Jeremiah 20:7

“O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived, etc.] What follows from hence to the end of the chapter is thought to have been said by the prophet, when in the stocks, or in prison, and shows mixture of grace and corruption in him; a struggle between flesh and spirit, and the force of a temptation under which he laboured, arising from difficulties and discouragements in his work; and he not only complains to God, but of him; that he had deceived him, when he first called him to be a prophet, by telling him that he should be set over nations and kingdoms, to pull them down, (<240110>Jeremiah 1:10); which he understood of foreign nations, but now found his own people were meant, so Jerom;…”

“Jeremiah's complaint, not unlike that of Job, breathing somewhat of human infirmity in consequence of his imprisonment. Thou didst promise never to give me up to the will of mine enemies, and yet Thou hast done so. But Jeremiah misunderstood God's promise, which was not that he should have nothing to suffer, but that God would deliver him out of sufferings (Jer 1:19). deceived--Others translate as Margin, "Thou hast enticed" or "persuaded me," namely, to undertake the prophetic office, "and I was persuaded," that is, suffered myself to be persuaded to undertake what I find too hard for me. So the Hebrew word is used in a good sense (Gen 9:27, Margin; Pro 25:15; Hos 2:14). stronger than…”

“In the rest of the chapter we have an outbreak of deep emotion, of which the first part ends in a cry of hope Jeremiah 20:13, followed nevertheless by curses upon the day of his birth. Was this the result of feelings wounded by the indignities of a public scourging and a night spent in the stocks? Or was it not the mental agony of knowing that his ministry had (as it seemed) failed? He stands indeed before the multitudes with unbending strength, warning prince and people with unwavering constancy of the national ruin that would follow necessarily upon their sins. Before God he stood crushed by the thought that he had labored in vain, and spent his strength for nothing. It is important to…”

“Hast prevailed - Thou prevailedst against me. Jeremiah at first excused himself to God, Jer 1:6, but the Lord prevailed against him replying, Jer 1:7, Say not, I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak, Jer 1:9. This is all that is here meant, namely, God's over - ruling him contrary to his own inclinations. Jeremiah 20:8”

“20:7 you misled me: Jeremiah spoke of his calling from the Lord (1:5-10) using the same Hebrew word that elsewhere refers to sexual seduction (Exod 22:16).”

“deceived: or, enticed, Jer 1:6-8, Jer 1:18, Jer 1:19, Jer 15:18, Jer 17:16; Exo 5:22, Exo 5:23; Num 11:11-15 thou art: Jer 20:9; Eze 3:14; Mic 3:8; Co1 9:6 I am: Jer 15:10, Jer 29:26; Kg2 2:23; Psa 22:6, Psa 22:7, Psa 35:15, Psa 35:16, Psa 69:9-12; Lam 3:14; Hos 9:7; Luk 16:14, Luk 22:63, Luk 22:64, Luk 23:11, Luk 23:35, Luk 23:36; Act 17:18, Act 17:32; Co1 4:9-13; Heb 11:36 Jeremiah 20:8”

“The Prophet's Complaints as to the Sufferings Met with in his Calling. - This portion contains, first, a complaint addressed to the Lord regarding the persecutions which the preaching of God's word draws down on Jeremiah, but the complaint passes into a jubilant cry of hope ( Jer 20:7-13); secondly, a cursing of the day of his birth ( Jer 20:13-18). The first complaint runs thus: Jer 20:7-13 "Thou hast persuaded me, Jahveh, and I let myself be persuaded; Thou hast laid hold on me and hast prevailed. I am become a laughter the whole day long, every one mocketh at me. Jer 20:8. For as often as I speak, I must call out and cry violence and spoil, for the word of Jahveh is made a reproach and a…”