What does Jeremiah 1:6 Mean?

Verse Meaning

When the Lord revealed his calling to him, Jeremiah expressed dismay: first, because he was still a youth, and second, because he had not yet learned how to speak confidently and effectively. [source][source]

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Jeremiah"s age at his call is not clear except that he was a youth (Heb. na"ar, a word that elsewhere in the Old Testament describes children through young men; cf. Genesis 14:24; Genesis 22:3; Genesis 34:19; Exodus 2:6; Exodus 33:11; 1 Samuel 4:21; Judges 8:14). Jeremiah was probably about20 years old. The estimates of several reliable commentators range from about16 to25 years old. [source][source]

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Jeremiah"s response to his call reveals the first of his many similarities to Moses (cf. Exodus 4:1-17). The people to whom they spoke did not believe either prophet, and both men claimed to be inadequate as speakers, to name only two likenesses. Jeremiah"s contemporaries could very well have mistaken him for "the prophet like Moses," which Moses predicted would come after himself ( Deuteronomy 18:18). [source][source]

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Context Summary

God has a distinct purpose for each life, and our one aim should be to discover and work out His plan. See Psalms 139:16; Galatians 1:15. The sanctification here referred to applies to office rather than to character, and means set apart. See John 17:19. Jeremiah was very young, and shrank from the responsibility of the great mission entrusted to him. Thus it has been with the noblest, Exodus 4:10. But that is godly fear indeed which casts us back on God. He never gives a commission without assuming the responsibility of its execution in, and with, or through, us. Powers of utterance are specially His gift, Isaiah 6:7; Acts 6:10; 1 Corinthians 1:5. The almond tree in Hebrew is the wakeful tree. It awakes from the winter sleep earlier than others, flowering in January and fruiting in March. It indicated the swiftness of God's movement. The boiling pot is the symbol of war. The promises of Jeremiah 1:18-19 are very precious to all who are called to stand in the breach and charge men with their sins. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 1

¹  The time
⁴  And the calling of Jeremiah
¹¹  His prophetical visions of an almond rod and a seething pot
¹⁵  His heavy message against Judah
¹⁷  God encourages him with his promise of assistance