“Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.”
My Notes
What Does Jeremiah 17:18 Mean?
Jeremiah prays an imprecatory prayer — asking God to bring confusion and destruction on his persecutors while sparing him. The prayer is personal and specific: let them be confounded, not me. Let them be dismayed, not me. Bring the day of evil on them. Destroy them doubly.
The "double destruction" (mishneh shivron — a doubled breaking) requests proportional justice — the same principle Isaiah applied to Babylon. Jeremiah wants his enemies to experience the consequences of their persecution at twice the intensity. This isn't casual; it's a formal request for maximal divine justice.
These prayers disturb modern sensibilities, but they serve an important function: they redirect vengeance from human hands to God's. Jeremiah doesn't take justice into his own hands — he asks God to handle it. The imprecatory prayer is actually a form of restraint: instead of retaliating, you pray for God to retaliate.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How do you feel about imprecatory prayers — prayers asking God to judge enemies?
- 2.Is it more honest to pray for God to handle your enemies or to pretend you don't want them judged?
- 3.How does redirecting vengeance to God differ from taking it into your own hands?
- 4.Where do you need to release the desire for revenge through prayer rather than action?
Devotional
Jeremiah asks God to destroy his enemies. Doubly. He doesn't sugarcoat it, doesn't soften it, doesn't add a gracious qualifier. Confound them. Dismay them. Bring evil on them. Break them with a double breaking.
This prayer makes us uncomfortable. We prefer our prophets to pray for their enemies' conversion, not their destruction. But Jeremiah is living in a reality where his enemies aren't abstract — they're people who have physically persecuted him, plotted his death, and tried to silence God's word through him. His prayer isn't petty; it's proportional to the threat.
The double destruction is the prayer of someone who has been pushed beyond what they can absorb. Jeremiah has been beaten, imprisoned, thrown in a cistern, and ostracized by his entire community. He's at the limit of human endurance, and instead of picking up a weapon, he picks up a prayer. The imprecation is violence redirected toward God's justice system.
This is actually restraint, not revenge. Jeremiah could plot against his enemies the way they plot against him. Instead, he brings the case to God and asks for divine justice. The prayer transfers the responsibility for retaliation from human hands to divine hands — which is exactly where it belongs.
If you've been persecuted — genuinely, persistently, harmfully — you might need Jeremiah's prayer more than you think. Not as permission to be bitter, but as a mechanism for releasing the desire for revenge to the only one qualified to execute it justly.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Let them be confounded that persecute me,.... With words with reproaches, with scoffs and jeers, saying, "where is the…
In the rest of the prophecy Jeremiah dwells upon the moral faults which had led to Judah’s ruin. Jer 17:6 Like the heath…
Here, as often before, we have the prophet retired for private meditation, and alone with God. Those ministers that…
destroy them with double destruction lit. as mg. break them with a double breach. Cp. Jer 4:6. This may mean a literally…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture