For I heard the mocking of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my friends watched for my fall, saying, Perhaps he will be deceived, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
All Commentaries on Jeremiah 20:10 Go To Jeremiah 20
Jerome
AD 420
Jeremiah says here, in effect: “As I am crying out and saying that the Babylonian army is coming and that the sword of the enemy will plunder us all, the word of the Lord is turned against me as a derision and a reproach, since they believe that the tardiness of a prophecy’s fulfillment is tantamount to a lie. For this reason, I’ve decided within myself that I will no longer speak the word of God to the people of God, nor will I name his name. I am overcome with shame and embarrassment, however, at making this foolish resolution, as what feels like a burning fire is ablaze in my heart and enclosed in my bones, and I am altogether undone and therefore unable to bear it.” For a divine word conceived in the soul, which is not then uttered through the mouth, burns in the chest. This is why Paul said, “If I evangelize, no glory redounds to me, for the need to preach the gospel is incumbent on me. Indeed, woe to me if I fail to preach! If I do so willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, an office is entrusted to me.” Moreover, seeing in Athens a city devoted to idolatry, Paul was incited by the Spirit and became impassioned with his whole mind. Hence, later in the same book we read, “When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was devoting himself to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.” But a great many teachers in the church even today sustain against themselves similar invective from a number of congregations, hearing their audience say, “Oppose them! Let us oppose them!”
