Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 20:4

Charles Ellicott Commentary

Jeremiah 20:4

1819–1905
Anglican
Charles Ellicott
Charles Ellicott

Charles Ellicott Commentary

Jeremiah 20:4

1819–1905
Anglican
SCRIPTURE

"For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword." — Jeremiah 20:4 (ASV)

I will make you a terror to yourself, and to all your friends. —We should have looked for a different explanation, indicating that terrors from outside should gather around the cruel and relentless persecutor, but the prophet’s words go deeper. He should be an object of self-loathing, outer fears intensifying his inward terror and acting through him on others. He is the centre from which terrors radiate as well as that to which they converge.