Jeremiah 20:12 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 20:12
But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
triest
בֹּחֵ֣ןbo.Chen
H974
to test (especially metals) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
righteous
צַדִּ֔יקtza.Dik
H6662
just · adjective, masculine singular absolute
seest
רֹאֶ֥הro.'Eh
H7200
to see · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
reins
כְלָי֖וֹתkhe.la.Yot
H3629
a kidney (as an essential organ) · noun, common feminine plural absolute
heart
וָלֵ֑בva.Lev
H3820
the heart · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
see
אֶרְאֶ֤ה'er.'Eh
H7200
to see · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
vengeance
נִקְמָֽתְךָ֙nik.ma.te.Cha
H5360
avengement · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
opened
גִּלִּ֥יתִיgi.Li.ti
H1540
to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense) · verb, piel perfect, 1st person common singular
cause
רִיבִֽיri.Vi
H7379
a contest (personal or legal) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 62:8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Jeremiah 11:20 But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I…
Psalms 54:7 For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.
Psalms 59:10 The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.
Jeremiah 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Psalms 7:9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
Psalms 26:2-3 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 20:7-13
Pashur's doom was to be a terror to himself; Jeremiah, even now, in this hour of temptation, is far from being so; and yet it cannot be denied but that he is here, through the infirmity of the flesh, strangely agitated within himself. Good men are but men at the best. God is not extreme to mark what they say and do amiss, and therefore we must not be so, but make the best of it. In these verses it appears that, upon occasion of the great indignation and injury that Pashur did to Jeremiah, there was a struggle in his breast between his graces and his corruptions. His discourse with himself and with his God, upon this occasion, was somewhat perplexed; let us try to methodize it.
I. Here is a s…
triest the righteous--in latent contrast to the hasty judgments of men (Jer 11:20; Jer 17:10).
opened--that is, committed (compare Kg2 19:14; Psa 35:1).
John Gill on Jeremiah 20:12
But, O Lord, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart,.... That tries the cause of the righteous, and vindicates them, rights their wrongs, and does them justice; being the omniscient God, the seer and searcher of the hearts and reins; who knows the uprightness of their hearts, as well as their ways, and the sincerity of their affections: or that tries the faith and patience of the righteous, their constancy and integrity; and upon trial finds that their affections are real, and their souls sincere;
let me see thy vengeance on them; his enemies and persecutors; he does not seek vengeance himself, but desires it of the Lord; he does not ask to see his vengeance, but the L…
Jeremiah 20:12
12. But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.
12. Et (vel, tu autem) Jehova exercituum, probans justum, videns renes et cor, videbo ultionem tuam ex ipsis, quia tibi patefeci litem meam (vel, jus meam, causam meam.)
The Prophet shews here briefly how he dared to allege God's name and help against his enemies; for hypocrites often boast that God is their helper, but they falsely pretend his name. The proof, then, by which the Prophet shews that he did not falsely or presumptuously pretend what he had stated, -- that God was to him like a strong giant, who could e…
The Church Fathers
Those who are poor in spirit and who have no riches to give them consolation in this world, concerning whom Paul said, "only let us be mindful of the poor," worshiped the Lord in spirit and gave thanks for being delivered from the hand of the wicked when they obtained vengeance from the Lord. Yet, none of this is due to our merit but to the grace of him who liberated the poor, of him who possesses none of the riches of corrupting pride but has the humility of the poor who are free.
For God does not hold out against his children when they beg his pity. And for you he will pray purely, held in high honor as an angel of God, and grieved not by you but for you. This is sincere repentance. "God is not mocked," nor does he give heed to vain words. For he alone searches the innermost recesses of the heart, and hears those that are in the fire, and listens to those who supplicate in the whale's belly and is near to all who believe, and far from the ungodly if they do not repent.
The Lord alone is able to certify justice, in the same way that he alone sees the interior of a person's heart. Hence, Jesus knows the thoughts of people not as an acquired skill, as some allege, but because he is God by nature. Such is what the psalmist sings: "No living creature will be justified in your presence." If none of those living in virtue are justified, how much more true will this be of those who are dead from sin! Even though the just person knows himself to have God as a defender, the impatience of human fragility desires to see right now what it knows to be coming. Jeremiah also entrusted his cause to God, to the one who said elsewhere, "Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord." But the conscience is happy whose cause is entrusted to the Lord, as the apostle said: "Anything that is visible is light."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Heart · .Tested — .Tested
Heart, The · God: Knows — God: Knows
Jeremiah · persecution — persecution
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Jer 20:1-3
When the chief overseer of the temple, Pashur, heard this prophecy, he had the prophet beaten, and put him over-night in the stocks at the upper gate of Benjamin in the temple. Pashur is by the appellation: son of Immer, distinguished from other priests of this name, e.g., Pashur, son of Malchijah, Ch1 9:12. It cannot be determined whether Immer is here the name of the 16th class of priests (Ch1 24:14) or of one of the greater priestly clans (Ezr 2:37; Neh 7:40). Pashur held the office of פּקיד נגיד, chief overseer in the house of God. נגיד is an official name attached to פּקיד to explain it. In the latter word lies the idea of overseeing, while the former denotes the official sta…
