Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 20:16
And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;
16. let that man, etc.] Du. and Co. object to so much being made of the messenger, and therefore consider that for “man” we should substitute, or at any rate understand, “day” of the previous v. The meaning then would be, Let that day assuredly bring disaster. But the change is unnecessary. The text only expresses a counterpart of the Eastern custom of rewarding the messenger who brought good tidings.
the cities ] Cp. Isa 13:19.
cry ] Cp. Jer 18:22.
shouting ] mg. an alarm, the same Hebrew word as that rendered “alarm” in Jer 4:19.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 16. And let him hear the cry] Let him be in continual alarms.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
By
the cities he means those cities mentioned Gen 19:25, Sodom and Gomorrah; by
the cry in the morning and shouting at noon, he means the shouts and noises that enemies make when they break in upon a place in a hostile manner.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. the citiesSodom andGomorrah.
cry . . . morning . . .noontidethat is, Let him be kept in alarm the whole day(not merely at night when terrors ordinarily prevail, but indaytime when it is something extraordinary) with terrifyingwar shouts, as those in a besieged city (Jer18:22).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew,…. In his fury, as the Targum and Septuagint add. Meaning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were utterly destroyed, and were never recovered:
and repented not; whose sentence God never repented of, nor revoked: this was very severe and uncharitable, to wish for so sore a destruction upon an innocent person;
and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide; as soon as he is up in the morning, the first thing that salutes his ears, let it be the noise of an enemy invading the city he dwells in; and by noon let him hear the shouting of him, having broke in, and gotten the victory, seizing the plunder.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And he adds, Who with joy made him joyful We see, as it is commonly said, how he mingles heaven and earth; for had it been in his power, when this frenzy possessed his mind, he would have certainly disturbed all the elements. But more grievous and more inordinate is what follows, Let that man be like the cities which God destroyed without repentance Why did he imprecate on an innocent man the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? and then he speaks not of temporal punishment, but devotes the man to endless perdition, for that is the import of the words, and he repented not; as though he had said, “May God be angry with him, without shewing any mercy, but manifest himself as wholly implacable, as he dealt with Sodom, which he at once destroyed without leaving it any hope.” Had he spoken of an inveterate enemy, he ought to have kept within those bounds prescribed to all God’s children; but he had nothing against the man who brought the news to his father. We hence see how he was led away as it were by an insane impulse. But let us hence learn to restrain, in due time, our feelings, which will pass over all bounds if we indulge them; for they will break out then as it were into fury, as the case was with the Prophet.
He also adds, Let him hear a cry in the morning, and a tumult at noon-tide Here he devotes an innocent man to perpetual inquietude. And mention is made of the dawn, for we know that terrors occur during darkness in the night. If anything happens in the day-time, we inquire what it is, and we are not so frightened; but when there is any noise in the night, fear takes full possession of us. There is then something monstrous in what the Prophet expresses here. Hence, also, we more fully learn how very hot was his indignation, that he thus wished perpetual torments to an innocent man. In the morning, he says, let him hear a cry, and at noon a tumult Had he said, “Let him hear a cry perpetually,” it would not have been so grievous. It now follows, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) The cities which the Lord overthrew.The verb is the same as that used in Gen. 19:29, and the reference is clearly to the cities of the plain, whose destruction is there described. The reference to them in Deu. 32:32; Isa. 1:9-10, shows that they had already become familiar to men as the great representative instances both of evil and its punishment.
The cry . . . the shouting.The former word describes the wail of lamentation, the latter the shout of an invading army.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 20:16. Let him hear the cry.and the shouting An outcryand the alarm of war, &c. Houbigant reads, Let him hear a cry in the morning, and vociferations or howlings at mid-day.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 20:16 And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;
Ver. 16. And let that man be. ] A most bitter curse, but causeless. The devil of discontent, where it prevaileth, maketh the heart to be for the time a little hell, a as we see in Moses, Job, David, Jeremiah, men otherwise made up of excellences. These sinned, but not with full consent. A godly man hath a flea in his ear, somewhat within, which saith, “Dost thou well to be angry, Jonah?” Jon 4:4
a , thence .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
as the cities, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Gen 19:24).
cry: of the besieged for help. Compare Ex. 32. shouting: of the besiegers for victory Jer 17:18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
repented
(See Scofield “Zec 8:14”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
as: Gen 19:24, Gen 19:25, Deu 29:23, Hos 11:8, Amo 4:11, Zep 2:9, Luk 17:29, 2Pe 2:6, Jud 1:7
repented: Jer 18:8, Jer 26:13, Jon 3:4, Jon 3:9, Jon 3:10, Jon 4:2
let him: Jer 4:19, Jer 18:22, Jer 48:3, Jer 48:4, Eze 21:22, Hos 10:14, Amo 1:14, Amo 2:2, Zep 1:16
Reciprocal: Eze 16:50 – therefore Eze 16:53 – bring Zec 8:14 – I repented
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
20:16 And let that man be as the {i} cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noon;
(i) Alluding to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen 19:25 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The messenger of Jeremiah’s birth would have been better off, from the prophet’s perspective, if he had been slain by the Lord, as when the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19). He would have been well advised to run for cover on that day. That messenger was the object of Jeremiah’s curse, because the prophet wished the Lord had slain him in his mother’s womb rather than bringing him to birth.