The prophets are an abstraction; an amorphous cluster of names whose voices are seldom heard except in our lectionaries, or when channeled through the lips of Jesus. These encounters have stripped the prophets of their contexts and distorted them in a supersessionist (for definition, see paragraph 17) effort to validate the Jesus story as a fulfillment and replacement for the Hebrew Bible. This fixation on revelation-as-corroboration has robbed these people of their humanity and reduced them to mere character witnesses.

In his seminal work, The Prophets, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel liberates these figures from the footnotes of our study bibles, and delves deeply into their prophetic consciousness to explore the struggle between human emotion and prophetic duty. Heschel’s analysis of Jeremiah 20:7-9 offers a meaningful glimpse into the prophet’s emotional landscape, one that should resonate deeply with those who ‘hunger and thirst for justice.’

The first portion of verse seven has traditionally been translated as: “You have deceived me, O Lord, and I was deceived,” but a careful look at the Hebrew reveals a far more disturbing interpretation. The verb Jeremiah first utilizes is the Hebrew word pathah, and while it can be understood as ‘deceived’ or ‘duped,’ Heschel points out that the term is used “in the special sense of wrongfully inducing a woman to consent to prenuptial intercourse…denot[ing] seduction or enticement.”

Similarly, in the latter half of the verse the prophet states in Hebrew “chazaqtani” – typically rendered as “you are stronger than I.” Again, Heschel argues that this verb – chazaq – “denotes the violent forcing of a woman to submit to extranuptial intercourse, which is thus performed against her will…denot[ing] rape…The words used by Jeremiah to describe the impact of God upon his life are identical with the terms for seduction and rape in the legal terminology of the bible” (144).

Explaining Jeremiah 20:7 with this meaning: “You have seduced me, O Lord, and I was seduced; you raped me and you have overpowered me.” Here, Jeremiah is likening himself to the virgin who has been seduced, placing God in the role of the assailant who leverages brute force to impose his will. These terms, however, “used in juxtaposition forcefully convey the complexity of the divine-human relationship…and betrays an ambivalence in the prophet’s understanding of his own experience:…a feeling of being enticed, of acquiescence or willing surrender…and a sense of being ravished or carried away by violence, of yielding to overpowering force against one’s own will” (145). In his interpretation of the ninth verse, Heschel states: “The prophet was filled with passion which demanded release; if he tried to contain it, its flame burned within him like a fever. Jeremiah could not have felt it as a passion breathed into him by God. Biblical thought…regards every outburst of fire from God…as a destructive force” (151).

There is a simpler way to describe what the prophet is feeling – guilt. Here, Jeremiah expresses the feeling of profound guilt for those times he has tried to contain the will of the divine – or, perhaps, for trying to rest or walk away from it – and the resulting compulsion to carry on despite public rejection and personal misery. Ultimately, “he is unable to discard the divine burden, unable to disengage himself from the divine pathos” (151).

If you’re anything like me, you’ve read Heschel’s description of Jeremiah’s inner world with your jaw dropped in shock – because, my God, how relatable! How many of us who hunger and thirst for justice have felt this hellish melange of emotion: the initial thrill of hearing the call and discovering our vocation, the righteous anger that fueled us for so long, the inevitable exhaustion and cynicism of total burn out, the crushing sense of guilt we feel everytime we feel the need to rest or secretly question “wouldn’t my life be easier if I didn’t do this?” only to end with the understanding that you can no longer un-know what you know and therefore must carry on. Jeremiah’s lamentation lets us know that we are not alone in our fight.

Choose a quiet space where you will be undisturbed.

Close your eyes and breathe deeply, feeling the connection between your body and the ground

beneath you.

Scan your body from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes, paying close attention to

each part of your body and any sensations you may notice. When you encounter tensions or

discomfort exhale deeply, and imagine the tension leaving your body in the form of a dark

colored cloud. Continue breathing until the clouds become light.

When you are ready, open your eyes and take out a journal. Reflect on the following questions. Remember, there is no right/wrong answer nor is there a time/page limit.

1. What does self-care mean to you?
2. In which areas of your life – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual – do you need to shore-up your self care practice?
3. What specific self-care practices would nourish you in these areas?
4. What obstacles to self-care have you experienced in the past?
5. In what ways can you overcome these obstacles?
6. Create for yourself a self-care plan based on these reflections.
7. What are the specific and realistic daily practices that you must perform in order to fulfill them?

Remember, radical self-care is an ongoing practice, and it is essential to be kind and patient with yourself as you embark on this journey of self-nurturing and growth. Regularly revisit your self- care plan, adjust it as needed, and prioritize your well-being to lead a balanced and fulfilling life.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was a Jewish scholar and theologian whose published works and involvement with the Civil Rights Movement made him a public figure.

Having escaped the Holocaust (most of his family was killed), he became a professor at Jewish Theological Union in New York. His influence outside Judaism is due to his interreligious impulses that did not claim religious experience for one tradition alone. He was influential in the Second Vatican Council, serving as a Jewish representative, and allied with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Civil Rights Movement. 

Heschel has left an enormous legacy in theological and philosophical thinking of the 20th century, as an advocate of his tradition’s deep grounding in narratives of justice and the human condition.