Jeremiah 20:17

Jeremiah 20:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.
• New International Version (NIV)For he did not kill me in the womb, with my mother as my grave, her womb enlarged forever.
• English Standard Version (ESV)because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Because he did not kill me from the womb, That my mother might have been my grave, And her womb always enlarged with me.

Context of Jeremiah 20:17

15Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad! 16And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not; and let him hear a cry in the morning, and a shouting at noonday, because he slew me not from the womb. Or would that my mother had been my grave, and her womb always great [with me]! 18Wherefore came I forth from the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed in shame?

Jeremiah 20:17 word by word

אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־מוֹתְתַ֖נִי מֵרָ֑חֶם וַתְּהִי־לִ֤י אִמִּי֙ קִבְרִ֔י וְרַחְמָ֖הֿ הֲרַ֥ת עוֹלָֽם׃Read the interlinear

• wombרֶ֫חֶםrechem · wombH7358
• motherאֵם'êm · motherH517
• beenהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• graveקֶ֫בֶרqeber qibrâh · graveH6913

Cross-references for Jeremiah 20:17

• Job 3:10Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, and hid not trouble from mine eyes.
• Job 10:18And wherefore didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? I had expired, and no eye had seen me.
• Ecclesiastes 6:3If a man beget a hundred [sons], and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, but his soul be not filled with good, and also he have no burial, I say an untimely birth is better than he.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 20:17

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7-18Verses 7-18 In the rest of the chapter we have an outbreak of deep emotion, of which the first part ends in a cry of hope Jeremiah 20:13, followed nevertheless by curses upon the day of his birth. Was this the result of feelings wounded by the indignities of a public scourging and a night spent in the stocks? Or was it not the mental agony of knowing that his ministry had (as it seemed) failed? He stands indeed before the multitudes with unbending…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-18Verses 14-18 When grace has the victory, it is good to be ashamed of our folly, to admire the goodness of God, and be warned to guard our spirits another time. See how strong the temptation was, over which the prophet got the victory by Divine assistance! He is angry that his first breath was not his last. While we remember that these wishes are not recorded for us to utter the like, we may learn good lessons from them. See how much those who think they…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-18Jeremiah felt his life had no purpose.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 14-1814-18. The contrast between the spirit of this passage and the preceding thanksgiving is to be explained thus: to show how great was the deliverance (Jr 20:13), he subjoins a picture of what his wounded spirit had been previous to his deliverance; I had said in the time of my imprisonment, "Cursed be the day"; my feeling was that of Job (Job 3:3, 10, 11, whose words Jeremiah therefore copies). Though Jeremiah's zeal had been stirred up, not so much for…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 20:17

• Jeremiah
• Life
• Murmuring

In the dictionaries

• Derision
• Familiar
• Jeremiah (2)
• Job, Book of
• Uriah; Uruah

Commentaries on Jeremiah 20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings