13 While it may be a little confusing to modern readers to see the fluctuation in moods and the shifts in addressee in a prayer and complaint like this, ...
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NET Notes: Jer 20:14 From the heights of exaltation, Jeremiah returns to the depths of despair. For similar mood swings in the psalms of lament compare Ps 102. Verses 14-1...
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NET Notes: Jer 20:15 The birth of a child was an occasion of great joy. This was especially true if the child was a boy because it meant the continuance of the family line...
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NET Notes: Jer 20:16 The cities alluded to are Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the Jordan plain which had become proverbial for their wickedness and for the destructi...
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NET Notes: Jer 20:17 Heb “because he did not kill me from the womb so my mother might be to me for my grave and her womb eternally pregnant.” The sentence stru...
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