Verse 6
When the Lord revealed his calling to him, Jeremiah expressed dismay: first, because he was still a youth, and second, because he had not yet learned how to speak confidently and effectively.
Jeremiah’s age at his call is not clear except that he was a youth (Heb. na’ar, a word that elsewhere in the Old Testament describes children through young men; cf. Genesis 14:24; Genesis 22:3; Genesis 34:19; Exodus 2:6; Exodus 33:11; 1 Samuel 4:21; Judges 8:14). Jeremiah was probably about 20 years old. The estimates of several reliable commentators range from about 16 to 25 years old.
Jeremiah’s response to his call reveals the first of his many similarities to Moses (cf. Exodus 4:1-17). The people to whom they spoke did not believe either prophet, and both men claimed to be inadequate as speakers, to name only two likenesses. Jeremiah’s contemporaries could very well have mistaken him for "the prophet like Moses," which Moses predicted would come after himself (Deuteronomy 18:18).
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