Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 18:18

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 18:18. Come, and let us devise devices — Let us form a conspiracy against him, accuse him of being a false prophet, and a contradicter of the words of God, for God has promised us protection, and he says we shall be destroyed, and that God will forsake his people.

Let us smite him with the tongue — ON the tongue; so it should be rendered. Lying and false testimony are punished in the eastern countries, to the present day, by smiting the person on the mouth with a strong piece of leather like the sole of a shoe. Sometimes a bodkin is run through the tongue. Blasphemy, calumny, and cursing of parents, are usually punished in that way among the Chinese.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Lessons from the potter (18:1-23)

A potter can make a lump of clay into whatever shape he wants. He can also change the kind of vessel he is making, if he thinks that conditions require it (18:1-4). As a potter determines the kind of vessel he makes, so God determines the destinies of nations, and this is the lesson that the people of Judah must learn (5-6). He may announce judgments on a nation, but he may withdraw those judgments if the nation repents. On the other hand, he may promise blessings to a nation, but he may withdraw those blessings if the nation rebels (7-10). Jeremiah assures Judah that it can be saved from the coming destruction if it returns to God (11). Judah, however, refuses to change its ways (12).
In turning from God to idols, Judah has done something that is almost unbelievable. Such action is as unnatural as that of a virgin who suddenly turns prostitute, or of a snow-fed mountain stream that suddenly dries up (13-15). Onlookers shake their heads in amazement at Judah’s folly. It can lead only to calamity (16-17).

Some of the Judeans plotted mischief against Jeremiah because of his outspoken criticisms. They refused to acknowledge him as God’s spokesman. They comforted themselves in the assurance that they were loyal followers of the official priests, wisdom teachers and prophets, who, of course, approved of their sinful ways (18). Jeremiah reminds God that he has prayed for these people, and now they are returning evil for good (19-20). As he asks God to fight for him, he prays that God will destroy the plotters and their followers, according to the curse that the law of Moses pronounced upon the rebellious (21-23; cf. Deuteronomy 28:15-68).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST JEREMIAH

"Then said they, Come, let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. Give heed to me, O Jehovah, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath from them."

In this first part of Jeremiah's Fourth Lament, the plot against him is, revealed in Jeremiah 18:18; and Jeremiah pleaded with God not to allow the good which Jeremiah has been doing for the people by his preaching God's Word to them to be recompensed with evil.

"The law shall not perish from the priest… the wise… the prophet" "These words imply that the people were quite satisfied with the depraved leadership given by their false priests, wise men, and prophets."Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, p. 110. This trust in false leaders enabled them to accuse Jeremiah of treason, despite the truth that they themselves were the traitors.

Payne Smith's comment on this passage is:

"They said, What need have we of this Jeremiah? Have we not priests with the Torah, the Law of Moses, wise statesmen to give us counsel, and prophets to declare to us "the word?" Not indeed the word of Jehovah, which was too disagreeable for them to wish to have more of it, but that pleasant word the smooth things of Isaiah 30:10, which false teachers knew so well how to flavor to suit human appetites… The people had the false impression that since the Torah was imperishable, so also were the Levitical custodians of it; and thus they concluded that Jeremiah's prophecy of national ruin was blasphemous."Scribner's Bible Commentary (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1898), p. 424.

Thus Jeremiah was a victim of the same satanic charges that were later directed against the Christ himself, and by the same satanic instruments, namely the false Jewish leaders. In fact, it was upon a false charge of blasphemy that Christ finally was sentenced to the Cross (John 19:7).

Cheyne thought that, "They were satisfied with their false prophets, but that they were still afraid of Jeremiah, as Balak was afraid of Balaam (Numbers 23:25), and that therefore they would smite him with the tongue,' that is, with slanderous accusations."T. K. Cheyne, Jeremiah in the Pulpit Commentary, p. 444.

This first paragraph of Jeremiah's Fourth Lament is a plea of innocence and of the truth that his good should not be rewarded with evil, but the next paragraph (Jeremiah 18:21-23) appears to pour out God's wrath upon his enemies.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The Jews were only hardened by the foregoing prophecy, and determined to compass Jeremiah’s death.

Let us devise devices - i. e., “deliberately frame a plot” for his ruin (see Jeremiah 18:11 note).

The law shall not perish ... - As the Law of Moses was imperishable, the people probably drew the conclusion that the Levitical priesthood must also endure forever, and therefore that Jeremiah’s predictions of national ruin were blasphemous (compare Acts 6:13-14).

Let us smite him with the tongue - Their purpose was to carry a malicious report of what he had said to king Jehoiakim, and so stir up his anger against him.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Here Jeremiah relates how great was the fury which seized the minds of those on whom he had denounced the vengeance of God. It was no doubt a dreadthl thing to hear, that when they should be in a state of despair, no aid from God could be expected: for this is the import of what we have observed, — “In the day of their calamity I will shew them my back and not my face;” that is, “They shall see my back and not my face.” As then there was no hope of pardon remaining for them, was it not a monstrous stupidity not to be moved and humbled, when they saw that God was thus angry with them? But the Prophet shews, that his denunciation was heedlessly despised by them; nay, that there was such obstinacy in their wickedness, that they then more stoutly prepared themselves for battle. For he says that they avowedly conspired against him, after he had warned them of God’s dreadful judgment.

And he introduces them as encouraging one another, Come, and let us think thoughts against Jeremiah. We may observe what it was that they set up against God’s judgment, even their own counsels and purposes: this was in a word to transfer authority from God to themselves. They thus deprived God of his right, and sought to occupy his throne, as though they were the judges and could subject to their own will whatever the Prophet had declared. It is indeed probable, that they did not avowedly or designedly carry on war with God; for hypocrites raise up for themselves mists and clouds, by which they wilfully bring darkness on themselves. In the meantime a diabolical fury possesses them, so that they make no account of God; for were they really to consider the truth brought to them, they might easily understand it. Whence then is this violent fury and madness, that when they seek to contend with man, they really fight with God? Even because their impiety and pride, as I have said, so blinds them, that they hesitate not to rob God of his honor, and thus they put themselves in his place.

The same thing is to be seen now under the whole Papacy: for when they conspire among themselves to oppose plain truths, they do not ask at the mouth of God, nor regard anything taught in the Scriptures, but are satisfied with trumpeting forth their rotten decrees, or rather dreams, in which there is nothing, however futile, which they do not regard as an oracle: and when they bring forth their bulls, they think themselves sufficiently fortified, as though God were deprived of his own right. But this will appear more fully from the context.

They said, For perish shall not the law from the priest ⁽²⁰⁴⁾ This reason, which they added, shews whence that security arose, through which they hesitated not to reject the words of the Prophet: there were priests and prophets who occupied a place in the Church, and who boasted of their titles, though they were nothing but mere masks, having no care to possess what their calling required. Thus the vizarded priests were satisfied with an honorable vocation, and cared nothing for the account that was to be rendered to God: and thus in all ages hypocrites have abused the gifts of God. This is seen most clearly under the Papacy. For doubtless when all things are well examined, we find that the Pope and all his party mainly rely on these weapons; for when they are a hundred times conquered by proofs from Scripture, they still strenuously defend themselves with this one shield, — That the Church cannot err, that the Church is represented by the Pope, the bishops, and the whole clergy, and also that those whom they call prelates are successors of the Apostles: and so they boastingly thunder out a continual succession from Peter. They at length conclude, that the Church of Rome is the mother of all the faithful, and also that the Holy Spirit dwells there; for whosoever succeeds in the place of Peter and occupies his chair, is endued with the same spirit and the same authority. We hence see, that the Papists at this day contend with us with no other weapons than those with which all the ungodly reprobates assailed Jeremiah.

They said first, that it would be enough if they had their own thoughts, that is, if they resolved among themselves what was necessary to be done; for under the word thoughts, they included decrees as well as deliberations; as though they had said, — “We possess an ordinary jurisdiction; for God has set us over his Church: whatever then proceeds from us, ought to be deemed inviolable. The reason is, because the law cannot perish from the priest, and counsel cannot perish from the wise, nor the word from the Prophets.” These three things were very speciously brought against Jeremiah; nor could it have been denied, but that there were legitimate priests as to their vocation, that there was also a church, and that the elders, who were connected with the priests, justly boasted of their dignity; and lastly, that the people ever had their prophets. We hence see that they could have alleged very specious offenses against God’s Prophet, by which they might have easily deceived the simple. If a cornparison be made, doubtless the whole Papal system, cannot justly have any such pretensions; but they are far inferior to those of the Jews. For when they say that they represent the Church, that is disputed; and they are at length constrained to come to this point — to define what the Church is: and when it is settled what the Church is, we are then to inquire whether the bishops or prelates are legitimate. Now their calling is not founded on the word of God; for they are all schismatics; and this appears from their own canons, as there is among them, at this day, no canonical election. It then follows that their calling, of which they are so foolishly and arrogantly proud, comes to nothing. But let us allow them to be lawful ministers, and their calling to be approved according to God’s word, it does not yet hence follow that they are true ministers of God, that is, because they hold an ordinary station and jurisdiction in the Church. For we find that in all ages the Church of God has been subject to the evil of having wolves occupying the place of pastors, of having impious and perfidious men daring to oppose God in his own name.

As it thus happened formerly, neither the Pope nor all his masked bishops can shew any difference in the present day, why we ought not to dread wolves: how so?

“There were formerly,” says the Apostle, “false prophets, so also there will be false teachers among you.” (2 Peter 2:1)

He shews that at this time no less than formerly we ought to beware of false bishops, of false prophets, and of false teachers, however high their titles may be. When therefore the Papists vainly boast that the Church cannot err, they are justly objects of ridicule; for we see who those are whom they follow: as formerly the manifest enemies of God contended with Jeremiah, even so now they openly oppose God by this vain pretense only — they are priests, they are prophets, they are elders or presbyters, that is, they hold an ordinary jurisdiction. But this passage is sufficient to confute their folly; for they bring words instead of proof, and rely only on this argument — “The Church cannot err:” and what the Prophet relates further, “The law cannot perish from the priest,” means the same thing. But we find elsewhere what God threatened, even that a dreadful judgment was at hand, when the wise would become blind, when the priests and prophets would become foolish and fatuitous. (Hosea 9:7; Isaiah 29:14.) But we may hence learn on what condition and for what purpose God everywhere honors the ministers and pastors of the Church with high eulogies: it is not certainly that they may be proud through a false pretense, but that they may faithfully execute their office.

However this may be, we see that it is a false confidence, when pastors allege that the law and the word or the truth, cannot depart from them, because they are, and are called priests.

They added, Come and let us smite him with the tongue. They again magnify their own authority, as the Papists do at this day, who, standing as it were on high, look down on us with contempt, and say, “We must not dispute with heretics, for things formerly settled, and which the Church has once decreed, must not be called in question.” For it seems very strange to them, and even unbecoming, when we ask a hearing and wish the controversies, by which the world is now disturbed, to be decided and removed, by the law, and the prophets, and the gospel. “What! are then the Church’s decrees to be reduced to nothing? The Scripture is a nose of wax; it has nothing sure or certain; it can be twisted to favor any party, and hypocrites always pervert the word of God; and therefore it follows that there is nothing certain or clear in the Scripture.” This is to smite with the tongue, as we see to have been done to Jeremiah, — “Why should we dispute with that man, who so daringly threatens us, as though he was superior to others? but he is only one of the people; what need then of long disputation; for we have authority, and it will be enough by one word to determine, that whatever he brings is to be rejected. There is then no reason why we should weary ourselves by a long contest; for our tongue, as they say, decisively settles what is right.”

We see how the ungodly dared to set forward their own decrees, by which they tried to overwhelm the prophetic word and to take away the authority of Jeremiah. Whenever then men thus elevate themselves, so as to seek to smite God’s servants with the tongue, and to suppress his word when spoken by them, we understand how to regard them, and what weight belongs to all their decrees or dceterminations. ⁽²⁰⁵⁾

But the end of this verse shews more clearly how wantonly they despised every truth; for it is a proof of hopeless contumacy when no attention is paid to the prophetic word: Let us not attend, they said; that is, “Let us not care for what he says, and let us boldly despise whatever he may speak.” The Prophet, as I have said, meant by this expression to shew, that they were so blinded by a diabolical impulse, that they hesitated not to reject whatever proceeded from God, to close their ears and designedly to neglect it, as is usual with the wholly wicked. No less contempt is now to be seen under the Papacy; for were they calmly to hear us, were they to consider with tranquil minds and meek hearts what we allege, doubtless the matter would soon be settled between us. But their only resolution is, not to hear; for they are content with this fallacious prejudice, — that as they represent the Church, it is in their power to condemn whatever we say, and that when they have condemned us, there is no need of any disputation.

But we are hence reminded, that when men are guilty of many vices, there is yet some hope of salvation remaining, provided they are not unteachable, and do not with resolute confidence reject what is proposed to them from the law, and the prophets, and the gospel. For as there are many diseases, and those grievous and dangerous, which yet may be healed, so also we ought to conclude that men are healable, as long as they bear to be taught, to be admonished and reproved; but when with closed ears they pass by every truth, when they despise all counsels, when they esteem as nothing God’s threatenings and reproofs, then their salvation is hopeless. It follows —

(204) It would be better to render this, “The law cannot perish,” etc.; for the future with a negative may often be thus rendered: כי, translated, “For,” often means certainly, truly, surely, doubtless, and might be so translated here, —

Surely, not perish can the law from the priests,
Or counsel from the wise, Or the word from the Prophet.

These things they thought were impossibilities. How like are errors and the delusions of men in every age! “The word” was what the prophets taught and preached: hence “the word” in the New Testament often means the preaching of the gospel — Ed.

(205) This phrase, “Let us smite him with the tongue,” is thus literally rendered by the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and the Arabic; but by the Syriac, “Let us smite his tongue,” and paraphrased by the Targum, “Let us testify against him false testimonies.” “With our tongue,” is Piscator ’s; that is, by accusations to the king; “For his tongue,” is Junius’s; that is, for his denunciations; “On the tongue,” is Blaney ’s; that is, on the offending part, an allusion to a mode of punishment that was practiced; or, as Gataker suggests, in order to stop his mouth.

The most probable meaning is, that they meant to accuse him before the authorities; therefore “with the tongue,” as countenanced by the best versions, is the best rendering.

“Let us accuse him, let us speak so ill of him, that no man may attend to him, but that all may flee from him,” Cocceius. — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 18

Now in chapter 18:

The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel ( Jeremiah 18:1-6 ).

Here, again, as with Isaiah, the figure of the potter and the clay, showing God's awesome sovereignty over man's destiny. God can make of you whatever He pleases. And as Paul the apostle said in Romans 9:1-33 , "Who art thou, O man, who says unto the Lord, 'Why has Thou made me thus?' Hath not the potter the power over the clay, to make of it whatever kind of a vessel He desires?" ( Romans 9:20-21 ) In those chapters nine, ten and eleven of Romans where Paul speaks of this awesome sovereignty of God over man, he uses the same figure of the potter and the clay.

Now with Jeremiah it is interesting God said, "Go down to the potter's house and I'm going to speak to you there." He went down to the potter's house. He saw him as he was working a work on the wheels. So the three objects-the potter, the wheel, the clay-speak of God's dealing and working with man. The clay, a common worthless material in its native state, and yet a material that has a potential of great value and utility, according to the skill of the potter. The potter, his total control over the clay to make of it whatever he desires--God's awesome power over our lives. The wheels--the circumstances of our lives by which God molds and shapes us.

Now in this case as he watched the potter, the vessel was marred in the hands of the potter. He was making this vessel on the wheel, but suddenly the vessel took a wrong shape. It maybe had a hard lump in the clay or something. The vessel was marred. And so the potter just took and crumbled the clay again or compacted it again and then made of it a vessel as was good unto him to make. And God spoke and said, "Is not Israel, the nation Israel, like clay in My hands?" And though Israel had been marred, yet God would remake them. He would work in them again a new work. The vessel had been marred, but not to be discarded. God would work yet again in making them that which He desires and intended them to be.

At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it ( Jeremiah 18:7 );

Now you remember in chapter 1 when God called Jeremiah He said, "I have called you over the nations. I've called you." And his ministry was to pluck up, to pull down and to destroy. Now that's quite a ministry to be called to. "Uproot things, Jeremiah. Pluck them up. Destroy them." You see, there comes a time when the system gets so corrupt there's no renewing it. There's no reformation possible. It's gone too far. So before you can rebuild and plant and rebuild, you got to just get rid of everything that is there. And that is what God is saying. They've gotten so bad we're just going to have to get rid of it. Go back to zero and then we'll start all over again. But you've got to tear down, root out, destroy that which exists. So He brings him back to the first calling in chapter 1.

And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, [verse Jeremiah 18:9 ] to build and to plant it ( Jeremiah 18:9 ).

So in verse Jeremiah 18:7 he speaks of the plucking up, pulling down, destroying.

Now if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, and repent of that which I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it. If you do evil in my sight, that it not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. Now therefore go and speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return you now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart ( Jeremiah 18:8-12 ).

So they would not listen to Jeremiah. They said, "There's no hope, you know. We're all going to go for it at this point."

Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who has heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? ( Jeremiah 18:13-14 )

That beautiful, crystal-clear snow water that comes out of the ground at the base of a mountain there in Lebanon. Will a man leave that beautiful crystal snow water?

Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity ( Jeremiah 18:15 ),

This is forsaking Me, that fountain of living water. They have forgotten Me; they have burned incense to vanity.

and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passes by shall be astonished, and wag his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them my back, and not my face, in the day of their calamity. Then said they ( Jeremiah 18:15-18 ).

Jeremiah delivered this message to them. And then they responded saying,

Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words ( Jeremiah 18:18 ).

And so Jeremiah said,

Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them ( Jeremiah 18:19-20 ).

Now here Jeremiah said, "I have been interceding. I have been praying for them and now they're devising to do me in, God. Remember how good I was, Lord, and remember how evil they are."

Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let the young men be slain by the sword in battle ( Jeremiah 18:21 ).

In other words, I'm not going to intercede for them anymore, God. Go ahead and give it to them.

Let a cry be heard ( Jeremiah 18:22 )

He was a melancholy, no doubt, if you'd done any personality type of analysis. A great melancholy, and it will show up even more forcibly as we move on into chapter 20. We see the melancholy at his classic height. Verse Jeremiah 18:23 :

LORD, you know all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger ( Jeremiah 18:23 ).

So the prophet is really upset with them. Heard again that they're plotting to get him and all. And this time he's had it. "God, just take care of them. Do whatever You want. Wipe them out. I'm not going to pray for them any longer." How different this is from Moses. You remember Moses as he interceded. "O God, forgive their sin. And if not, blot, I pray Thee, my name out of Thy book of remembrances." I have a hard time identifying with Moses. I find a very easy time identifying with Jeremiah. I come to my car and I find someone has ripped off something from my car, boy, I pray, "God, get them. Smite them, Lord. Let them fall and break their legs. Just really do them in, Lord." I have no mercy for thieves and people that go around ripping people off. It just really upsets me. "Let the angel of the Lord pursue them and just give them a bad time, Lord." So I would classify more with Jeremiah than I would with Moses.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Some of the Judahites plotted to kill Jeremiah. They justified their action by noting that even if they killed him, the Mosaic Law and the counsel of other wise men and other prophets would still remain. Thus they rationalized their sin.

"The proverb suggests that nothing can shut up a prophet-he always has a word (the last word?)." [Note: Drinkard, p. 253.]

They did not believe that their lives would change radically because of their failure to repent. They did not really believe that they were heading for exile. They believed Jeremiah’s prophecies were false.

"To disturb a complacent leadership or a misguided populace was only to invite serious repercussions. Human society in every age bears eloquent testimony to the fact." [Note: Thompson, p. 441.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Jeremiah’s reaction to a plot against his life 18:18-23

This is another section that contains one of Jeremiah’s "confessions." Evidently there were several separate plots against the prophet’s life (cf. Jeremiah 11:18-23; Jeremiah 12:1-6). People hated him because he brought bad news and called them to repent and to return to Yahweh and His covenant, which most of the people did not want to do. But really the people were rejecting Yahweh (cf. 1 Samuel 8:7).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Then said they, come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah,.... Being enraged at the judgments threatened them, they propose to enter into a confederacy and consultation together, to think of ways and means to stop the mouth of the prophet, and even to take away his life; since he had told them that God had devised a device against them, they were for devising devices against him; that so they might walk after their own devices, without being teased and tormented with this prophet:

for the law shall not perish from the priest; whose business it is to teach it; we have other priests besides Jeremiah, and we shall seek the law at their mouths, and not at his; and perhaps these are the words of the priests themselves, the men of Anathoth; so Jarchi thinks; pleasing themselves with their character and office, and the perpetuity of it; that, notwithstanding what Jeremiah had said, there would be a constant succession of this order of then; nor should the law ever cease from being aught by them, to whose instruction men ought to listen, and not to such a prophet:

nor counsel from the wise; we have wise rulers and governors, counsellors of state, and members of the sanhedrim, and judges of all controversies, and who are capable of giving advice upon any occasion; nor shall we ever want such, to whose prudent counsel we do well to attend, and not to what this babbling man says; does he think to know better than our statesmen and sages, our counsellors in church and state?

nor the word from the prophet; we have prophets among us, that prophesy as well as he, and better things; and whose words of prophecy shall be fulfilled, when his will not; who assure us that we shall have peace and prosperity; and therefore let us not regard what this man says, or be intimidated by his threatenings:

come, and let us smite him with the tongue; by saying all the evil we can of him: by threatening him with pains and penalties; by loading him with reproaches and calumnies; by taking away his good name, and lessening his character and reputation among the people; and so the Targum,

"let us bear false witness against him;''

or, "let us smite him in the tongue" c; cut it out, as Abarbinel; or stop his mouth, and hinder him from speaking any more in this manner to the people; or, "let us smite him for the tongue" d; because of the words he says, or the prophecies he delivers out:

and let us not give heed to any of his words; or, "to all his words" e; all which they reckoned his own, and not the words of the Lord. The Septuagint version is, "and we shall hear all his words"; we shall provoke him to say all he has to say, and shall hear and have enough out of his mouth to condemn him; and in all this, and in many other things that follow, Jeremiah was a type of Christ, to whom Jerom applies the whole passage.

c בלשון "in lingua", Montanus, Castalio. d Propter "linguam istam", Junius Tremellius. e אל כל דבריו "ad omnia verba ejus", Gataker "ad universa verba ejus", Pagninus, Montanus.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.   19 Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.   20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.   21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.   22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.   23 Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

      The prophet here, as sometimes before, brings in his own affairs, but very much for instruction to us.

      I. See here what are the common methods of the persecutors. We may see this in Jeremiah's enemies, Jeremiah 18:18; Jeremiah 18:18.

      1. They laid their heads together to consult what they should do against him, both to be revenged on him for what he had said and to stop his mouth for the future: They said, Come and let us devise devices against Jeremiah. The enemies of God's people and ministers have been often very crafty themselves, and confederate with one another, to do them mischief. What they cannot act to the prejudice of religion separately they will try to do in concert. The wicked plots against the just. Caiaphas, and the chief priests and elders, did so against our blessed Saviour himself. The opposition which the gates of hell give to the kingdom of heaven is carried on with a great deal of cursed policy. God had said (Jeremiah 18:11; Jeremiah 18:11), I devise a device against you; and now, as if they resolved to be quits with him and to outwit Infinite Wisdom itself, they resolve to devise devices against God's prophet, not only against his person, but against the word he delivered to them, which they thought by their subtle management to defeat. O the prodigious madness of those that hope to disannul God's counsel!

      2. Herein they pretended a mighty zeal for the church, which, they suggested, was in danger if Jeremiah was tolerated to preach as he did: "Come," say they, "let us silence and crush him, for the law shall not perish from the priest; the law of truth is in their mouths (Malachi 2:6) and there we will seek it; the administration of ordinances according to the law is in their hands, and neither the one nor the other shall be wrested from them. Counsel shall not perish from the wise; the administration of public affairs shall always be lodged with the privy-counsellors and ministers of state, to whom it belongs; nor shall the word perish from the prophets" --they mean those of their own choosing, who prophesied to them smooth things, and flattered them with visions of peace. Two things they insinuated:-- (1.) That Jeremiah could not be himself a true prophet, but was a pretender and a usurper, because he neither was commissioned by the priests, nor concurred with the other prophets, whose authority therefore will be despised if he be suffered to go on. "If Jeremiah be regarded as an oracle, farewell the reputation of our priests, our wise men, and prophets; but that must be supported, which is reason enough why he must be suppressed." (2.) That the matter of his prophecies could not be from God, because it reflected sometimes upon the prophets and priests; he had charged them with being the ringleaders of all the mischief (Jeremiah 5:31; Jeremiah 5:31) and deceiving the people (Jeremiah 14:14; Jeremiah 14:14); he had foretold that their heart should perish, and be astonished (Jeremiah 4:9; Jeremiah 4:9), that the wise men should be dismayed (Jeremiah 8:9; Jeremiah 8:10), that the priests and prophets should be intoxicated, Jeremiah 13:13; Jeremiah 13:13. Now this galled them more than any thing else. Presuming upon the promise of God's presence with their priests and prophets, they could not believe that he would ever leave them. The guides of the church must needs be infallible, and therefore he who foretold their being infatuated must be condemned as a false prophet. Thus, under colour of zeal for the church, have its best friends been run down.

      3. They agreed to do all they could to blast his reputation: "Come, let us smite him with the tongue, put him into an ill name, fasten a bad character upon him, represent him to some as despicable and fit to be prosecuted, to all as odious and not fit to be tolerated." This was their device, fortiter calumniari, aliquid adhærebit--to throw the vilest calumnies at him, in hopes that some would adhere to him. to dress him up in bearskins, otherwise they could not bait him. Those who projected this, it is likely, were men of figure, whose tongue was no small slander, whose representations, though ever so false, would be credited both by princes and people, to make him obnoxious to the justice of the one and the fury of the other. The scourge of such tongues will give not only smart lashes, but deep wounds; it is a great mercy therefore to be hidden from it,Job 5:21.

      4. To set others an example, they resolved that they would not themselves regard any thing he said, though it appeared ever so weighty and ever so well confirmed as a message from God: Let us not give heed to any of his words; for, right or wrong, they will look upon them to be his words, and not the words of God. What good can be done with those who hear the word of God with a resolution not to heed it or believe it? Nay,

      5. That they may effectually silence him, they resolve to be the death of him (Jeremiah 18:23; Jeremiah 18:23): All their counsel against me is to slay me. They hunt for the precious life; and a precious life indeed it was that they hunted for. Long was this Jerusalem's wretched character, Thou that killedst many of the prophets, and wouldst have killed them all.

      II. See here what is the common relief of the persecuted. This we may see in the course that Jeremiah took when he met with this hard usage. He immediately applied to his God by prayer, and so gave himself ease.

      1. He referred himself and his cause to God's cognizance, Jeremiah 18:19; Jeremiah 18:19. They would not regard a word he said, would not admit his complaints, nor take any notice of his grievances; but, Lord (says he), do thou give heed to me. It is matter of comfort to faithful ministers that, if men will not give heed to their praying. He appeals to God as an impartial Judge, that will hear both sides, as every judge ought to do. "Do not only give heed to me, but hearken to the voice of those that contend with me; hear what they have to say against me and for themselves, and then make it to appear that thou sittest in the throne, judging right. Hear the voice of my contenders, how noisy and clamorous they are, how false and malicious all they say is, and let them be judged out of their own mouth; cause their own tongues to fall upon them."

      2. He complains of their base ingratitude to him (Jeremiah 18:20; Jeremiah 18:20): "Shall evil be recompensed for good, and shall it go unpunished? Wilt not thou recompense me good for that evil?" 2 Samuel 16:12. To render good for good 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. See how great the evil was that they did against him: They have dug a pit for my soul; they aimed to take away his life (no less would satisfy them), and that not in a generous way, by an open assault, against which he might have an opportunity of defending himself, but in a base, cowardly, clandestine way: they dug pits for him, which there was no fence against, Psalms 119:85. But see how great the good was which he had done for them: Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them; he had been an intercessor with God for them, had used his interest in heaven on their behalf, which was the greatest kindness they could expect from one of his character. He is a prophet and he shall pray for thee,Genesis 20:7. Moses often did this for Israel, and yet they quarrelled with him, and sometimes spoke of stoning him. He did them this kindness when they were in imminent danger of destruction and most needed it. They had themselves provoked God's wrath against them, and it was ready to break in upon them, but he stood in the gap (as Moses, Psalms 106:23) and turned away that wrath. Now, (1.) This was very base in them. Call a man ungrateful and you can call him no worse. But it was not strange that those who had forgotten their God did not know their best friends. (2.) It was very grievous to him, as the like was to David. Psalms 35:13; Psalms 109:4, For my love they are my adversaries. Thus disingenuously 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. See John 10:32. But, (3.) It was a comfort to the prophet that, when they were so spiteful against him, he had the testimony of his conscience for him that he had done his duty to them; and the same will be our rejoicing in such a day of evil. The blood-thirsty hate the upright, but the just seek his soul,Proverbs 29:10.

      3. He imprecates the judgments of God upon them, not from a revengeful disposition, but in a prophetical indignation against their horrid wickedness, Jeremiah 18:21-23; Jeremiah 18:21-23. He prays, (1.) That their families might be starved for want of bread: "Deliver up the children to the famine, to the famine in the country for want of rain, and that in the city through the straitness of the siege. Thus let this iniquity of the fathers be visited upon the children." (2.) That they might be cut off by the sword of war, which, whatever it was in the enemy's hand, would be, in God's hand, a sword of justice: "Pour them out (so the word is) by the hands of the sword; let their blood be shed as profusely as water, that their wives may be left childless and widows, their husbands being taken away by death" (some think that the prophet refers to pestilence); let their young men, that are the strength of this generation and the hope of the next, be slain by the sword in battle. (3.) That the terrors and desolations of war might seize them suddenly and by surprise, that thus their punishment might answer to their sin (Jeremiah 18:22; Jeremiah 18:22): "Let a cry be heard from their houses, loud shrieks, when thou shalt bring a troop of the Chaldeans suddenly upon them, to seize them and all they have, to make them prisoners and their estates a prey;" for thus they would have done by Jeremiah; they aimed to ruin him at once ere he was aware: "They have dug a pit for me, as for a wild beast, and have hid snares for me, as for some ravenous noxious fowl." Note, Those that think to ensnare others will justly be themselves ensnared in an evil time. (4.) That they might be dealt with according to the desert of this sin, which was without excuse: "Forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight; that is, let them not escape the just punishment of it; let them lie under all the miseries of those whose sins are unpardoned." (5.) That God's wrath against them might be their ruin: Let them be overthrown before thee. This intimates that justice was in pursuit of them, that they endeavoured to make their escape from it, but in vain; "they shall be made to stumble in their flight, and being overthrown they will certainly be overtaken." And then, Lord, in the time of thy anger, do to them (he does not say what he would have done to them, but) do to them as thou thinkest fit, as thou usest to do with those whom thou art angry with--deal thus with them. Now this is not written for our imitation. Jeremiah was a prophet, and by the impulse of the spirit of prophecy, in the foresight of the ruin certainly coming upon his persecutors, might pray such prayers as we may not; and, if we think by this example to justify ourselves in such imprecations, we know not what manner of spirit we are of; our Master has taught us, by his precept and pattern, to bless those that curse us and pray for those that despitefully use us. Yet it is written for our instruction, and is of use to teach us, [1.] That those who have forfeited the benefit of the prayers of God's prophets for them may justly expect to have their prayers against them. [2.] That persecution is a sin that fills the measure of a people's iniquity very fast, and will bring as sure and sore a destruction upon them as any thing. [3.] Those who will not be won upon by the kindness of God and his prophets will certainly at length feel the just resentments of both.