Jeremiah 18:19

Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) Give heed to me . . .—This is the prophet’s answer to the resolve of the people, “Let us not give heed.” He appeals in the accents of a passionate complaint to One who will heed his words. The opening words are almost as an echo of Psalm 35:1.

Benson Commentary

Jeremiah 18:19-23. Give heed to me, O Lord — The people had determined not to give heed to any of his words, (Jeremiah 18:18,) nor to admit any of his complaints, nor take the least notice of his grievances; therefore he appeals to God, as an impartial judge, that would hear both sides, as every judge ought to do. It is a matter of comfort to faithful ministers that, if men will not give heed to their preaching, yet God will give heed to their praying. And hearken to the voice of them that contend with me — Hear what they have to say against me, and for themselves, and then make it appear that thou sittest upon the throne judging right. Shall evil be recompensed for good? — And shall it go unpunished? Wilt not thou recompense me good for that evil? see 2 Samuel 16:12. “To render good for good,” says Henry, “is human, evil for evil is brutish, good for evil is Christian, but evil for good is devilish; it is so very absurd and wicked a thing that we cannot think but God will avenge it.” They have digged a pit for my soul — That is, They have laid snares for me as for a wild beast; for pits are digged for wild beasts to fall into, that so they may be taken. Therefore the sense is, They have formed a design against my life, and that not in a generous way, by an open assault, against which I might have had an opportunity of defending myself; but in a base, cowardly, clandestine way. Such was the evil they did or devised against him. But see how great the good was which he had done for them: Remember, he says, that I stood before thee to speak good for them — That is, in the execution of my prophetical office, I always interposed, with my prayers, in their behalf, to avert those judgments which, by thy command, I denounced against them. Therefore deliver up their children, &c. — Since they are thus incorrigible, I shall not any more intercede for them, but let those calamities of famine and sword, with which thou hast threatened them, overtake them. Let a cry be heard from their houses, &c. — When they are unexpectedly assaulted by a troop of their enemies, that come to plunder and destroy them. Yet Lord, or, rather, For Lord, thou knowest all their counsel against me, to slay me; forgive not their iniquity, &c. — Compare chap. Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 15:15; Psalm 59:5; on which passages see the notes. Although it redounds to the glory of God’s justice that incorrigible sinners should meet with exemplary punishment; yet these strong imprecations are not to be considered as the effusions of an unholy zeal, but as simple prophecies, in which light, we have shown, in our commentary on the Psalms, many similar expressions occurring there are to be considered.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

18:18-23 When the prophet called to repentance, instead of obeying the call, the people devised devices against him. Thus do sinners deal with the great Intercessor, crucifying him afresh, and speaking against him on earth, while his blood is speaking for them in heaven. But the prophet had done his duty to them; and the same will be our rejoicing in a day of evil.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The voice - i. e., the outcry and threats.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

19. Give heed—contrasted with, "let us not give heed" (Jer 18:18). As they give no heed to me, do Thou, O Lord, give heed to me, and let my words at least have their weight with Thee.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The several following verses, to the end of this chapter, contain the prophet’s prayer by way of appeal to God against those wicked men: Lord, (saith he,) though they are resolved to take no heed to my words, yet do thou give heed to them, and do thou take notice of those men that contend with me. Take notice of what they say, not to confirm, but to cross their desires, and to be revenged on them for them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Give heed to me, O Lord,.... To his prayer, since his enemies would not give heed to his prophecies; and God does give heed to the cries and complaints of his ministers, when men will not give heed to their words and doctrines; they have a God to go to, who will hear them, when men despise them:

and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me; hear their reproaches and rantings, their blasphemies and evil speakings, their lies and falsehoods, and judge between me and them; let it appear who is in the right; vindicate my cause, and plead with them that plead against me.

Geneva Study Bible

Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 19, 20. - Them that contend with me. Shall evil, etc.? Compare the phraseology of Psalm 35:1-12 (either Jeremiah imitated this psalm or vice versa); and for another point of contact with this psalm, see on Jeremiah 23:12. They have digged a pit, etc. Comp. Psalm 57:6. To speak good for them. See Jeremiah's intercessions in Jeremiah 14:7-9, 19-22. Jeremiah 18:19

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Enmity displayed against the prophet by the people for this discourse, and prayer for protection from his enemies. - Jeremiah 18:18. "Then said they: Come and let us plot schemes against Jeremiah; for law shall not be lost to the priest, and counsel to the wise, and speech to the prophet. Come and let us smite him with the tongue and not give heed to all his speeches. Jeremiah 18:19. Give heed to me, Jahveh, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me! Jeremiah 18:20. Shall evil be repaid for good, that they dig a pit for my soul? Remember how I stood before Thee to speak good for them, to turn away Thy wrath from them! Jeremiah 18:21. Therefore give their sons to the famine and deliver them to the sword, that their wives become childless and widows, and their men slaughtered by death, their young men smitten by the sword in battle. Jeremiah 18:22. Let a cry be heard from their houses, when Thou bringest troops upon them suddenly; for they have digged a pit to take me and laid snares for my feet. Jeremiah 18:23. But Thou Jahveh knowest all their counsels against me for death: forgive not their iniquity and blot not out their sin from before Thy face, that they be overthrown before Thee; in the time of Thine anger deal with them."

Even the solemn words (Jeremiah 18:15-17) of the prophet were in vain. Instead of examining themselves and reforming their lives, the blinded sinners resolve to put the troublesome preacher of repentance out of the way by means of false charges. The subject of "and they said" is those who had heard the above discourse; not all, of course, but the infatuated leaders of the people who had. They call on the multitude to plot schemes against him, cf. Jeremiah 11:18. For they have, as they think, priests, wise men, and prophets to give them instruction out of the law, counsel, and word, i.e., prophecy - namely, according to their idea, such as advise, teach, and preach otherwise than Jeremiah, who speaks only of repentance and judgment. Recent scholars render תּורה doctrine, which is right etymologically, but not so when judged by the constant usage, which regards the Torah, the law, as containing the substance of all the doctrine needed by man to tell him how to bear himself towards God, or to make his life happy. The Mosaic law is the foundation of all prophetic preaching; and that the speakers mean תּורה in this sense is clear from their claiming the knowledge of the Torah as belonging to the priests; the law was committed to the keeping and administration of the priests. The "counsel" is that needed for the conduct of the state in difficult circumstances, and in Ezekiel 7:26 it is attributed to the elders; and "speech" or word is the declarations of the prophets. On that subject, cf. Jeremiah 8:8-10. To smite with the tongue is to ruin by slanders and malicious charges, cf. Jeremiah 9:2, Jeremiah 9:4,Jeremiah 9:7, where the tongue is compared to a lying bow and deadly arrow, Psalm 64:4., Psalm 59:8, etc. That they had the prophet's death in view appears from Jeremiah 18:23; although their further speech: We will not give heed to his words, shows that in the discourse against which they were so enraged, he had said "nothing that, according to their ideas, was directly and immediately punishable with death" (Hitz.); cf. Jeremiah 26:6, Jeremiah 26:11. Against these schemes Jeremiah cries to God in Jeremiah 18:19 for help and protection. While his adversaries are saying: People should give no heed to his speeches, he prays the Lord to give heed to him and to listen to the sayings of his enemies. "My contenders," who contend against me, cf. Jeremiah 35:1; Isaiah 49:25. - In support of his prayer he says in Jeremiah 18:20 : Shall evil be repaid for good? cf. Psalm 35:12. In his discourses he had in view nothing but the good of the people, and he appeals to the prayers he had presented to the Lord to turn away God's anger from the people, cf. Jeremiah 14:7., Jeremiah 18:19-22. (On "my standing before Thee," cf. Jeremiah 15:1.) This good they seek to repay with ill, by lying charges to dig a pit for his soul, i.e., for his life, into which pit he may fall; cf. Psalm 57:7, where, however, instead of שׁוּחה (Jeremiah 2:6; Proverbs 22:14; Proverbs 23:27), we have שׁיחה, as in Jeremiah 18:22, Chet. - He prays the Lord to requite them for this wickedness by bringing on the people that which Jeremiah had sought to avert, by destroying them with famine, sword, and disease. The various kinds of death are, Jeremiah 18:21, distributed rhetorically amongst the different classes of the people. The sons, i.e., children, are to be given up to the famine, the men to the sword, the young men to the sword in war. The suffix on הגּרם refers to the people, of which the children are mentioned before, the men and women after. On הגּר על ידי ח, cf. Ezekiel 35:5; Psalm 63:11. "Death," mentioned alongside of sword and famine, is death by disease and pestilence, as in Jeremiah 15:2.