Jeremiah 20:8 kjv
For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
Jeremiah 20:8 nkjv
For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, "Violence and plunder!" Because the word of the LORD was made to me A reproach and a derision daily.
Jeremiah 20:8 niv
Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long.
Jeremiah 20:8 esv
For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, "Violence and destruction!" For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.
Jeremiah 20:8 nlt
When I speak, the words burst out.
"Violence and destruction!" I shout.
So these messages from the LORD
have made me a household joke.
Jeremiah 20 8 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Jer 1:7-9 | Do not say, "I am only a youth," for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak... | God compels His prophet to speak His words. |
| Jer 9:7-9 | Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he lays an ambush for him. | False prophets offer deceptive peace. |
| Jer 15:10 | Woe to me, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. | Jeremiah laments his hated existence. |
| Jer 20:7 | O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day long... | Jeremiah's personal lament, similar to 20:8. |
| Jer 20:9 | If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak anymore in his name," there is in my heart as it were a burning fire, shut up in my bones... | The inescapable compulsion of God's word. |
| Jer 23:16-17 | They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD... who say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, "It shall be well with you"... | False prophets contradict God's judgment. |
| Jer 26:7-11 | The priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, "You shall surely die!" | Persecution of God's prophet. |
| Jer 38:4-6 | The officials said to the king, "Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers... by speaking such words to them..." | Jeremiah's message seen as treason. |
| Isa 5:20-23 | Woe to those who call evil good and good evil... | Rebuke for moral corruption justifying judgment. |
| Isa 30:10-11 | Who say to the seers, "Do not see!" and to the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions." | People desire pleasing, not truthful, messages. |
| Amos 3:8 | The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy? | The overwhelming nature of a divine call. |
| 1 Kings 22:24-27 | Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek... "Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations..." | Prophet Micaiah persecuted for his prophecy. |
| 2 Chr 36:15-16 | The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion... but they kept mocking the messengers of God... | God's patience met with mockery. |
| Ps 22:6-7 | But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads... | Prophetic lament and foreshadowing of Christ. |
| Ps 69:9-12 | For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me... I became a byword to them. | Devotion brings reproach and derision. |
| Heb 11:36 | Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. | Prophets endured persecution. |
| Matt 5:11-12 | Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great... | Beatitudes affirm suffering for righteousness. |
| Matt 23:34-37 | Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog... | Jesus speaks of the killing of prophets. |
| Luke 6:22-23 | Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! | Jesus' teaching on persecution for His sake. |
| Acts 7:51-52 | "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?" | Stephen's indictment of Israel's rejection of prophets. |
| 1 Cor 9:16 | For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting, for necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! | Paul's sense of divine compulsion. |
| 2 Tim 3:12 | Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. | Persecution as an expected reality for believers. |
Jeremiah 20 verses
Jeremiah 20 8 Meaning
Jeremiah expresses profound anguish and lament over the burden of his prophetic ministry. Whenever he speaks the word of God, it is an urgent declaration of "violence and destruction"—God's impending judgment upon Judah. This difficult and unpopular message, which is an inescapable divine command, consequently makes him a constant object of public humiliation, scorn, and mockery by the very people he is trying to warn.
Jeremiah 20 8 Context
Jeremiah 20:8 falls immediately after Jeremiah's first recorded act of physical persecution. In Jeremiah 20:1-6, Pashhur, a chief priest and temple official, strikes Jeremiah and puts him in stocks at the Benjamin Gate, effectively imprisoning him and publicly shaming him for his prophecy. After being released, Jeremiah is told to declare that Pashhur's name will be changed to "Terror on Every Side," signifying the judgment that will befall him and Judah. Verses 7-18 form a deeply personal lament (a "confession" of Jeremiah) where he expresses profound emotional distress, feeling "deceived" by the Lord for calling him into such a painful ministry (20:7). The prophet grapples with the intense personal cost of being God's messenger, particularly the incessant mockery and ridicule, which this specific verse articulates. This period precedes the final fall of Jerusalem, during the reign of King Zedekiah, a time characterized by spiritual rebellion, false hope perpetuated by false prophets, and political instability as Judah navigated between Egypt and Babylon. Jeremiah's message directly confronted the popular, complacent worldview.
Jeremiah 20 8 Word analysis
- For whenever I speak: Hebrew Ki-middey dabberi. The initial "For" (כִּי - ki) serves as an explanatory conjunction, connecting to Jeremiah's preceding lament about being mocked. "Whenever I speak" (מִדֵּי דַבְּרִי֙ - middey dabberi) signifies a continual and recurring action. It emphasizes that this is not an occasional experience, but the consistent pattern of his prophetic activity, highlighting the relentlessness of his burden.
- I cry out, I shout: Hebrew Ez'aq, esh'a'od (though many texts have Ez'aq twice for emphasis). The verb אֶזְעָק֙ (ez'aq) means "to cry out, to scream, to raise an alarm," often in distress or protest. The repetition, or near-repetition with a similar forceful word, intensely emphasizes the volume and urgency of Jeremiah's proclamation. It's not a calm delivery but an impassioned, perhaps painful, outcry—a voice that cannot be ignored but typically is.
- 'Violence and destruction!': Hebrew ḥamas va-shod. These are the specific, dire contents of his urgent message.
- Violence (חָמָס - ḥamas): Denotes both physical violence and, more broadly, unlawful force, injustice, oppression, and moral wrongdoing. It implies an abuse of power and a perversion of justice, often leading to societal breakdown. This was a core charge against Judah.
- Destruction (שֹׁד - shod): Signifies ruin, devastation, desolation, and utter waste. It's often linked to the consequence of God's judgment and a military conquest leading to devastation, which Babylon would soon bring.
- For I cry aloud because of the word of the LORD: Hebrew ki-devar-yhwh hayah li l-cherpah u-leqeles kol-hayyom. "For I cry aloud" uses ki (כִּי) again, reinforcing that his public outcry of "violence and destruction" is precisely because (a common use of ki) it is the burden of the divine message itself.
- 'all the day long I am derided, scoffed at.': Hebrew kol-hayyom... ḥerpah u-leqeles.
- All the day long (כָּל־הַיּוֹם - kol-hayyom): Indicates the continuous, unrelenting, and inescapable nature of the derision. It's not sporadic but a constant companion to his calling.
- Derided (חֶרְפָּה - ḥerpah): Means shame, disgrace, reproach, insult, and scorn. It's public humiliation that diminishes one's honor and standing.
- Scoffed at (לְקֶלֶס - leqeles): Denotes mockery, ridicule, making one an object of laughter and contempt. It's an active and dismissive form of disrespect.This phrase reveals the bitter personal cost: the source of his prophetic message (the "word of the LORD") has itself become the reason for his ceaseless reproach and derision.
Words-group analysis
- "For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, 'Violence and destruction!'": This phrase underscores the unavoidable and distressing nature of Jeremiah's calling. He is not merely reporting an observation; he is compelled to deliver a painful message with overwhelming urgency and intense emotional output. The content of his message, ḥamas va-shod, encapsulates God's verdict on the nation's spiritual and moral decay, and the resultant impending judgment. This declaration is a direct challenge to the popular, false prophecies of peace and security.
- "For I cry aloud because of the word of the LORD": This emphasizes divine compulsion. Jeremiah's message isn't his own opinion or political commentary; it stems directly and irrevocably from God's word. This divine source explains his anguish, for he cannot suppress it (as stated in v.9), and also makes him accountable to God alone, regardless of the public's response. The prophetic call itself forces him into this confrontational and unpopular position.
- "'all the day long I am derided, scoffed at.'": This highlights the persistent suffering that accompanies prophetic faithfulness. The contempt is not temporary but ceaseless, reflecting deep societal rejection and hostility toward God's messenger and His inconvenient truth. The words ḥerpah and leqeles combine to paint a picture of utter public disdain and constant personal humiliation, demonstrating the profound loneliness and social cost of delivering an unpopular, divinely mandated message.
Jeremiah 20 8 Bonus section
The experience of Jeremiah echoes the broader theological concept that God's word, though life-giving, can also be a source of division, judgment, and intense conflict when rejected. The suffering of the prophet, mocked and derided for bearing this word, is an indication that he is speaking truthfully against the prevailing societal consensus, aligning with the suffering motif seen in later prophets and ultimately in Christ. The prophetic suffering is often inversely proportional to the people's receptiveness, underscoring that the authenticity of a true prophet can be measured by the resistance they face. His ordeal illustrates the price of obedience, not only for him but also a foretaste of the challenges faced by many who advocate for biblical truth against popular opinion.
Jeremiah 20 8 Commentary
Jeremiah 20:8 lays bare the raw pain of a faithful prophet whose divine calling has led to constant public humiliation. His message of "violence and destruction"—God's judgment against the people's sins and the impending Babylonian threat—is an unavoidable burden from the "word of the LORD." This is a stark contrast to false prophets who promise peace. The emotional and physical torment Jeremiah experiences is not a byproduct but a direct consequence of his fidelity to God's truth. This verse powerfully captures the struggle of standing for divine truth in a resistant society, revealing that faithful proclamation of God's message, especially one of judgment, often elicits not repentance but derision. It encapsulates the lonely path of one chosen to speak God's unpopular but necessary truth.