This article attempts to understand the place and function of Jer. 20.14-18 in the present context, regardless of authorship and provenance. It is shown that it is not necessary to change the position of the verses within the book of Jeremiah, and that they agree with the theology of the book. The tension in which his prophetic commission brings Jeremiah is not a temporary one, but one of principle, in view of his call; the prophetic office for which he was destined before his birth (1.5) belongs inextricably to him. These verses full of desperation and despair do not belong before, but beside the praise and the certainty of redemption (20.11-13), thus underscoring the theology of Jeremiah, which is so rich in contrasts.
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