ירמיהו, פרק כ׳, פסוק ט׳

A prophet often faces a heavy burden, torn between the pain of his duty and an inner calling that refuses to be silenced. Caught in a deep internal struggle, the prophet feels despised by the people and finds himself unable to cope with his daily reality [רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. He frequently considers walking away, making a firm decision in his heart to abandon his mission entirely [מצודת דוד, רש״י]. According to [מלבי״ם], this desire to quit takes two distinct forms: a wish to completely erase the memory of the messages God had already given him, and a stubborn refusal to accept any future missions.

However, the word of God proves to be an unstoppable force. The prophetic message pulses within him like a burning fire, and he struggles with all his strength to release it [רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The intense heat of this message remains gathered, contained, and trapped deep inside his bones [רש״י, מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The effort required to keep this fire locked away causes immense suffering. The prophet grows weary from the sheer burden of holding back the divine message [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת ציון]. The primary approach among commentators is that he reaches a point of total exhaustion, where containing the prophecy becomes impossible, and he is forced to speak against his own will. Detailing the stages of this breaking point, [מלבי״ם] explains that the prophet first loses his strength after a long period of painful restraint. Eventually, his capacity to resist completely disappears, leaving him unable to suppress the prophecy for even a single moment. Ultimately, he has no choice but to surrender to the word of God.