Text: Jeremiah 1:6-9
OT Text Referred to: Exodus 4:10-12
Subject: prophetic reluctance and divine enablement of speech
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): Typology
Significance: Both passages follow an identical three-part pattern: (1) divine commission, (2) prophet protests inability to speak, (3) God promises to supply the words. Moses says he is "slow of speech" (כְבַד־פֶּה, kevad peh); Jeremiah says he is "only a child" (נַעַר, na'ar). God responds to Moses with "I will teach you what to say" (Exod 4:12) and to Jeremiah with the physical act of touching his mouth and declaring "I have put My words in your mouth" (Jer 1:9). The escalation from Moses — who still received Aaron as a secondary spokesman — to Jeremiah — who receives the words directly with no intermediary — shows a development within the prophetic office where mediation becomes more immediate. Jeremiah's call narrative deliberately recapitulates and intensifies the Mosaic pattern.