Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 18:20
Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, [and] to turn away thy wrath from them.
20. Shall evil be recompensed for good?] Jeremiah had interceded for the people in times past, e.g. ch. Jer 14:7; Jer 14:21.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. They have digged a pit for my soul.] For my life; this they wish to take away.
Stood before thee to speak good for them] I was their continual intercessor.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Shall evil be recompensed for good? to requite good for evil is divine, God maketh his sun to shine, and his rain to fall, upon the just and unjust; to requite evil for evil, or good for good, is but human, what the nature of reasonable men prompt them to; but to requite evil for good is diabolical, and the character of those that are the children of the evil one.
For they have digged a pit for my soul; Lord, saith the prophet, these men have done thus, they have laid snares for my life; though thou knowest that as a prophet I stood before thee, both preaching and praying for their good. Their wrath is kindled to a great height against me, and thou knowest my business was, both in my preachings to them, and prayers for them,
to turn away thy wrath from them. Lord, remember this, both for good to me, and for vengeance upon them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. In the particulars herespecified, Jeremiah was a type of Jesus Christ (Psa 109:4;Psa 109:5; Joh 15:25).
my soulmy life; me (Ps35:7).
I stood before thee . . . toturn away thy wrathso Moses (Ps106:23; compare Eze 22:30).So Jesus Christ, the antitype of previous partial intercessors (Isa59:16).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Shall evil be recompensed for good?…. 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 that I stood before thee to speak good for them, [and] to turn away thy wrath from them; he was an intercessor for them with God; pleaded with him on their behalf, that good things might be bestowed upon them, and that wrath might be averted from them; so Christ did for the Jews that crucified him, Lu 23:34; this is an instance of their ingratitude; that though he had been an advocate for them, stood in the gap between God and them, and was importunate for their good, yet this was all the recompense he had from them; they sought his life to take it away. This kindness of his for them was forgotten by them; but he trusts the Lord will remember it, and not suffer them to act the base part they intended; and now he determines no more to plead their cause, but to imprecate evils upon them, as follows:
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Prophet in this verse exaggerates the sin of his enemies, for they not only were ferocious against God, but also forgot everything humane, and wickedly assailed the Prophet himself. Impiety is indeed more detestable than inhumanity, inasmuch as God is far above all mortals; but inhumanity has in it more basenes, for it is, so to speak, more gross and more evident. The ungodly often hide their perfidy; but when they come to act towards men, then it appears immediately what they are. Hence the Prophet, having made known the impiety of his enemies, now adds, that they, when tried by the judgment of men, were found to be wholly intolerable, for they rendered a shameful reward to an innocent man who was sedulous in securing their salvation. We now understand the meaning of the Prophet.
Though it often happens that evil is rendered for good, and ingratitude is a common vice, yet nature itself detests ingratitude: hence it has been said that there is no law against the ungrateful, because ingratitude seems a monstrous thing. As then nature dictates that merit deserves a reward, and this ought to be a fixed principle in the hearts of all, the Prophet reasons according to the common sense and judgment of all mankind.
Shall evil, he says, be rendered for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul? (207) and yet I prayed for them, and endeavored to turn away the wrath of God. Since I have set myself humbly to pray for their salvation, how great is their savageness and inhumanity in persecuting me? But as he saw that it was vain to speak to the deaf, he again appeals to God as a witness to his integrity; Remember, he says, that I stood before thy face to speak for them; as though he had said, “Even if malignity prevent men to own what I am, and how I have conducted myself towards them, God will be to me a sufficient witness, and I shall be satisfied with his judgment.” It then follows —
(207) It is better to render these lines like the Septuagint and Vulgate, —
Is not evil rendered for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul.
Or thus, —
Should evil be rendered for good? — For they have dug a pit for me.
So should “soul” be rendered here and in many other places. There is here an allusion to the practice of digging pits to take wild beasts. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) They have digged a pit for my soul.The image has become so familiar that we have all but lost its vividness. What it meant here (as in Psa. 57:6) was that the man was treated as a beast, the prophet who sought their good as the wolf or the jackal whom they entrapped and slew.
Remember that I stood before thee.The phrase is used frequently, though not uniformly, of the act of worship, of the communion of the soul with God (comp. Jer. 7:10; Deu. 10:8; Deu. 19:17; Deu. 29:10; 1Ki. 19:11), and is clearly used in this sense here. The prophet refers to his repeated though fruitless entreaties for the people in Jeremiah 14, 15. It is interesting to note the description of Jeremiah, in 2Ma. 15:14, as a lover of the brethren who prayeth much for the people and the holy city. Men had come to recognise that the spirit of intercession had been the prophets dominant characteristic.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 18:20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, [and] to turn away thy wrath from them.
Ver. 20. Shall evil be recompensed for good? ] q.d., That is greatest disingenuity and unthankfulness. To render good for evil is divine; good for good is human; evil for evil is brutish; but evil for good devilish. Lo, with such breathing devils had Jeremiah here to do; and, indeed, what good man hath not? See 1Sa 24:17 Psa 35:12 ; Psa 109:5 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Shall . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. my soul = me (emphatic). Hebrew. nephesh. App-18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
evil: 1Sa 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, Zec 3:1, Zec 3:2
Reciprocal: Exo 21:33 – General 1Sa 19:4 – spake good 1Sa 25:21 – he hath requited 2Ch 20:11 – how they reward us Neh 6:14 – think thou Job 30:25 – Did not I Psa 7:4 – If I Psa 94:13 – until the pit Psa 119:85 – The proud Psa 119:86 – they Psa 140:5 – The proud Pro 29:10 – but Jer 11:20 – let Jer 17:16 – neither Jer 27:18 – let them Jer 28:6 – the Lord perform Luk 13:8 – let Rom 10:1 – my heart’s 1Th 2:10 – how Heb 6:10 – to forget
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 18:20. The prophet did not complain of any physical persecution in this case, but that they had digged a pit for his soul. This was a reference to the persecution the enemies had devised of slandering him concerning his teaching. In doing so Jeremiah charged that they were recompensing to him evil for the good he bad done in proclaiming to them the word of the Lord.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Would Yahweh allow evil to happen to him, after he had done good to these opponents but telling them what was good for them? He had urged them to repent-with the promise that they could avoid calamity by turning back to the Lord.