Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 1:17

"Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before them." — Jeremiah 1:17 (ASV)

Gird up thy loins. —Be as the messenger who prepares to be swift on his errand, and to go wherever he is sent (1 Kings 18:46; 2 Kings 4:29; 2 Kings 9:1). The vivid image of intense activity reappears in the New Testament (Luke 12:35; 1 Peter 1:13) and has become proverbial in the speech of Christendom.

Be not dismayed. —The repeated calls to courage appear to indicate—like St. Paul’s exhortations to Timothy (1 Timothy 4:12; 1 Timothy 6:13; 2 Timothy 2:3)—a constitutional timidity. We must remember, as some excuse for this, that the reign of Manasseh had shown that the work of the prophet might easily lead to the fate of the martyr (2 Kings 21:16). Even Ezekiel, among the remnant of exiles on the banks of Chebar, needed similar encouragement (Ezekiel 2:6).

Lest I confound thee. —The Hebrew emphasizes the command by repeating the same words: Be not dismayed, lest I dismay you.