“I said,”
Jeremiah's response is personal and direct, indicating a dialogue with God. This interaction highlights the personal nature of God's call to His prophets. It also reflects the biblical pattern of God initiating communication and the human response, seen in figures like Isaiah (Isaiah 6:5) and Gideon (Judges 6:15).

“I surely do not know how to speak,”
Jeremiah expresses his inadequacy, similar to Moses' reluctance due to his speech impediment (Exodus 4:10). This reflects a common biblical theme where God chooses those who feel unqualified, emphasizing that divine strength is made perfect in human weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). It underscores the idea that God equips those He calls.

“for I am only a child!”
The term "child" suggests youth and inexperience. Jeremiah was likely a young man, possibly in his late teens or early twenties, when called to be a prophet. This highlights the cultural context where age was associated with wisdom and authority, making Jeremiah's task daunting. It also prefigures the New Testament teaching that God often uses the humble and lowly to accomplish His purposes (1 Corinthians 1:27). Jeremiah's youthfulness can be seen as a type of Christ, who also began His ministry at a young age and was often underestimated due to His age (Luke 2:46-47).

“Ah, Lord GOD,” (Jeremiah 1:6) erupts from Jeremiah’s heart the moment he hears his call.

• It is a spontaneous cry of reverence that places God’s sovereignty first, much like Isaiah’s “Woe to me” in Isaiah 6:5 and Moses’ “O Lord, please send someone else” in Exodus 4:13.

• By addressing the Lord as GOD (Adonai YHWH), Jeremiah confesses that the One speaking is both Master and Covenant-Keeper—there is no question about who is in charge (Psalm 115:3).

• Acknowledging God’s rule is the starting point of every genuine calling; without it, any ministry rests on human wisdom rather than divine authority (Proverbs 3:5–6).

Jeremiah records his own reply, emphasizing personal accountability: he cannot hide behind his parents, priestly lineage, or culture.

• Scripture often highlights a deliberate, verbal response when God speaks—Samuel answers, “Speak, for Your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10), while Isaiah volunteers, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).

• True obedience involves speaking back to God in honest dialogue, not silent avoidance (Psalm 62:8).

• By writing “I said,” Jeremiah models transparency; he lets readers see both his fear and faith (2 Corinthians 4:2).

Jeremiah protests his inability: public proclamation feels impossible.

• Moses expressed the same concern—“I am slow of speech and tongue” (Exodus 4:10); Paul arrived in Corinth “in weakness and fear” (1 Corinthians 2:3–4). God regularly chooses unlikely messengers so the power is clearly His (2 Corinthians 3:5–6).

• Jeremiah’s phrase “surely do not know” shows conscious limitation, yet it also invites divine enablement; the Lord later promises, “I have put My words in your mouth” (Jeremiah 1:9).

• Feeling unqualified is not failure but an opening for grace; when we confess insufficiency, God supplies what is lacking (Philippians 4:13).

The prophet underscores his youth—probably a teenager.

• Culturally, elders held authority; a “child” had no standing (Job 32:4–7). Yet God delights in overturning human expectations: He called David while tending sheep (1 Samuel 16:11–13) and told Timothy, “Let no one despise your youth” (1 Timothy 4:12).

• Jeremiah’s age magnifies God’s power—if the message is heard, it cannot be because of the messenger’s maturity (Zechariah 4:6).

• God’s response in Jeremiah 1:7 (“Do not say, ‘I am only a child’…”) reveals that excuses rooted in age do not deter His plans; obedience does (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

Jeremiah 1:6 captures a transparent moment where a young man, overwhelmed by divine calling, confesses both reverence and inadequacy. His cry teaches that:

• Recognition of God’s absolute lordship comes first.

• Honest dialogue with God invites His enabling grace.

• Human weakness—whether lack of skill or youthful inexperience—highlights, rather than hinders, God’s strength.

When God calls, He equips, and our limitations become the very stage on which His power is displayed.

I cannot speak.--In the same sense as the "I am not eloquent" of Moses (Exodus 4:10), literally, "a man of words," i.e., have no gifts of utterance.

I am a child.--Later Jewish writers fix the age of fourteen as that up to which the term rendered "child" might be used. With Jeremiah it was probably more indefinite, and in the intense consciousness of his own weakness he would naturally use a word below the actual standard of his age; and there is accordingly nothing against assuming any age within the third hebdomad of life. In Genesis 34:19 it is used of a young man old enough for marriage. The words are memorable as striking a note common to the lives of many prophets; common, also, we may add, to most men as they feel themselves called to any great work. So Moses draws back: "I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue" (Exodus 4:10). So Isaiah cries, "Woe is me! for . . . I am a man of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5); and Peter, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8). Something of the same shrinking is implied in St. Paul's command to Timothy (1Timothy 4:12). In tracing the whole course of Jeremiah's work, we must never forget the divine constraint by which he entered on them. A necessity was laid upon him, as afterwards on St. Paul (1Corinthians 9:16). . . .