Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 17:17
Be not a terror unto me: thou [art] my hope in the day of evil.
17. terror ] a cause of dismay. See ch. Jer 1:17, with note. The root occurs as a verb ( dismayed) twice in the next v.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Jer 17:17
Be not a terror unto me: Thou art my hope in the day of evil.
Divine wrath an object of fear
I. The petition.
1. Gods majesty is in itself an object of fear and dread (Heb 12:21; Isa 6:5; Hab 3:16; Hos 3:5).
2. Divine chastisements are to be feared (Jer 10:24; Psa 6:1; Job 9:34).
3. Gods wrath is still more dreadful.
4. The prophet prays for support and comfort in the time of trial.
II. The expression of confidence.
1. The grace exercised is hope.
(1) God is the object of His peoples hope (Psa 71:5; Psa 78:5).
(2) God is the end of their hope. They need no more (Psa 16:11; Psa 17:15).
2. The time when this grace is exercised. Day of evil.
(1) Sin and sorrow make every day an evil day; stiff let us hope (Psa 62:8; Psa 71:14).
(2) Yet there are peculiar days of evil. National calamity; reverses in business; disappointments; affliction; old age (Psa 73:26; 2Ti 1:12).
Learn–
1. That hopes and fears are blended together in the experience of the godly (Psa 147:11).
2. If God is sometimes a terror to His own people, how much more to the wicked? (B. Beddome, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. Be not a terror unto me] Do not command me to predict miseries, and abandon me to them and to my enemies.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Though these rebellious wicked men affright and terrify me, yet, Lord, be not thou a terror to me, own and defend me as thy prophet; for thou alone art he in whom I place my hope and trust in a day of trouble.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. a terrornamely, bydeserting me: all I fear is Thine abandoning me; if Thou art with me,I have no fear of evil from enemies.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Be not a terror unto me,…. By deserting him, and leaving him in the hands of his enemies; or by denying him supports under their reproaches and persecution; or by withdrawing his gracious presence from him, than which nothing is more terrible to a good man; or by withholding the comfortable influences of his Spirit; or by suffering terrors to be injected into him from any quarter; and more is meant than is expressed; namely, that God would be a comforter of him, and bear him up under all his troubles:
thou [art] my hope in the day of evil: the author and object of his hope; the ground and foundation of it, from whom he hoped for deliverance, when it was a time of distress with him, from outward as well as from inward enemies; he was his hope in a time of outward calamity, and in the hour of death and day of judgment.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Now the Prophet, having appealed to God as a witness to his integrity, prays him to show himself as his patron and defender. Thus he again implores God’s aid, Be not thou, he says, a terror to me, that is, “Suffer me not while pleading thy cause to be terrified.” Thy the word, terror, he means such a dread as stupifies all the feelings. It would have indeed been wholly unreasonable for the Prophets to fail in constancy and firmness, for it belonged to God to rule them by his Spirit, and to support them by his grace, from the time he committed to them their office. Since then no one is of himself fit to discharge the duties of a faithful teacher, God must: necessarily succor and aid those whom he calls and sends to the work. This is now what the Prophet speaks of when he says, Be not to me a terror, that is, “Be not to me a cause of dread by depriving me of constancy and firmness, so as to render me an object of ridicule to all;” and why? because thou art my protection, or my hope, for the word means both.
Thou art then my protection (of this meaning I mostly approve) in the day of evil, that is, “I have chosen thee as my protector, as though thou were a shield to me; as then I have promised myself the favor of having thee as my help, see that I be not left destitute, since I have to right for thee and under thy banner.” Hence he adds, Ashamed let them be who persecute me, and let not me be ashamed; terrified let them be, and let not me be terrified
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) Be not a terror . . .i.e., a cause of terror or dismay. The words are explained by what follows. The prophet had put his hope in Jehovah, but if he were left to himself, his message unfulfilled, himself a by-word and a jest, what a contrast would all this be to what he had been led to hope! Would not his work as a prophet be more terrible than ever? The feeling expressed is like that of Jer. 15:10.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 17:17 Be not a terror unto me: thou [art] my hope in the day of evil.
Ver. 17. Be not a terror unto me. ] Let me have fair weather overhead, how foul soever it be under foot. If we have peace with God, though trouble in the world, we can take no hurt. If vapours be not got into the bowels of the earth, and stir not there, storms and tempests abroad cannot cause an earthquake; so if there be peace within, &c. But like as all the letters in the alphabet, without a vowel, will not make one word; nor all the stars in the firmament, without a sun, will make a day, so neither can all this world’s good make one happy, without God and his favour.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Be not a terror. Compare Jer 1:17.
evil = calamity. Hebrew. ra’a’. App-44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
a terror: Job 31:23, Psa 77:2-9, Psa 88:15, Psa 88:16
thou: Jer 17:7, Jer 17:13, Jer 16:19, Psa 41:1, Psa 59:16, Nah 1:7, Eph 6:13
Reciprocal: Psa 62:5 – my Psa 71:5 – For thou Psa 77:3 – I remembered Psa 115:9 – trust Amo 5:10 – abhor
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 17:17. Jeremiah believed the Lord would protect him from the terror of his enemies. His hope was in God and this verse is a prayer based upon that hope.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
17:17 Be not {q} a terror to me: thou [art] my hope in the day of evil.
(q) However the wicked deal rigorously with me, yet let me find comfort in you.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Since Yahweh was Jeremiah’s refuge from criticism and discouragement, the prophet asked Him not to frighten him (by appearing to desert him). Jeremiah was not always so trusting (cf. Jer 20:7-12).