Jeremiah 18:20

Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Jeremiah addresses Yahweh directly, responding to the complaints of his accusers (18:19) and immediately preceding his own petition for judgment upon them (18:21).

The words — שׁוּחָה (shu.Chah) = a pit and יְשֻׁלַּם (yeshulam) = will it be repaid anchor the verse’s core contrast between the accusers’ violent plotting and the demanded reversal of their actions.

The thread — The image of enemies digging a pit for the righteous recurs in Psalms 35:7 and Psalms 57:6, while the request for divine remembrance of intercessory mediation aligns with the Moses reference in Psalms 106:23.

Why it lands — The text forces a reader to confront the pattern of persecuted prophets who appeal to God’s past faithfulness as the basis for present intervention, demanding a clear-eyed assessment of who truly stands before the altar.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

הַיְשֻׁלַּ֤םha/y.shu.Lam¿/ will it be repaid תַּֽחַת־ta.chat-in place of טוֹבָה֙to.Vahgood רָעָ֔הra.'Ahevil כִּֽי־ki-for כָר֥וּkha.Ruthey have dug שׁוּחָ֖הshu.Chaha pit לְנַפְשִׁ֑יle./naf.Sh/ifor/ self/ my זְכֹ֣ר׀ze.Khorremember עָמְדִ֣י'a.me.D/istanding/ my לְפָנֶ֗יךָle./fa.Nei./kha<to>/ before/ you לְדַבֵּ֤רle./da.Berto/ speak עֲלֵיהֶם֙'a.lei./Hemon/ them טוֹבָ֔הto.Vahgood לְהָשִׁ֥יבle./ha.Shivto/ turn back אֶת־'et-<obj.>חֲמָתְךָ֖cha.ma.te./Kharage/ yourמֵהֶֽם׃me./Hemfrom <the>/ them

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Psalms 35:7 For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
Psalms 57:6 They spread a net for my feet; my soul was despondent. They dug a pit before me, but they themselves have fallen into it! Selah
Psalms 106:23 So He said He would destroy them—had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.
1 Samuel 24:17 and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, though I have rewarded you with evil.
Psalms 35:12 They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.
Psalms 109:4 In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
Psalms 119:95 The wicked wait to destroy me, but I will ponder Your testimonies.
Proverbs 26:27 He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
Ecclesiastes 10:8 He who digs a pit may fall into it, and he who breaches a wall may be bitten by a snake.
Jeremiah 18:22 Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.