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Jeremiah 18:20

Old Testament Major Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Jeremiah 18:20 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath from them.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath from them.
Jeremiah 18:20 — American Standard Version

Context — Jeremiah 18

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
17I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
18Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
19Give heed to me, O Jehovah, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.
20Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath from them.
21Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, [and] their young men smitten of the sword in battle.
22Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them; for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
23Yet, Jehovah, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me; forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight; but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thou with them in the time of thine anger.
← Jeremiah 18:19Jeremiah 18:21 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Shall evil be recompensed for good? etc.] 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…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“In the particulars here specified, Jeremiah was a type of Jesus Christ (Psa 109:4-5; Joh 15:25). my soul--my life; me (Psa 35:7). I stood before thee . . . to turn away thy wrath--so Moses (Psa 106:23; compare Eze 22:30). So Jesus Christ, the antitype of previous partial intercessors (Isa 59:16).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Jeremiah had been laboring earnestly to avert the ruin of his country, but the Jews treated him as farmers do some noxious animal which wastes their fields, and for which they dig pitfalls. return to 'Top of Page'”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“evil: Sa1 24:17-19; Psa 35:12, Psa 38:20, Psa 109:4, Psa 109:5; Pro 17:13; Joh 10:32, Joh 15:25 digged: Jer 18:22; Job 6:27; Psa 7:15, Psa 35:7, Psa 57:6, Psa 119:95; Pro 26:27; Ecc 10:8 Remember: Jer 7:16, Jer 11:14, Jer 14:7-11, Jer 14:20-22, Jer 15:1; Gen 18:22-32; Psa 106:23; Eze 22:30, Eze 22:31; Zac 3:1, Zac 3:2 Jeremiah 18:21”
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Related study paths

Read Jeremiah 18 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification