Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 12:1

"Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, when I contend with thee; yet would I reason the cause with thee: wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they at ease that deal very treacherously?" — Jeremiah 12:1 (ASV)

Yet let me talk with thee. —The soul of the prophet is vexed, as had been the soul of Job (Jeremiah 21:7), of Asaph (Psalms 73:0), and others, by the apparent anomalies of the divine government. He acknowledges as a general truth that God is righteous, “yet,” he adds, I will speak (or argue) my cause (literally, causes) with You. He will question the divine Judge until his doubt is removed. And the question is the ever-recurring one, Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? (Psalms 73:3). The “treacherous dealing” implies a reference to the conspirators of the previous chapter.

Wherefore are all they happy ... —Better, at rest, or secure.