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.

Shall evil be rendered for good, because they have digged a pit for my soul? Remember that I have stood in thy sight, so speak good for them, and turn away thy indignation from them.

Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy fury from them.

Is evil recompensed instead of good, That they have dug a pit for my soul? Remember my standing before Thee to speak good of them, To turn back Thy wrath from them.

Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have dig a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before you to speak good for them, and to turn away your wrath from them.

Is evil to be the reward of good? for they have made a deep hole for my soul. Keep in mind how I took my place before you, to say a good word for them so that your wrath might be turned away from them.

Should evil be rendered for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul! Remember that I have stood in your sight, so as to speak on their behalf for good, and to avert your indignation from them.

An reddetur pro bono malum? quia foderunt foveam animae meae; recordare quod steterim coram facie tua ad loquendum proipsis in bonum, ad avertendam iracundiam tuam ab ipsis.

The Prophet in this verse exaggerates the sin of his enemies, for they not only were ferocious against God, but also forgot everything humane, and wickedly assailed the Prophet himself. Impiety is indeed more detestable than inhumanity, inasmuch as God is far above all mortals; but inhumanity has in it more basenes, for it is, so to speak, more gross and more evident. The ungodly often hide their perfidy; but when they come to act towards men, then it appears immediately what they are. Hence the Prophet, having made known the impiety of his enemies, now adds, that they, when tried by the judgment of men, were found to be wholly intolerable, for they rendered a shameful reward to an innocent man who was sedulous in securing their salvation. We now understand the meaning of the Prophet. Though it often happens that evil is rendered for good, and ingratitude is a common vice, yet nature itself detests ingratitude: hence it has been said that there is no law against the ungrateful, because ingratitude seems a monstrous thing. As then nature dictates that merit deserves a reward, and this ought to be a fixed principle in the hearts of all, the Prophet reasons according to the common sense and judgment of all mankind. Shall evil, he says, be rendered for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul? [1] and yet I prayed for them, and endeavored to turn away the wrath of God. Since I have set myself humbly to pray for their salvation, how great is their savageness and inhumanity in persecuting me? But as he saw that it was vain to speak to the deaf, he again appeals to God as a witness to his integrity; Remember, he says, that I stood before thy face to speak for them; as though he had said, "Even if malignity prevent men to own what I am, and how I have conducted myself towards them, God will be to me a sufficient witness, and I shall be satisfied with his judgment." It then follows --

Footnotes

1 - It is better to render these lines like the Septuagint and Vulgate, -- Is not evil rendered for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul. Or thus, -- Should evil be rendered for good? -- For they have dug a pit for me. So should "soul" be rendered here and in many other places. There is here an allusion to the practice of digging pits to take wild beasts. -- Ed.

Jeremiah had been laboring earnestly to avert the ruin of his country, but the Jews treated him as farmers do some noxious animal which wastes their fields, and for which they dig pitfalls.

They have digged a pit for my soul - For my life; this they wish to take away.
Stood before thee to speak good for them - I was their continual intercessor.

Shall evil be recompensed for good?.... For all the good that I have done them, shall this be all the recompence I shall have, to be evilly treated by them, to have my good name, and even life, taken away by them? shall this be suffered to be done? and, if it is, shall it go unpunished? the prophet taxes the people with ingratitude, which he afterwards instances in, and proves:
for they have digged a pit for my soul; or "life"; they lay in wait to take it away; or they had formed a design against it, and brought a charge and accusation against him, in order to take it away, under colour of law and justice. Kimchi interprets it of poison, which they would have had him drank of:
remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them; he was an intercessor for them with God; pleaded with him on their behalf, that good things might be bestowed upon them, and that wrath might be averted from them; so Christ did for the Jews that crucified him, Luke 23:34; this is an instance of their ingratitude; that though he had been an advocate for them, stood in the gap between God and them, and was importunate for their good, yet this was all the recompense he had from them; they sought his life to take it away. This kindness of his for them was forgotten by them; but he trusts the Lord will remember it, and not suffer them to act the base part they intended; and now he determines no more to plead their cause, but to imprecate evils upon them, as follows:

In the particulars here specified, Jeremiah was a type of Jesus Christ (Psalm 109:4-5; John 15:25).
my soul--my life; me (Psalm 35:7).
I stood before thee . . . to turn away thy wrath--so Moses (Psalm 106:23; compare Ezekiel 22:30). So Jesus Christ, the antitype of previous partial intercessors (Isaiah 59:16).