Lending and borrowing are often seen in the Old Testament as a source of trouble for those involved (see Exodus 22:25; 2 Kings 4:1; Psalm 15:5; Psalm 109:11; Proverbs 6:1–5; Isaiah 24:2). Jeremiah has done neither and yet all of them curse me.
The meaning of the Hebrew word qalal, translated here as curse
carries the meaning of being treated lightly or as insignificant. Even though Jeremiah has behaved with integrity and has only the good of his people in mind, no one has taken him seriously or speaks well of him.1
10 Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.