(17) Gird up thy loins.--Be as the messenger who prepares to be swift on his errand, and to go whithersoever he is sent (1Kings 18:46; 2Kings 4:29; 2Kings 9:1). The vivid image of intense activity re-appears in the New Testament (Luke 12:35; 1Peter 1:13), and has become proverbial in the speech of Christendom.

Be not dismayed.--The repeated calls to courage appear to indicate--like St. Paul's exhortations to Timothy (1Timothy 4:12; 1Timothy 6:13; 2Timothy 2:3)--a constitutional timidity. We must remember, as some excuse for this, that the reign of Manasseh had shown that the work of the prophet might easily lead to the fate of the martyr (2Kings 21:16). Even Ezekiel, among the remnant of exiles on the banks of Chebar, needed a like encouragement (Ezekiel 2:6).

Lest I confound thee.--The Hebrew emphasises the command by repeating the same words: Be not dismayed, lest I dismay thee.

Verse 17. - Gird up thy loins, as an Oriental does before making any kind of physical exertion, whether walking (Exodus 12:11; 2 Kings 4:29), running (1 Kings 18:46), or fighting (Job 12:21). Be not dismayed. A want of confidence on Jeremiah's part will issue in his utter discomfiture by his enemies. "Dismay" in Hebrew has a twofold reference, subjective ("dismay") and objective ("ruin," "discomfiture"). Both references can be illustrated from this verse. (Comp. the command and - ver. 18 - premise to Jeremiah with the command and promise to Ezekiel - 3:8, 9.)

1:11-19 God gave Jeremiah a view of the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. The almond-tree, which is more forward in the spring than any other, represented the speedy approach of judgments. God also showed whence the intended ruin should arise. Jeremiah saw a seething-pot boiling, representing Jerusalem and Judah in great commotion. The mouth or face of the furnace or hearth, was toward the north; from whence the fire and fuel were to come. The northern powers shall unite. The cause of these judgments was the sin of Judah. The whole counsel of God must be declared. The fear of God is the best remedy against the fear of man. Better to have all men our enemies than God our enemy; those who are sure they have God with them, need not, ought not to fear, whoever is against them. Let us pray that we may be willing to give up personal interests, and that nothing may move us from our duty.Thou therefore gird up thy loins,.... The loins both of his mind and body. The allusion is to the custom of the eastern countries in wearing long garments, who, when they went about business, girt them about them for quicker dispatch; and here it designs haste and expedition in doing the Lord's work, as well as courage and resolution of mind:

and arise; and go from Anathoth to Jerusalem:

and speak unto them all that I command thee; See Gill on Jeremiah 1:7,

be not dismayed at their faces; See Gill on Jeremiah 1:8,

lest I confound thee before them; show resentment at him in some way or another, which would make him ashamed before them. The Septuagint and Arabic versions add, "for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord", as in Jeremiah 1:8.