Jeremiah 1:10 - Exposition

I have set thee ; literally, I have made thee an overseer , or vicegerent (comp. Genesis 41:34 ; 9:28 , where the Authorized Version renders the cognate noun "officer"). To root out … to plant , viz. by pronouncing that Divine judgment which fulfils itself (comp. Jeremiah 5:14 ; Numbers 23:25 ; Isaiah 9:8 , Isaiah 9:9 ; Isaiah 55:11 ). As there is so much more threatening than promise in Jeremiah's writings, the destructive side of his activity is expressed by four verbs, the constructive only by two.