Jeremiah 15:10-20:18

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 15:10-14

Jeremiah has now returned from his public work and retired into his closet; what passed between him and his God there we have an account of in these and the following verses, which he published afterwards, to affect the people with the weight and importance of his messages to them. Here is, I. The complaint which the prophet makes to God of the many discouragements he met with in his work, Jer. 15:10. 1. He met with a great deal of contradiction and opposition. He was a man of strife and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 15:10

Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast born me a man of strife ,.... Not that the prophet was a quarrelsome and contentious man, but others quarrelled and contended with him, and that for no other reason than for his faithful discharge of his office, under which he ought to have been easy; but being a man of like passions with others, wishes he had never been born, than to meet with so much trouble; and seems to blame his mother for bearing him; or however looked upon himself to be a miserable... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 15:10

A man of contention to the whole earth! - To the whole Land, to all his countrymen; though he had done nothing to merit their displeasure. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 15:10

Verse 10 The Prophet, when he saw that his labor availed nothing, or was not so fruitful as he wished, no doubt felt somewhat like a man, and shewed his own weakness. It must however be observed, that he was so restrained by the secret power of the Holy Spirit, that he did not break forth intemperately, as is the case with many; but, he kept the right end so in view, that his sorrows had ever a regard to his object, even to render his labor useful to the people. A clear example of which is seen... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 15:10

Woe is me, my mother ! This is one of those passages (comp. Introduction) which illustrate the sensitive and shrinking character of our prophet. "If his meek spirit erred, opprest That God denied repose, What sin is ours, to whom Heaven's rest Is pledged to heal earth's woes?" (Cardinal Newman, in 'Lyra Apostolica,' 88.). I have neither lent on usury, etc.; a speaking figure to men of the ancient world, to whom, as Dr. Payne Smith remarks, "the relations between the money-lender... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 15:10

The offense of faithful preaching. That the preaching of the gospel should stir up the evil passions of men would at first appear strange. It is the declaration of good news to them that are perishing, and an effort to restore men to happiness and peace. But that it has been accompanied with such manifestations of ill will from the beginning is sufficiently well known. The preaching of the cross has in every age been resisted and resented by the world. It is "to the Jews a stumbling-block,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 15:10

The man who felt he had been born to strife and contention. These words of the prophet are not, of course, to be taken too literally. They are the language of excited feeling and of poetry, and would not be permissible as a prosaic statement to which the man who makes it may be expected deliberately to adhere. The proper way of regarding the words is to take them as vividly indicating a position which no words could sufficiently describe. Jeremiah sometimes felt himself so hated and so... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 15:10-21

These verses come in very unexpectedly, and are certainly not to be regarded as a continuation of the preceding discourse. They describe some deeply pathetic moment of the prophet's inner life, and in all probability belong to a later period of the history of Judah. At any rate, the appreciation of the next chapter will be facilitated by reading it in close connection with Jeremiah 15:9 of the present chapter. But the section before us is too impressive to be east adrift without an attempt... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Jeremiah 15:10

Jeremiah vents his sorrow at the rejection of his prayer. In reading these and similar expostulations we feel that we have to do with a man who was the reluctant minister of a higher power, from where alone he drew strength to be content to do and suffer.Strife - More exactly, “lawsuit;” the sense is, “I am as a man who has to enter into judgment with and reprove the whole earth.”I have neither lent ... - i. e., I have no personal cause of quarrel with the people, that I should thus be... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Jeremiah 15:10-11

Jeremiah 15:10-11. Wo is me, my mother The prophet here complains of the opposition he met with from his countrymen for speaking unwelcome truths. Thou hast borne me a man of contention to the whole earth Or, whole land, rather. I am the object of common hatred; every body takes occasion to quarrel with me, because I speak truths which they do not like to hear. I have neither lent upon usury, &c. “The Jews were forbidden to take usury of their brethren, (Deuteronomy 23:19,)... read more

Group of Brands