Jeremiah 1:6

Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. CHILD - the same word is translated "young man," . From the long duration of his office, from Josiah's time until at least the passing of the Jewish remnant into Egypt after the capture of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 1:2; , etc.; 43:8, etc.), it is supposed he was at his call at least under 25 years of age. The reluctance often shown by inspired ministers of God (as Moses, ; ; ; Jonah,...

After having spoken of his call, the Prophet adds, that he at first refused his office, and he states this for two reasons; first, that he might clear himself from every suspicion of rashness, for we know how much ambition prevails among men, according to what James intimates, that many wish to be teachers, (James 3:1) and there is hardly one who is not anxious to be listened to. Since, then, most men too readily assume the office of teaching, and many boldly intrude into it, Jeremiah, in order to avoid the very suspicion of rashness, informs us that he was constrained to take the office. Secondly, he says that he refused the office, that he might gain more esteem, and render his disciples more attentive. But why did he refuse to obey God, when called to the prophetic function? Because its difficulty frightened him: and yet this very reason ought to rouse readers to a greater attention,...

1-10 Jeremiah's early call to the work and office of a prophet is stated. He was to be a prophet, not to the Jews only, but to the neighbouring nations. He is still a prophet to the whole world, and it would be well if they would attend to these warnings. The Lord who formed us, knows for what particular services and purposes he intended us. But unless he sanctify us by his new-creating Spirit, we shall neither be fit for his holy service on earth, nor his holy happiness in heaven. It becomes us to have low thoughts of ourselves. Those who are young, should consider that they are so, and not venture beyond their powers. But though a sense of our own weakness and insufficiency should make us go humbly about our work, it should not make us draw back when God calls us. Those who have messages to deliver from God, must not fear the face of man. The Lord, by a sign, gave Jeremiah such a gift...

Verse Jeremiah 1:6. _I CANNOT SPEAK_] Being very young, and wholly inexperienced, I am utterly incapable of conceiving aright, or of clothing these Divine subjects in suitable language. Those who are really _called of God_ to the sacred ministry are such as have been brought to a deep acquaintance with themselves, feel their own ignorance, and know their own weakness. They know also the awful responsibility that attaches to the work; and nothing but the authority of God can induce such to undertake it. They whom God never called _run_, because of worldly honour and emolument: the others hear the call with _fear_ and _trembling_, and can go only in the strength of Jehovah. "How _ready_ is the man to _go_, _Whom God hath never sent_!...

There is no resistance on Jeremiah’s part, but he shrinks back alarmed. I CANNOT SPEAK - i. e., “I cannot prophesy,” I have not those powers of oratory necessary for success. The prophets of Israel were the national preachers in religious matters, and their orators in political. I AM A CHILD - This implies nothing very definite about Jeremiah’s age. Still the long duration of his prophetic mission makes it probable that he was very young when called to the office, as also were Isaiah, Hosea, Zechariah, and others....

EXPOSITION AN ACCOUNT OF THE CALL AND CONSECRATION OF JEREMIAH TO THE PROPHETIC OFFICE, FOLLOWED BY TWO EXPRESSIVE SYMBOLS OF THE MATTERS WHICH HE HAS TO ANNOUNCE. JEREMIAH 1:1 There are some indications that the original form of the heading has been somewhat modified. Notice (1) that the words with which Jeremi

THEN SAID I, AH, LORD GOD!.... The word אהה, "Ah", or "Ahah", is used in distress and grief, as Kimchi observes; and is expressive of mourning and complaint, as Jarchi notes; and shows that the prophet was troubled and uneasy at his call, and would gladly have been excused on the following account: BEHOLD, I CANNOT SPEAK; or, "I know not how to speak" r; properly and pertinently, politely and eloquently, especially before great personages, kings and princes, and the citizens of Jerusalem, being brought up in a rustic manner in the country. A like excuse Moses made, Exodus 4:10. The Targum is, "I know not to prophesy: for I am a child"; meaning either in knowledge and understanding, or in years; not a mere child, but a "junior", as the Septuagint version renders the word; or a "young man", as the Arabic version; so Samuel and Zechariah were young men, when they first ministere

Jeremiah 1:1. _The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month._ Jeremiah was a young man when he was called to the prophetic office; and he was sent of God, as a young prophet, to help the young king, Josiah. His public life, therefore, opened somewhat happily. But, after the death of Josiah, wicked kings sat upon the throne, and it was the painful lot, and yet in some respects the choice privilege, of this weeping prophet to be sent upon his Master's errand, time after time, to a disobedient

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE CALL TO REPENTANCE, THE IMPENITENCE OF THE PEOPLE, AND THE JUDGMENT ANNOUNCED CHAPTER 1 The Call of the Prophet _ 1. The introduction (Jeremiah 1:1) _ 2. The divine call (Jeremiah 1:4) 3. The renewed call and the first visions (Jeremiah 1:11) Jeremiah 1:1. The first three verses introduce us to the person of the prophet, to the time the Word of the Lord came unto him, and to the sphere of his ministry. Jeremiah's father, Hilkiah, was a priest of the line of Ithamar; his home was Anathoth of Benjamin. (See general introduction.)...

THE PROPHET'S CALL. The account of this should be compared with similar accounts of the calls of other prophets (see Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1:1 to Ezekiel 3:3; Amos 7:12 ff.) and the characteristic differences should be noted. Probably all such experiences, whilst ultimately due to moral and religious conviction, involved abnormal psychical elements; _e.g._ Jeremiah believed that he heard an external voice, and felt an outward touch. On the general nature of the prophetic consciousness, see H. W. Robinson, _Religious Ideas of the OT,_ pp. 113ff, and the article on Old Testament Prophecy in the present work. Jeremiah is told that Yahweh predestined him for a particular life-work before he existed; he was a thought of God (Duhm) befor