Albert Barnes Commentary Jeremiah 1:10

"see, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant." — Jeremiah 1:10 (ASV)

I have ... set you over - literally, I have made you Pakeed, i.e., deputy. This title is given only to those invested with high authority (e.g., Genesis 41:34; 2 Chronicles 24:11; Jeremiah 20:1; Jeremiah 29:26). From God’s side, the prophet is a mere messenger, speaking what he is told, doing what he is commanded. From man’s side, he is God’s vicegerent, with power to root out, and to pull down.

Root out ... pull down - In the Hebrew, the verbs present an instance of the alliteration so common in the prophets, and agreeable to Eastern taste. The former signifies the destruction of anything planted, the latter refers to buildings.

To throw down - More exactly, to tear in pieces. There are four words of destruction, and only two words of restoration, as if the message were chiefly of evil. And such was Jeremiah’s message to his contemporaries. Yet are all God’s dealings finally for the good of His people. The Babylonian exile was, for the moment, a time of chastisement; it also became a time of national repentance .