“Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.”
My Notes
What Does Jeremiah 18:20 Mean?
Jeremiah 18:20 is one of the prophet's most anguished prayers — a man who interceded for the very people now trying to kill him. "Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them."
The Hebrew shuach — "pit" — is a hunting trap, a concealed hole dug to catch prey. The people Jeremiah prayed for are now hunting him. The irony is excruciating: the man who stood between God's wrath and the people is now the target of the people's wrath. His intercession didn't earn their gratitude. It earned their hostility.
Jeremiah appeals to God's memory: "Remember that I stood before thee." The Hebrew amad lĕphanekha — to stand before God's face — is the posture of the intercessor, the priest, the one who positions themselves between judgment and the judged. Jeremiah did that. He spoke good for them. He tried to turn away God's anger. And they dug a pit for his soul. The intercessor's reward was attempted murder.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you ever been repaid with hostility for praying, advocating, or sacrificing for someone? How did you handle it?
- 2.Jeremiah doesn't hide his outrage — he brings it straight to God. Do you allow yourself to be honest with God about the injustice of unreturned kindness?
- 3.What keeps you interceding for people who haven't thanked you — or who have actively harmed you?
- 4.Jeremiah says 'remember.' What do you need God to remember about what you've done for someone who didn't deserve it?
Devotional
Jeremiah prayed for the people who are now trying to kill him. Let that sink in. He stood before God on their behalf, pleading their case, trying to avert the very wrath they deserved. And their response was to dig a pit for his soul.
If you've ever poured yourself out for someone — prayed for them, defended them, advocated for them — and been repaid with betrayal, this verse validates the outrage you feel. Shall evil be recompensed for good? That's not a philosophical question. It's a scream. It's the cry of a person who did the right thing and got punished for it.
Jeremiah doesn't swallow the injustice and move on. He brings it directly to God: remember. Remember what I did. Remember that I stood before You for them. He doesn't pretend the betrayal doesn't sting. He doesn't spiritualize away the pain. He says: this is evil repaying good, and You saw both — the good I did and the evil they returned.
The intercessor's life is often the most costly and least thanked. You pray for someone and they never know. You absorb God's grief for someone and they resent you for the warning. You stand in the gap and the people on the other side of the gap try to push you in. Jeremiah's prayer gives language to that specific wound — and directs it to the only One who keeps accurate records of what you sacrificed for people who didn't deserve it.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Let a cry be heard from their houses,.... A shrieking of women and children, not only for the loss of husbands and…
Jeremiah had been laboring earnestly to avert the ruin of his country, but the Jews treated him as farmers do some…
The prophet here, as sometimes before, brings in his own affairs, but very much for instruction to us.
I. See here what…
Shall evil be recompensed for good?] Jeremiah had interceded for the people in times past, e.g. ch. Jer 14:7; Jer 14:21.
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture