Jeremiah 20:16

Jer 20:16 And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;

Ver. 16. And let that man be.] A most bitter curse, but causeless. The devil of discontent, where it prevaileth, maketh the heart to be for the time a little hell, {a} as we see in Moses, Job, David, Jeremiah, men otherwise made up of excellences. These sinned, but not with full consent. A godly man hath a flea in his ear, somewhat within, which saith, "Dost thou well to be angry, Jonah?" {Jon 4:4}

{a} ταραττειν, thence ταρταρος.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20:16 The cities of old were probably Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:24-29).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Alluding to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen. 19:25.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the cities--Sodom and Gomorrah.

cry . . . morning . . . noontide--that is, Let him be kept in alarm the whole day (not merely at night when terrors ordinarily prevail, but in daytime when it is something extraordinary) with terrifying war shouts, as those in a besieged city (Jer 18:22).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 16. And let him hear the cry] Let him be in continual alarms.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And he adds, Who with joy made him joyful We see, as it is commonly said, how he mingles heaven and earth; for had it been in his power, when this frenzy possessed his mind, he would have certainly disturbed all the elements. But more grievous and more inordinate is what follows, Let that man be like the cities which God destroyed without repentance Why did he imprecate on an innocent man the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? and then he speaks not of temporal punishment, but devotes the man to endless perdition, for that is the import of the words, and he repented not; as though he had said, “May God be angry with him, without shewing any mercy, but manifest himself as wholly implacable, as he dealt with Sodom, which he at once destroyed without leaving it any hope.” Had he spoken of an inveterate enemy, he ought to have kept within those bounds prescribed to all God’s children; but he had nothing against the man who brought the news to his father. We hence see how he was led away as it were by an insane impulse. But let us hence learn to restrain, in due time, our feelings, which will pass over all bounds if we indulge them; for they will break out then as it were into fury, as the case was with the Prophet.

He also adds, Let him hear a cry in the morning, and a tumult at noon-tide Here he devotes an innocent man to perpetual inquietude. And mention is made of the dawn, for we know that terrors occur during darkness in the night. If anything happens in the day-time, we inquire what it is, and we are not so frightened; but when there is any noise in the night, fear takes full possession of us. There is then something monstrous in what the Prophet expresses here. Hence, also, we more fully learn how very hot was his indignation, that he thus wished perpetual torments to an innocent man. In the morning, he says, let him hear a cry, and at noon a tumult Had he said, “Let him hear a cry perpetually,” it would not have been so grievous. It now follows, —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(16) The cities which the Lord overthrew.—The verb is the same as that used in Gen_19:29, and the reference is clearly to the “cities of the plain,” whose destruction is there described. The reference to them in Deu_32:32; Isa_1:9-10, shows that they had already become familiar to men as the great representative instances both of evil and its punishment.

The cry . . . the shouting.—The former word describes the wail of lamentation, the latter the shout of an invading army.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. let that man, etc.] Du. and Co. object to so much being made of the messenger, and therefore consider that for “man” we should substitute, or at any rate understand, “day” of the previous v. The meaning then would be, Let that day assuredly bring disaster. But the change is unnecessary. The text only expresses a counterpart of the Eastern custom of rewarding the messenger who brought good tidings.

the cities] Cp. Isa_13:19.

cry] Cp. Jer_18:22.

shouting] mg. an alarm, the same Hebrew word as that rendered “alarm” in Jer_4:19.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew,.... In his fury, as the Targum and Septuagint add. Meaning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were utterly destroyed, and were never recovered:

and repented not; whose sentence God never repented of, nor revoked: this was very severe and uncharitable, to wish for so sore a destruction upon an innocent person;

and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide; as soon as he is up in the morning, the first thing that salutes his ears, let it be the noise of an enemy invading the city he dwells in; and by noon let him hear the shouting of him, having broke in, and gotten the victory, seizing the plunder.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Repented, is decree for the ruin of Sodom being fixed. --- Noon. This is more extraordinary than at midnight. Let him always be terrified with dismal sounds. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

By

the cities he means those cities mentioned Gen 19:25, Sodom and Gomorrah; by

the cry in the morning and shouting at noon, he means the shouts and noises that enemies make when they break in upon a place in a hostile manner.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

As the cities which the Lord overthrow. It is, so to speak, the "technical term" for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah which Jeremiah employs. So deeply imprinted was the tradition on the Hebrew mind, that a special word was appropriated to it, which at once called up thoughts of the awful justice of God. (see Gen_19:25 Isa_1:7 Isa_13:19 Amo_4:11 Deu_29:23 Jer_49:18 Jer_50:40) The cry... the shouting. The cry of the besieged for help; the shouting of the suddenly appearing assailants. (comp. Jer_15:8)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The cities - Sodom and Gomorrah; by the cry in the morning and shouting at noon, he means the shouts and noises that enemies make when they break in upon a place.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

repented

(See Scofield "Zec 8:14").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

that man

This refers to the man who informed Jeremiah's father of Jeremiah's birth.

the cities that Yahweh overthrew

This refers to Sodom and Gomorrah.

he did not have compassion

Here the word "he" refers to Yahweh.

Let him hear a cry for help

Here the word "him" refers to "that man."

making my mother to be my tomb

Jeremiah speaks of his dying while his mother was still pregnant with him as if his mother's womb were his tomb. (See: Metaphor)

a womb that was pregnant forever

Jeremiah speaks of his pregnant mother never giving birth to the baby in her womb as if she had been pregnant forever. (See: Metaphor)

Why is it that I came out from the womb to see troubles and agony ... shame?

Jeremiah uses this rhetorical question to complain that there was no good reason for him to be born. It can be translated as a statement. AT: "There was no reason for me to be born only to see troubles and agony ... shame." (See: Rhetorical Question)

to see troubles and agony

The words "troubles" and "agony" mean basically the same thing and emphasize the amount and severity of suffering. AT: "to experience so much suffering" (See: Doublet)

my days are filled with shame

Here the word "days" represents all the days of Jeremiah's life. AT: "my life is filled with shame" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

mercy

call

womb

grave

eternity

trouble

shame

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

like the cities that...overturned Namely Sodom and Gemorrah.

and did not repent Since He decreed destruction upon them, he did not think another thought to rescind His decree.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.